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I saw one of these guys at the store yesterday. Very interesting. I was wondering if they grow too big and how good they are at eating algae?? Of course, I wouldnt give it just that...

Any more info about it?

Hi!

can grow up to 20cm, and are mainly omnivorous. They need high level of disolved O2 along with a strong current!
Cheers
Yann

I remember my first encounter with this species in the mid 90's, I was stunned by their absurd wide shape! I'm sure the specimens I saw back then was at least 15 cm (6"), and the weird thing is I have never come across such big sized specimens ever again. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems the biggest specimens available now are max 10-11 cm, where are the big ones?

I tried keeping this species a couple of times, but never had much success. They often seem hard to get to "settle down", and have a tendency of just staying hidden, not even coming out to eat. I know they have been kept successfully by several aquarists, and they have even been bred, but I would say it's quite a challange to keep this species alive for a longer period of time. They are clearly very oxygene demanding, and seems to prefer meaty food over veggies.

Thanks Yann and HaakonH!

I was thinking about putting him in my 65 gallon goldfish tank... How do I increase/test the oxygen levels? I do have an air pump with 2 bubble wands running in this tank. It seems to be OK for the goldies but Im not sure with a more demanding species.
Well, he's pretty expensive ($40), so I will have to wait anyways...

How warm is the tank? I wouldn't keep them much below 80F (27C) Even near 80F, L-034 don't feed very well. Mine do well at 82-86F, even spawning occasionally (alas, no fry...) on frozen bloodworm, cyclopeeze and the odd wafer. They don't eat Hikari, but recently have shown interest in the OmegaC wafer, which has much more animal protein. As far as eating algae, well, I get quite a chuckle when I see them in a tank down at the ol' LFS, carrying a sign saying, "Great Algae Eaters!"

With goldfish, most common ancistrus do okay at lower temps, and a great job on the algae. They are also a bit more tolerant in terms of water quality. Check the cat-elog.

Wow!

That was a very helpful info you gave me!!
I'll definitely not get one then... the goldfish tank is always between 76 and 78F.

I'll look into the one you suggested instead!

Thanks!!

Well, I looked at the cat-elog and there are so MANY ancistrus sp!! Anyone in particular I should be looking at?

Also, someone told me about "rubbernose" pleco... Would it be OK in a goldfish tank as well? How big can they get???

Chaetostoma species (of which the Rubbernose pleco is one) like lots of oxygen and fairly low temps. It would probably be fine with your goldfish.

I'd definitely recommend a . I've kept those together with Goldfish, and they are happy with that environment, temp around 22'C/72'F. Also quite happy in my other tanks at around 26'C/79'F. Also one of the easiest Loricaridae to spawn, just get a male (lots of big bristles) and one or two female(s) (small or no bristles), a small cave for the male to just about fit in, and give them some time...

Increased oxygen is created by more water movement at the surface of the tank. Surface water exchanges oxygen/carbon dioxide with the air. There are a few methods which you can use for this:
1. Airstone. It lifts water fromt he bottom to the top, which is beneficial.
2. Powerhead. Placing a powerhead near the surface of the water gives more water movement.
3. Power Filter. An internal or external filter will of course circulate the water as well as filter it.
4. Whisk/paddle. In emergency, if you need to increase the oxygen in the water (equipment malfunction time), you can stir the water with some suitable thing like a ladle, paddle, whisk or similar.

--
Mats

Thanks for the info, Mats!

I'll be looking for some ancistrus this weekend and will let you know what I find.


Regards,

Chris