mr pleco

mine are in a 5 foot tank so not that big but big enough for now 8)

couldnt have said it better myself adodge right on the money

no probs kiwi ,and i just knew those plecs were going to a good home

yep kiwi very common in aussie and id love to have some unfortunatley they are not available in newzealand as yet they do have the white strip on the tail bit not on the dorsal ray but then again i havent viewed the plec in question if it has both white strips then you are on the money as its a Ancistrus dolichopterus or L 183 and a good buy be probably the only one in nz but i fear its a L100 but at least you know how to tell the difference now huh 8)

its good to hear Paul my F1s are making good progress too and i know what you mean when you say making all the right signs shouldnt be long till you can add them to yr growing list of breedings dont mind offering advise if its needed when yr ready to give em a go as for the black and white stripe thingys ...."take a number pal " !! :lol: but if anyone could aquire them id reckon it could be you yeah i love em both still would you believe i have some more for sale once they start they are hard to stop

hey kiwi there is some discussion as to exactly what a "white spotted blue pleco " or a blue spotted pleco or a starlight or a snowspot ansistrus is see my point anyway i reckon a blue spotted plec is in fact an L100 should have bristles it should have a solid white strip on its tail fin right at the end that starts at the tip and ends at the bottom there is alot of confusion around this plec as to what it exactly is its either an L100 or an L213 either way i have bred this ansistrus and have many babies on growing (around 2-3cm mark ) on planetcatfish mine look like but not exactly to L100 heres a link as mine dont photgraph so well ( there spots dont show ive tried in previous photos ) http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... us+sp(l100)&image_id=4749 as you can see the white stripe on the tail ,these are ansistrus and veggie eaters last one i saw in aucks was selling for $180 mine wont be that expensive but i cant exactly confirm its the same plec either but very very similar i dont think the photo on planetcatfish resembles its true colour or maybe mine need a better photographer hth mr pleco p.s sorry link dosent seem to wanna work try searching planetcatfish for L100

yep and although from time to time i cop a bit of flak over it this is i guess what im trying to say when i stated before " its not to stop ideas or stem the flow of knowledge its just that the serious breeders soon make themselves known and thru pm etc comitted breeders can shift the first batches onto other breeders for security rather than being bombarded by one off fish buyers dont get me wrong we need both sorts but like with my L270 and L066 i made sure other breeders got first pick of lots of 4 0r 5 before i started single fish selling , and i think thats what point i was trying to make . maybe given time these awesome fish will suddenly invade the market , that would be awesome . better start saving our pennies ,last one i saw sold for $800

yeah adodge didnt get away with it but lets just say a "person ' came round and looked to buy some plecs arranged a day that i was kinda busy but anyway long story short they left without buying. i went out, but forgot something, came back home to get it and found them back on my property about to go in the "fishroom " their excuse was oh forgot my "plastic bag " funny thing was they didnt bring any ...hence to say they left empty handed but it made me revisit my security measures shame but shows you whats out there thats why i understand the committed breeders stance on secrecy and as much as i hate to say it this forum is not exactly fort knox i am hopeful that we dont hide ideas from each other and id like to think i help anyone who asks anything about plecos but even thou i may know where some zebra plecos are i aint gonna tell anyone its not my right and i dont know how it helps the hobby unless that person wants ppl to know oh how i wish that was true the last known zebra was a female and it was on its own in a tank on the NTh shore of Auckland the person had it for quite some time and only sold it last year on TM another one was a person sold a complete colony some years ago which had been bred and the new owner lost the lot in a month theres a big difference between "wanting to own" and" knowing what to do "with these guys but heres hoping that somewhere someone is succesfully breeding them because thats something i dont know

yep and recently .... unfortunatley i have had the same issues point and case sad but true i have now had to pretty much stop opening up my fishroom to anyone

" hey aquatopia i agree with what you have said it just " tears my nightie " that some ppl wanna know whos got what and how many and where and how but have no intetion of trying to breed them or increase the population of them like you said "its the reason why such a big chunk of what we did have is no longer on mafs list " and it wasnt all that ppl kept quiet it was also that ppl wanted to own one but not try and breed one ,in the 80s ppl had these fish maybe only one but never bred them or tried to and kept quiet about them didnt do reaserch on how to look after them and lost them thats alot different to comitted breeders simply being precatious about who they tell now

