Pleco Identification Please help

[bubblychaz]

Hi, Ive been looking at these pleco all day,

They are a friends. They are the only two pleco he has. Has had them 1 year.
One is albino (4-5 inches) one is not (5-6 inches) Neither have really grown in the year, He put a submarine deco in the tank and all a sudden he has babies!!!

We have looked at bristlenose pleco (Neither has bristles)
we looked at common pleco (They seem to small the breed for common)
They bred easily without any set conditions all he did was add an ornament, They have had 2 batches now.

Leopard sailfin pleco.. again seem to small to be breeding and aparently none of the requirements they need have been met (For instance they are in a 180 Litre 3 ft tank, with gravel). They bred at 25 degrees and 28 degrees.

So the parents:

The babies

Ive tried going by the babies fin shapes to find the species and i get stuck, Im confused to how one baby looks like a golden nugget!!!

All I can say is the pleco

breed at 4-6 inches
breed very easily
comes in albino and spotty
Top fin is jagged abit
the albino has a spotty pattern slightly

Oh an ph is about 7-7.2

Any help please guys?

 

[Nils]

I'd say they are bristle nose plecos. Just what they look like to me.

 

[bubblychaz]

Bristlenose plecs with no Bristles lol

To be honest BN's were my first thought. But then I already breed them, and I am 99% sure they are not BN's. Plus their top fins are very... High? Tall?

 

[Freakgecko91]

Albino is BNP female, other is a sailfin pleco juvie. I highly doubt these bred...plus those babies are an awfully weird mix. Are you sure those weren't purchased and put in the tank? Those babies are several months old. I have 2-3 week old babies that are only about 1/2". I feel you would have noticed these before just now


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[bubblychaz]

HI,

He rang me one night saying his plec hadnt been out the submarine for 2 days, I went over following day and the albino was in the submarine every now and then acting like he was doing a wiggle effect... about a week or so later there were tiny like 5cm babies around the tank.

 

[LayzorBeams]

Those juvies look like a mixture of Golden Nugget and albino BN to me. The parents, as said before, are female albino BN and a small Sailfin, i think.

I guess the one that looks like a Sailfin could be something else that is at a fully grown size. And the babies look to either be very resemblant of the mother, or the father... But in all honesty i doubt that the different Pleco species would breed especially when one seems like a juvenile... But who knows.


If money cant buy happiness, that why do I need a job? I mean, I should be getting these fish free, since I don't have to pay for happy...

 

[bubblychaz]

This is what confuses Me, I've never know fish to cross breed..

And yes a baby does resembles a golden nugget and that has thrown me Completely


One person had a theory on another site.. Both adults are cross breeds themselves and thats why babies also look like different species from parents

Is that even possible?

Tomorrow I will try get as clear as pic of the pleco as possible. But the the Albino doesn't resemble any of my current bn pleco.

She does resemble this

Which is a Albino leopard pleco.

But apparently won't breed in aquariums? And again these are breeding at 5 inches size

 

[LayzorBeams]

There are a quadrillion types of Plecos and im sure some are not identified properly by wherever you buy them from, which doesnt help... The parents could be crossbreeds and the genetics of te grandparents are showing through in the juvies, but i still think its unlikely that it happened. Possible though. It really looks like they were just added into the tank. They are big enough to be a couple months old... Mystery..


If money cant buy happiness, that why do I need a job? I mean, I should be getting these fish free, since I don't have to pay for happy...

 

[Brookster123]

Something is not adding up.. here's a total crap shoot. Female bn and male rio paraguay made babies?? Or that is a funky looking male bn?? And they just spawned.

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[Gillie]

There is no way these juvies are from a common and a bristlenose. The likelihood that they could cross is slim to none and like you said one is a gold nugget.

 

[bubblychaz]

One baby looks like a golden nugget. But as it grows it'll probably lose that effect.


Unless we have a male bristle with no bristles.. They cant be BN's. I breed BN's.

These were the only two plecs in the tank for near on a year. Ive actually got them at mine now because I want to document everything they do and growth rates etc.

Ive also got one the albino fry and the fry that looks like a GN, albino fry is 3cm and the other is 2cm

Albino I believe now is the female is the same lenght as my little finger.. So 3 Inches? The brown is about 4 inches...

