Couple new super red ancistrus

[MissNoodle]

Got these lovelies, just little babies still, but theyre adorable.
The short fin is shy so we don't see him/her that much but the longfin comes out a lot and is really active.

[bekateen]

Very nice. Good luck with them.

Cheers, Eric

[Jools]

Not my "cup of tea" but these are nice pics and the fishes look healthy. Once they are a bit bigger we could use one or two of them for the catelog?

Are super red not all red and calico the ones with, well, calico markings? I am not an expert on fancy commons!

Cheers,

Jools

[Acanthicus]

Hi

Agree with Jools, the pictured fish are not what is considered "super red", at least they don't belong to the good quality strain. In Germany we have two main strains. The "super red" are what their name suggests: completely red, no brownish markings. The other strain is what we call the "czech super red": they are red, but also show brown markings, their red is less intense.

[bekateen]

The other strain is what we call the "czech super red": they are red, but also show brown markings, their red is less intense.

Hi Daniel,

Funny you should mention the Czech super reds. One of my LFS in California just received a shipment from Petra Aqua, which included a group of super-red BNs. They are small, about 3 cm TL, but right now they are pure orange, with no signs of brown. Does the brown develop with age, or should the brown marks be visible already?

Thanks,
Eric

[Acanthicus]

Hi Eric

When I used to breed them 4-5 years ago, the brown markings normally showed up when the fish reached a size of 3-4cm. Obviously, the Czech also breed the pure strain, but in most cases you get the one which develops brown markings. I once got a group of the czech ones without brown markings, bred them and the juveniles were absolutely useless for another breeding, to much brown.

[bekateen]

Thanks. That's as I suspected.

Cheers, Eric

[MissNoodle]

Ah the breeder marked these as "super red calico". I dont mind either way, theyre adorable. The markings are coming out more as they grow!
But then, what would you consider their colouration? Its really neat, I like how its changing as they grow.

And Jools, if you wish to use any photo feel free

A dorsal view of the longfin and two photos of the smaller shortfin!

The longfin didn't have as much black when I first got him

[bekateen]

I dont mind either way, theyre adorable.

Ultimately, that's all that matters with regards to you keeping the fish.

But then, what would you consider their colouration?

If someone is really looking for true "super reds," I suspect these would be not top grade. But to your first point, that's not important if you're keeping them for yourself. It only matters if you bought them to breed and sell them as super reds. In that case, I'd advise truth in advertising and priced appropriately.

Love what you have.

Cheers, Eric

[MissNoodle]

I dont mind either way, theyre adorable.

Ultimately, that's all that matters with regards to you keeping the fish.

But then, what would you consider their colouration?

If someone is really looking for true "super reds," I suspect these would be not top grade. But to your first point, that's not important if you're keeping them for yourself. It only matters if you bought them to breed and sell them as super reds. In that case, I'd advise truth in advertising and priced appropriately.

Love what you have.

Cheers, Eric

If they breed ill list just list them as bristlenose, plus our market here is saturated with BN plecos, so not a fish to choose to breed intentionally, but I won't stop them if they choose to breed either way, that'll be up to them.

But I didn't get them to breed intentionally. We lost our previous boy with the contamination incident, and we were heartbroken over that. He was the favorite fish of my kid and husband, they adore the bristlenose plecos.
Someone offered a trade for a group of my baby cories for some of the plecos and it was nice timing, so got these two.

My previous boy, Archie, he was the star of the tank to my family. We love their personalities, theyre always goofballs and active.

[MissNoodle]

The longfin is getting especially dark! And bristles developing!