Columbian Zebras - L129s - Sexing tips

[smithrc]

Hi folks,

I’m looking to get some tips on Sexing some L129 Hypancistrus. We have 5 of these.

We’ve had them now for about 1 year.
I’ve been trying to breed them but with no luck – there is one that is quite plump but I'm now just wondering if its just fat!

Any tips on Sexing them so I can locate some more and continue trying to breed them?

ok folks here are the piccys, they are very lively so unfortunatly these were the best I could get.

1&2 - these guys (i think they are guys) got a bit stressed. so excuse the lack of colour.




This is the 3rd one - Egg laden female?? not stressed at all





The 4th - not so egg laden female? again, not stressed





Now this is the 5th one. It spends ALL of its time deep in a dark cave when there is any light about - and its stressed too.
Is it a male? (it looks the most male out of them all with fuzzy fin tips (hows that for technical )





Any comments greatfully recieved.

If you want the full sized piccys just remove '450' from before .jpg and the full sized pictures are up there too.

[Des]

Hi Smithrc,

You are right about the 2 females and the last one being a male. It is difficult to tell the first 2.
The way to sex them is identical to sexing zebras .
Adult Males:
1) have longer "bristles" on the leading pectoral fin
2) have longer cheek "bristles"
3) are more streamlined/tapered, from behind the pectoral fins to the tail fin

Adult Females:
1) have much shorter "bristles" on the leading pectoral fin
2) have shorter cheek "bristles" , that stay within the groove
3) are more parrallel/plumper behind the pectoral fins, before then tapering towards the tail

I think you have enough to breed with.
To breed them,just like any other Hypancistrus, it is advantageous to
1) have a tank solely for them
2) ( depending on your water conditions)to drastically reduce the conductivity of your water when doing a water change by using pure RO
3) do this water change with cooler water that would reduce the tank temp by 3 to 4 degrees. The heater would then the the temp back to normal.
4) have a cave for the male that is approx twice his length and he fits in nice and tight . This is so that when the female is enticed in, he can trap her by extending his dorsal and pectoral fins. See more details on forum topic on cave making.

Regards,
Des

[smithrc]

sounds like i'm doing 'everything ok'

I havent used RO with this guys yet though.

They are in their own 120l tank at the bottom of our bed

I'll post some pictures of the setup - the have sand, slate and driftwood. along with some 35mm tubing.