Unidentified Pleco baby

rjagrunt

rjagrunt

AC Members
Oct 4, 2009
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Alaska
I have a 55gal tank with a pleco I believe to be a gibby, and a 10gal tank with an unidentified pleco. When I took down my 10gal I put the Unidentified one with the gibby. around 2 days later I found the Unidentified one dead. Then about a week later I saw this lil black thing dart around when I turned on the light. It was about as long as my finger thumb nail. 2 weeks after that I lifted a cave and this little pleco baby game out. It looks like the one that died, and acts a lot like it. My theory is that the gibby was the female that laid eggs, then the male from the 10gal tank was introduced and fertilized them. then my yoyo loaches tried to eat the eggs, possible killing the male, but one egg survived. Im still not 100% sure if its a gibby, or what the baby is. here are some pics of them. the first 3 are the gibby, and the last is the baby. Sry the pics are a lil blurry, my tank is 40years old and the glass is really etched,

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af165/rjagrunt/
 
I doubt it. Gibbys need mud caves to breed (I think)...usually done in the walls of large ponds in Florida. My guess is that the baby is a baby bristlenose pleco. Perhaps you got some new plants or fish and he was an unexpected hitch hiker.
 
clayt101 said:
I doubt it. Gibbys need mud caves to breed (I think)...usually done in the walls of large ponds in Florida. My guess is that the baby is a baby bristlenose pleco. Perhaps you got some new plants or fish and he was an unexpected hitch hiker.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that would be my suggestion too. Bristlenose eggs in an ornament maybe?

That little guy could be a month old by now.

The bigger pleco sure looks like a Gibby, but no where close to breeding size. They have been known to breed in aquariums, but think 400+gal display tanks with lots of cover. In the wild or commercial ponds they breed in muddy dirt caves.

The little one does look like a baby bristlenose. It's tail fin should have a white tip, it's a bit hard to tell from the picture.

Ian
 
You got a gibby the other I cant tell the pic quality as you mentioned isnt that good. Gibbiceps is a member of the Pterygoplichthys family all of which breed and burrow on the side of mud banks. The have not been reported breeding in the home aquaria. Well there was one report but as mentioned it was a massive tank. You gibby is way to small to breed.

I would like to explain how that pleco came to be out of no where but I wouldnt know. The suggestion of an egg or even a baby being brought in with new plants or ornaments is possible. Better pics would be needed to get a possitive ID.
 
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