Sexing young BN plecos

[Oohitsae]

So I know this isn't technically in the correct thread since I am not considering breeding them, yet...but, I thought that it'd be a better suited question for the breeders.

Is there any way I can sex out young BN's before they show bristles? I would like to get these guys sexed asap so I know which to keep in order to have a couple pairs of each before I start selling the extras.

As of now I have 4 2-2.5" calicos, 10 1" albinos, and 4 1" green dragons. I will also be adding 4-6 super reds to my collection soon as well.

I do have plenty of space for all of them, but I would like to make more room for other fish asap as well...

I've seen that with albinos, the males will have orange spots on top of their head when shined on with a flash light, so I think I'm set on those, but with the colored guys, I don't think that'd work...

 

[Fallout801]

I wouldn't sell any until you can separate them into "groups" that you hope to breed. And even then dont sell until you have confirmed them to breed. I have many males and females of different colors that are fully mature and have yet still to breed. Out of 13 super red I ended up only with 2 females and of the males so far only about 3 or 4 have fathered young

 

[Oohitsae]

Thanks for the heads up.
I haven't sold any besides 6/10 albinos yet. If the 4 I am keeping refuse to reproduce then I can always get more for a good price.
Do you know anything about their growth rates? Just wondering how long it'll take for them to reach maturity. The calicos are all at around 2-2.5" and the albinos and greens are at 1-1.25"

 

[Fallout801]

Maturity is said to have been reached as soon as you can see sexual differences between males and females. I usually see some action a few months after the males first get their whiskers, which seems to be about a year of age. Bushy nose plecos will put on a lot more size as well if you incorporate higher protein meatier foods into their diet and balance it with algae/ veggies.

 

[Oohitsae]

As of now I've been feeding blanched veggies, along with algea wafers, and API bottom feeder pellets. Plus a w/c every 4 days to keep water quality up. Do you think this is enough, or should I add more to it?

 

[Fallout801]

Sounds pretty good. I think everybody does things just slightly differently so paying attention to your fish and noticing results is best.

 

[Oohitsae]

Ok sounds good. I think they are all growing fairly fast...I don't have any comparative rates to figure it out, but it seems pretty good to me.