newbie : breeding ancistrus - long post !!!
Posted: 18 Mar 2003, 12:50
Hi all,
as said before, I want to try to breed L-nrs (H. Zebra if possible) but I don't have any experience with raising fry or something like that. For gaining experience some suggested that I tried the bristlenose first.
Today I was in a well known shop in Germany and saw a large, very active 4 inch long ancistrus male. So I thought : " thats what I need
"
In the tank where, in my view, 2 varieties of ancistrus :
type 1 : The first was almost black with some feint dark brown stripes across the body. Of this sort my male is. They're were definitely 3 other males with antenne and 1 fish without antenne of the same size of this type in the tank.
type 2 : The second sort had more brown dots, like a leopard and were somewhat smaller. There ware 4 fish without antenne in the tank of this kind AND one WITH an antenne which was clearly a male.
Now the salesman said those with the dots (type 2) were the females, those black ones (type 1), the males. I didn't and still don't believe him
but because he should know his job I took a large female of type 2 for my male instead of the type 1 without antenne.
What do you "experts"
think about this story ?
Is the large black one (type 1) without the antenne just an immature male or could it be a female.
Are type 1 and 2 the same species ? Or do I have a pair which don't match
Here under a picture of my 'pair':
on the left the male (type1) on the right the female (type 2)
Well so far so good, how do I proceed from here ??
The tank will be 300 L (66 gallon) with a bottom space of 120 cm * 50 cm (47 * 20 inch). And the fish will be the only in there. Breeding cages, current, ... all will be provided.
Do I just hope this pair match and let them together alone. Or is it wise to purchase a female or 2 extra so the male can choose. Or is the tank big enough the even habitat 2 males and 4 females. Forming pairs will be much easier than, but I don't know how terrotorial they will be.
I'm open to all suggestions
Perrush
as said before, I want to try to breed L-nrs (H. Zebra if possible) but I don't have any experience with raising fry or something like that. For gaining experience some suggested that I tried the bristlenose first.
Today I was in a well known shop in Germany and saw a large, very active 4 inch long ancistrus male. So I thought : " thats what I need
" In the tank where, in my view, 2 varieties of ancistrus :
type 1 : The first was almost black with some feint dark brown stripes across the body. Of this sort my male is. They're were definitely 3 other males with antenne and 1 fish without antenne of the same size of this type in the tank.
type 2 : The second sort had more brown dots, like a leopard and were somewhat smaller. There ware 4 fish without antenne in the tank of this kind AND one WITH an antenne which was clearly a male.
Now the salesman said those with the dots (type 2) were the females, those black ones (type 1), the males. I didn't and still don't believe him
but because he should know his job I took a large female of type 2 for my male instead of the type 1 without antenne.What do you "experts"
think about this story ?Is the large black one (type 1) without the antenne just an immature male or could it be a female.
Are type 1 and 2 the same species ? Or do I have a pair which don't match
Here under a picture of my 'pair':
on the left the male (type1) on the right the female (type 2)
Well so far so good, how do I proceed from here ??
The tank will be 300 L (66 gallon) with a bottom space of 120 cm * 50 cm (47 * 20 inch). And the fish will be the only in there. Breeding cages, current, ... all will be provided.
Do I just hope this pair match and let them together alone. Or is it wise to purchase a female or 2 extra so the male can choose. Or is the tank big enough the even habitat 2 males and 4 females. Forming pairs will be much easier than, but I don't know how terrotorial they will be.
I'm open to all suggestions
Perrush