Juvenile Bristlenose..... a question

rochdale_iron · Post by **rochdale_iron** » 21 Jun 2006, 22:51

HI,
i have just managed to get a juvenile bristlenose, ( from the pictures i have seen, it looks like A. Claro ).
Its a gorgeous little thing, but i want to know, at what sort of age will its head tentacles grow, ( if its a male ) ?
I have tried taking a few pictures, but it is still shy, and everytime i go near to the tank, it disappears.
Also, i have tried feeding it vegetables, ( lettuce, cucumber ) but as far as i have seen, it doesnt go near them. i am going to try courgette next, will they be ok with peas ? and what other veggies will they take ?

many thanks for any help

Col

Reginator · Post by **Reginator** » 22 Jun 2006, 00:01

I bought a fairly small (1") version from a local store about 8 months back. He's up to about 3" and a bit now, and the bristles started to show about a month or so back. He eats anything icky, including bloodworms which he chases my corys away from, and any type of algae that dares to grow in the tank. He's so good at it that he gets to clean stuff from my other tanks too.. lol. I feed him with a green algae pellet with spirulina once every three or four days and he shares that with a dinky half inch " pseudogastromyzon myersi", and apart from that he cleans up after the others. He lives in a community tank with about 20 buddies ranging between half an inch and two and a half..

pureplecs · Post by **pureplecs** » 22 Jun 2006, 01:25

Here is a link to the LDA08 Claro that includes "care" information.... http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/lo ... /152_F.PHP

We'd be glad to see some pics! Mine love daphnia and veggie/spirulina pellets.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 22 Jun 2006, 13:12

I somehow doubt they are if you bought the as juveniles - most shops would charge more for A. claro [assuming they know what they are doing!] - and thus have sign saying what they are. Also, regular "common" are commonly sold fairly young in the shops. They are great little fish either way.

If they are A. claro, I would expect males bristles to start showing before it reaches 2" - they don't even grow to more than around 3" in length.

Commons will normally start showing bristles between 1.75" and 2.5", depending on how well fed they are.

If you look up in the FAQ, there's a short list of how to tell the sex of Ancistrus spp - which includes some other hints, aside from the bristles.

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Mats