So maybe full grown adult size of these plecs is 5 inches?

The albino does not match my female albino BN, The body shape and fins are different.

I am so confused on this one.

 

[Freakgecko91]

That is for sure a bnp albino female. I have 3 females and they all look the same, just brown. The head shape and body shape do not fit the albino leopard you posted. It is a BNP. I'm sticking with my guns that there was a trick being played, because those are incompatible species to breed really...and that sailfin is a juvenile....no way it's an adult, or a bnp.


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[bubblychaz]

Up date of today,

I now have both parents and 1 albino fry and brown fry. ive also taken measurements. Albino is 2.5 Inch and Brown is 3.5 inch. They are all in my 3ft tank alone (Just incase my friends 2ft was stunting growth) I have no other fish or plec in the 3ft with them.

Brown fry is 2cm and albino is 3cm.. same batch about 3 weeks old.

There are no bristles on either "adult" pleco. Neither adult pleco has been near another pleco for nearly a year. For them to breed at this size their full adult size must be 5-6 inch?

this is the adult abino

the fry

 

[brennae]

I vote female albino bristle nose pleco. My females have few bristles and you really have to look to see them and they are 2 to 3 years old. I have to call foul on this too. My bn fry are everywhere in the tank, no way not to notice them.



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[bubblychaz]

These two "adults" were the only pleco in the tank.

The sub was brought new, so no way the their was another pleco transferred when we put the sub in.

I agree i cant see how a common and BN can breed. Makes no sense.

So in my 3ft (which I 100% know their is no other fish or pleco as I set up and cycled it and these are the only fish to go in (as of yesterday)) we have 2 adults pleco and 2fry. I am now cycling a 2ft which I will move the fry to once thats ready in a month. So I then have 2 tanks. with 2 pleco in. 1 tank is fry and the tank is adults who bred. I have the submarine in there now and I placed a few more pleco breeding caves in there.

My friend brought the sub new, when I went to get some more cherry barbs he bought the sub as cave for his pleco. I laughed because the sub is 2 ft long and I was like NO! You need caves which are slightly bigger than the pleco and he was adament it was the sub or a helicopter both at 2ft! The sub was £7 cheaper, I am absolutetly confused how these guys choose it as a cave. but then it was the only cave like thing in his tank.

Without knowing the species I dont know how to induce the spawning season with them.

With my BN's I give them 3 days of good feed, do a huge water change 60%, add 30% RO water and usually breeding commences.

Maybe I should try induce spawning season for these guys? But how without knowing what they are? Any suggestions?

 

[bubblychaz]

Oh something else I noticed.

The brown one does NOT come out when their is light. If the tank light is on then he is no where to be seen! If I catch him as the light comes on his fin goes down and he shots into the submarine. Is this behaviour trait to any other pleco?

 

[Gillie]

Oh good grief, just listen to what we are saying lol. There is no way these two species have crossed, even if they could the common is nowhere near breeder or even sexable size, for all you know that one is female also. You just said you have bn breeders, so I would say that that's where the fry came from, there is no mystery here.

 

[bubblychaz]

How can one of my BN's of bred with these two if these two have only been in my house and in a totally seperate tank for 24 hours?

These two pleco have been the only two pleco in any tank together. No tank these two have been in for the past year has had another pleco.

 

[Gillie]

How can one of my BN's of bred with these two if these two have only been in my house and in a totally seperate tank for 24 hours?

These two pleco have been the only two pleco in any tank together. No tank these two have been in for the past year has had another pleco.

Dude, I'm not even going to worry about it, the whole situation is obviously fabricated and you're just trolling.

 

[bubblychaz]

Dude, I'm not even going to worry about it, the whole situation is obviously fabricated and you're just trolling.

WOW. Im trolling?

I have wasted my time and others time to benefit how?? Ive put them in a 3ft tank meant for my angelfish im getting friday, for the fun of it? Yes Ive done all this for fun! Your right. Im trolling.

Im at the point of looking for a breeder who has bred many of different species to see if they will come look at these plecs if I pay them. But hey! Yeah im doing that because its fun!

Cheers for the response on my post