Happy Pleco

I'm finding less time to update this blog, in the meanwhile please check out the Happy Pleco Facebook page for updates!

https://www.facebook.com/happypleco

Hypancistrus zebra, L046 t-shirt

I have started to design my own t-shirts, this is the first one and it is now available HERE (www.happypleco.tictail.com).

First out is the stunning Zebra Pleco, L046.

L046, Hypancistrus zebra t-shirt design

The Hypancistrus zebra, L046 design is now finished and t-shirts sporting this motif are available @: www.happypleco.com. This stunning species is now along with many other species under threat from the construction of the Bela Monte Dam, Rio Xingu, Brazil.

Happy Halloween!

www.happypleco.com

Update; L129, Hypancistrus debilittera fry

The fry of my L129, Hypancistrus debilittera that were kicked out from the cave as larva on the 30th of September are now 10 days old and are doing very well.

There is still the six of them residing in a small floating container. As the breeding box I had planned to use for this type of situations broke recently I'm in the process of building a new one which if it works well will be presented as a DIY post here in the future.

As you can see from the rounded bellies and yellow coloration the fry are still absorbing their yolk sacks, the critical stage in rearing pleco fry starts when they are ready to eat as they need allot of food that easily pollute the water if uneaten.

I'll keep you posted on the progress with these.

Happy Pleco

Regular readers might have noticed that a few Happy Pleco logos have appeared on the blog.

Happy Pleco provides designs, t-shirts and gifts for the conscious aquarist.

Melander’s Aquarium will otherwise remain as it is apart from that the occasional post might reveal new designs and products from Happy Pleco.

Please feel free to have a look at www.happypleco.com, and chose the relevant shop for your location at the top bar to view the designs. More designs will be added over time.

If you like this idea, or don’t please let us know @: happypleco@gmail.com

It would also be great to hear some opinions on what designs you would like to see in the future!

Happy Fishkeeping!

R.I.P, death of a red & black Ancistrus male, rivalty with L134 leads to death

I'm saddened to write this but I do not want to write about only the positive sides and successes of fishkeeping.

My alpha male, calico red & black Bristlenose pleco was killed yesterday. The photo was taken when the fish was young but in it's adult form it was a very impressive fish.

This fish was approximately 4 years old, in it's prime and should have had many more years, it has supplied me with a constant stream of quality fry.

I foolishly decided to house the fish temporarily with my Peckoltia  compta / L134 group to give it a break from breeding. I knew there could be trouble between the males but did not expect it to lead to it's death. There were more than six empty caves in the tank but this was not enough. The carcass bore clear signs of fighting with another pleco, my suspicion points to the L134 alpha male.

This is something that could easily have been avoided and a decision I will regret. So a warning to anyone wanting to move several boisterous male loricariids into the same tank, monitor them carefully and obviously provide plenty of space and caves!

Ancistrus sp., sexing revisited

Ancistrus sp., females with bristles

It now turns out that I was right about the young female, one of the males however turned out to be a female which im very happy about.

In the end it seems that both males and females grow bristles quite early, it is however still possible to somewhat accurately sex the juveniles by the amount of bristle growth.

Juvenile male, one year ago:
 














Juvenile female, one year ago:
















The male, today:

The females today:

They still need to put on some weight but I am hopeful about getting some fry from these next year.

Melander

Additions to the family / L134 juveniles

Due to my current work situation there has been very little time for me to spend on the internet and this blog, I do hope this will change soon.

I did go to www.seahorseaquariums.com/ the ther day and came home with these beauties. Many thanks to John at Seahorse for sourcing these and for taking the time to discuss signs of gender in juveniles.

These are quite small and it is very hard to sex L134's this size with any accuracy. I am hoping there will be some females among these and when picking them out I was looking for rounded shapes (body/head/fins). If all of them turn out to be female I will be extremely impressed by myself and John, and very surprised:)

 

 

Ancistrus sp., sexing

These fish were sold as Ancistrus sp. L180

They have now started to "bristle up" and three are obvious males, like this lad:

I'm however hopefull that this one is a girl:

I have already had comments on this but would like to hear from more people so please feel free to comment below!

Cheers, Melander