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UPDATE: Here's today's photo of the largest fish, the one that looked orange on day of purchase and had odd-colored irises with pin-point pupils.

• Body mostly black with red undertones.
• Iridescent spots on this individual still look different than those on other individuals- more diffuse borders and irregularly shaped compared to other fish in same group. Iridescent spots might also be more numerous and consequently tightly-packed than on other individuals.
• Fins less red than before but still bright red on tips. Still looks like a 7-pointer.
• White highlights on fin reduced but still present.

These fish are growing quickly. Not as peculiar looking as on day of purchase, but still beautiful. I'm eager to get these to breed and see if the babies go through the same color phases as the parents did when they were smaller.

Personal reflection on my OP: I got the developmental color progression flat-out wrong. These fish weren't all transitioning to orange; perhaps the orange may have been the stress coloration.

Cheers, Eric

Today's pictures.

At least two males have fast-developing bristles going up the face.

I think the second one is a female. Flared dorsal fin looks nice.

I couldn't measure the largest fish today (the big orange fish on day one), but I measured the second and third largest fish today. They are both over 70mm SL (over 2cm longer than when purchased two months ago); the largest male is 75mm SL. How big do they need to get before they'll spawn?

Cheers, Eric

What is the earliest age Ancistrus genus start breeding ? Does somebody know ?

My albino BNs were this size when they started, but interspecific comparison means little in this context.

My L183 took about 3 years /

Jobro wrote: 21 Feb 2018, 12:07My L183 took about 3 years /

Were they wild caught or captive bred?

My wild caught maccus took 2-3 years also, but their F1 fry took just over one year.

I only have experience with one Ancistrus species, L159. They were captive bred and spawned for the first time 7 months after I got them. I'm not sure how old my fish were when I bought them, but if I look at my own fry, I would say between 3 and 5 months old. That would mean they were between 10 and 12 months old at the time of the first spawn.

bekateen wrote: 21 Feb 2018, 14:37

Jobro wrote: 21 Feb 2018, 12:07My L183 took about 3 years /

Were they wild caught or captive bred?

My wild caught maccus took 2-3 years also, but their F1 fry took just over one year.

They were tank bred. Took the males 2 years before they showed bristles...

Woke up to this site a few minutes ago: A male facing out of a cave, with another Ancistrus trapped behind him. Does this species trap with the male in the cave tail-first?

Cheers, Eric

Update on the Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali. Largest male 85mm SL. Largest female (the orange fish on day of purchase) 75mm SL. Comparing males I see some (e.g., largest male) have only bifurcating bristles, while others (two smaller males) have trifurcating bristles. If it was an age/size/dominance feature, I'd expect the reverse pattern. Is it genetic? Has anyone else noticed such a difference before?

Here's a video reviewing the changes in these fish over the last (almost) four months. Some have grown over 1 cm per month.

Growth and Color Change in Bright Colored Ancistrus sp Rio Ucayali