The picture above shows a common Ancistrus male, he is about 5-6 cm in total length and between 5-6 months old. The cave is approx 4 cm wide.
This male is guarding it's first batch of eggs and the mother was an large adult female.
The male seems to have developed really early and already have a full set of bristles with split end.
There were no adult males in the tank as I did not intend to breed the female, this could have lead to that this little lad got his chance.
Even though this male developed very fast it is proof of just how productive this species is when it comes to breeding.
From now on I will have to separate the young males from the girls much earlier than i have been doing so far.
Melander
