Good pleco for a first pleco breeding project.

wayneminot · Post by **wayneminot** » 22 Feb 2003, 20:20

Ok so far the only thing I've had breed out of the loricariidae family is twig catfish but I want to breed a species of dwarf pleco now. Any suggestions? I want something thats not too expensive like maybe about 30 us dollars retail and I want it to be fairly small any suggestions?

wayneminot · Post by **wayneminot** » 22 Feb 2003, 20:26

Oh yeah almost forgot it needs to be something that most lfs's can order for me.

Cartman · Post by **Cartman** » 22 Feb 2003, 20:57

Ancistrus - Bristlenose. They stay small, are easy to sex, breed like rabbits and will teach you how to raise fry. I don't know if you get TFH there but I think it was August 2002 that had Shane's article relating to breeding them.

wayneminot · Post by **wayneminot** » 22 Feb 2003, 21:02

alright aparrently no one know what dfw metroplex means so I'm going to change it. How much do ancistrus usually cost? I've only seen a few in lfs's and I don't remember how much the cost.

Cartman · Post by **Cartman** » 22 Feb 2003, 21:30

At stores or from breeders? Last time I bought some I got 4 Albino's for $10 from a breeder. At LFS up here, they range from 6 to 20 depending upon size. You're in Texas...OK, I figured you were in Europe

Look up your local fish club and give an officer or two a call and and tell them what you're looking for. I guarantee someone will be breeding Ancistrus. And the price should be cheaper than buying @ LFS.

wayneminot · Post by **wayneminot** » 22 Feb 2003, 21:35

Thanks cartman also what species ancistrus are we talking about

Cartman · Post by **Cartman** » 23 Feb 2003, 18:54

They'll probably be called A. Temmnicki or A. Dolicopterus but are most likely neither. If they're not using Scientific names they're normally called Dwarf Ancistrus in these parts.

Post by **Silurus** » 23 Feb 2003, 18:59

More likely to be <i>A. temmincki</i>. The real dolichopterus doesn't show up often in the trade.

Cartman · Post by **Cartman** » 23 Feb 2003, 19:20

@ Heok Hee, do you find that most breeders in your area have A Temmincki? I've looked around and it seems to me, that many in my area have some "other" Ancistrus Sp. that looks more like Dolichopterus ... Maybe a cross done on accident when adding to the gene pool? Anyway I have a friend who's gotten "Ancistrus Temmincki" from 2 seperate local breeders and they are defiinitely @ least 2 seperate types of Ancistrus being bred under the name A. Temmincki w/ my local club alone.

Heok thanks for clearing up my poor spelling

Andy

Post by **Silurus** » 23 Feb 2003, 20:16

Haven't seen any breeders in my area. For that matter, haven't seen many bristlenoses in the LFS lately. <i>Ancistrus temmincki</i> would be the brown spotted bristlenose, but there are several species involved that have this color pattern. Someone will have to go sort this, though.

Post by **Shane** » 23 Feb 2003, 20:52

It is pretty hard to identify most of the Ancistrus spp. in the hobby, but 99% of the Ancistrus shipped from Colombia are A. triradiatus coming out of Villavicencio. There is a second black spp. with small white spots that has been showing up recently from Leticia. These have been exported before as I had one when I lived in Washington State about 7-8 years ago. This spp. gets huge and I recently saw two males that measured 9-10 inches total length. I believe that A. temmincki was the most common Ancistrus years ago when Axelrod was shipping lots of stuff from Guayana, however, I think Guayana was long ago replaced by Peru, Brazil, and Colombia with regards to the ornamental trade and not much comes from there now. Kathy Jinkings in her book "Bristlenoses" claims that A. temmincki and A. cirrhosus are the two most common spp. in the hobby but I strongly disaggree with her. As I stated above there are few Guayana exports and A. cirrhosus comes from Argentina (how many Argentine shipments show up in the trade?).
-Shane

wayneminot · Post by **wayneminot** » 23 Feb 2003, 23:15

ah I couldn't resist the lfs had some nice farlowella and I bought them I've bred them before but I didn't keep my breeders so I bought some more.