Xingu dam is being built as we speak has been given the green light the Brazilian govt in their madness has decided to build a dam right where these buggas live , for wealth one would imajine, and at the same time ban exports of them to so call "protect the species " but the dam will prety much wipe out any remaining wild stock its not a good scenario There are succesful breedings overseas but as yet we cannot import any as it needs to be MAF approved which takes ALOT of time as their wheels turn slower than most which is bizzare as in the 80s we had them here so its not like they are a new import not quite but i suppose to the outside world it would seem this way they are rare and expensive and i know ppl are gonna say well i own a $2000 arowana and i let ppl know i have it yeah but when was the last time someone bred an arowana in captivity in nz and not everyone has the space for a 3ft fish anyway so i think the ppl who do have them are being precautious until they have bred them and have some to sell also those ppl would probably do similar to me with the queen arabs and sell any offspring to comitted breeders to keep thm in the country not just flick em on trade me . there is the posssibilty that whatever remaining stock there is are all juvenile or all male maybe, but i respect their wishes . its easy for some ppl to sit heer and say "oh id tell the world " and im sure these ppl would love too aswell . but i do wonder how many of those ppl would do so right now if they owned these fish in their present circumstance and had shelled out probably $1000s of dollars to aquire them . would you ? and i suppose you would invite every Tom,dick, and Harry to come round and look at them , come on guys you would be a little secret about who you told aswell ,dont get upset by it just respect the breeders investment and hope they are able to breed them personally i do note that the pleco is a very sort after species i dont see a sticky for "what guppies do own " and with good reason thers alot of money in these fish to buy and look after i find it interesting that on the most aprt the ppl that are interested in who owns exotic ones dont own many themselves rant over havent posted in a while guess this will start the reason why i dont post much anymore

i believe there are some around but doubt very highly that anyone would post having them on here

HFF hollywood Fish Farm - the Only place to go when in aucks IMO esp monday /fridays coz it keeps dave busy and i like seeing him work 8) for address just look in the commercial sector of the forum also just have a list of their fish available at the moment

hi NC i should add that the leading fin should be quite hairy for a male and hardly any at all for female , they are harder to sex than most hypansistrus, but when you get them both tegether you do discover the differences . i can understand yr dilemma at price it is a shame for such an awesome fish , as for mine i currently have about 30 growing out they are slower than other hypans at growing. i will be holding on to about ten to set up a proper colony and take the pressure off my only pair to "reproduce " they only have about 4-5 eggs at a time as they are a young pairing and hopefully will increase with age ,they are currently taking a break (their desicion not mine) but thats sweet by me as i have other plecs "getting jiggy" and need the space .. that means, there should ,be all going well ,around 20 for sale in the future ,i have come to realise the specialness of this particular species of plec and have been swamped with requests like yrs therefore i cannot say at this stage when or how much they will be when they become available to be honest i would like to see most of my first batches going to dedicated breeders so that again takes the pressure off my pairing and secures them in the country if for any reason something happens to mine on that note thou i am trying to convince my pairing that their "holiday" was great but its time to get back to business as its my ambition to be able to get these to everybody that wants to own one at a reasonable price i hope to one day soon fufill yr dreams and my ambitions :lol:

female http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... ge_id=2134 male http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... ge_id=2155 gravid female viewed from above http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... ge_id=4069 as you can see from these photos both have ordontoles or cheek bristles the males are usually longer and thicker but not by much until they are mature , also females when viewed from above are rounder from the first fin thru the body, whereas the males stay slender almost a V shape from the pectral or leading fin thru to the tail . i think yr one is a beautiful ,nice looking male, but its not a great shot of it to tell the difference .All queen arabs look fat when in condition even males so belly size means nothing just that they are fed well . look downwards on it and the shape should be oval for female and V shaped for male if it takes a pretty much direct line from the leading fin to the tail without much deviation then its usually a male hope that helps

yep definetly eggs dont know the cause of yr probs if params are fine what else was noticable about her ? damaged ? sunken eyes ? could be anything ,sad to hear and see thou know that feeling alright

meth blue is just for the eggs

aww shucks adodge yr gonna make me blush 8)

thats discus for you 8) nah bvut seriously could be just age and inexperience you can try a egg gaurd or try an older female but i would stick with what you have and have some patience ...hard to hear i know but eventually they will get it right and least when you expect it

i did !!! but firenzenz didnt bring his camera ...and hes an awesome photographer ...

yeah they did on their third batch of eggs as of now still trying to find a suitable L number for them i know they are now comming in as "blue white spotted plecs " but alas no Lnumber have about thirty to fifty babies plus eggs but dont have a camera that does them any justice will hope to get some shots up soon as they grow

i may stand corrected check out this llink i cant tell the difference http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =5&t=25405 maybe answers yr question and they change with age

yeah good luck nice plec i spent some time on planetcatfish but to no avail its not i vittata and thats all i can tell you apparently they came in as L134 which is leopard frog but it definetly aint one of those im somewhat miffed as to its origin at the moment but do think its a pekoltia of somesort

hi there to me sounds parasitic but they are a few other suggestions but i need more info .. how old are yr breeding pair the last two batches are they from the same parents as previous or is this a new pairing or second generation pairing discus high temp around thirty are tolerable for these guys thou not recommended may be a factor in speeding up whatever is happening but dosent sound like the cause as you are losing them aswell could be worms ? my major thoughts are with genetics at this stage or parasitic have a good look round yr tank for anything unusual is yr tank barebottom or gravel ? whats yr stocking ratio /waterchange regieme where are you sourcing yr cellelouse ?(sp) mr pleco

no worries enzoom i have saved all peoples requests (almost had to start a dairy ) at this stage enzoom they would be fine in a two foot.!! and im not kidding . i have had two adults in a two and 1/2 foot tank for about four months with no problems except extra waterchanges in my breeding colony were 4 in a three foot tank plus at one stage 98 babies up to 2cm long without fatality its really only when they reach breeding size and there arent enough caves or places to hide especially for males that problems arise id say they would love a four foot mr pleco