Can anyone sex my plecos please? Meet Ziggy and Stardust!

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I am thinking two females. They get those short bristles on the front like that but rarely up the face the way usually males do. However, I can also see body shape differences that would suggest both sexes are present. You need to have caves for plecos. Males will claim them and that is a good clue to sexing. Females may use them but they normally do not claim them.

Plecos want a tight fit in caves ib terms of height and width, Depth should be a a bit more than the length of the biggest fish. If the plecos get bigger over time you may need to get bigger caves.

Brilliant, thank you! I've seen at least one of them pop into a pleco cave, but didn't claim it, but they're also still young, and might prefer different caves too. They do have a different size and shape for sure, even though they were the same age, used to be about the same size, and have been raised in the same conditions/tank/foods etc. Fingers crossed

I do have two pleco caves that should be a tight, but not too tight fit! I've wanted to get more, different shapes, but hard to find online, will take a trip to the fish store soon!

As an extra - since I'm closing down a tank and have been moving fish, I just moved another three young bronze cories meant for rehoming to a different tank, where they've joining three other young bronzes due for rehoming. They've been in the tank for maybe an hour, and I'm seeing a lot of chasing and pre-spawning behaviour... aarrggh! I'm over-run with bronze cory fry already...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

No problems getting caves in the states. I have bought from a few sources over the years and this one does ship to Canada, maybe he will to the UK. I have a lot of caves from them over the years. I must have 50-60 caves of all different materials/sizes/shapes.
https://plecocaves.com/shop/

 

[C-Monster]

Dang, I just released them into their new tank and their hiding under the big piece of driftwood I got for them! I did try to get some side shots of them while I had them contained, but the container they were in isn't very clear and made the photos terrible to see anything. I'll see what I can do once they've settled into the tank and if I can lure them onto the glass/some veggies tomorrow.

Here's their new set up - I got the big curved cave like wood piece specifically for them, and one went and hid under the curve of it immediately, so I'm glad I got it!
View attachment 161170

Could you tell me what makes you think perhaps male/female pair? Would the larger one on the left be the male? These are my first plecos, and I love them to bits.

I'll be adding their pleco caves and hoping for the best either way! @Naughts and @DoubleDutch would appreciate hearing what you guys think too!

Larger would be female, I think. Also the larger one seems to have a longer abdomen (the fins are further apart) whereas the smaller ones fins are closer together so perhaps smaller abdomen. They could be different ages though. So I figured seeing abdomen would help conclude who’s was bigger. Lol. The female will have a longer belly and be a bit bigger!

Also sorry for delayed response. I have been so sleepy this weekend!

 

[C-Monster]

Dang, I just released them into their new tank and their hiding under the big piece of driftwood I got for them! I did try to get some side shots of them while I had them contained, but the container they were in isn't very clear and made the photos terrible to see anything. I'll see what I can do once they've settled into the tank and if I can lure them onto the glass/some veggies tomorrow.

Here's their new set up - I got the big curved cave like wood piece specifically for them, and one went and hid under the curve of it immediately, so I'm glad I got it!
View attachment 161170

Could you tell me what makes you think perhaps male/female pair? Would the larger one on the left be the male? These are my first plecos, and I love them to bits.

I'll be adding their pleco caves and hoping for the best either way! @Naughts and @DoubleDutch would appreciate hearing what you guys think too!

Side note: what a gorgeous aqua scape! Drooling.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Larger would be female, I think. Also the larger one seems to have a longer abdomen (the fins are further apart) whereas the smaller ones fins are closer together so perhaps smaller abdomen. They could be different ages though. So I figured seeing abdomen would help conclude who’s was bigger. Lol. The female will have a longer belly and be a bit bigger!

Also sorry for delayed response. I have been so sleepy this weekend!

That's really interesting, learning how to sex them, thank you! Don't be sorry for delay! It's not an urgent situation at all, and real life always comes first Hope you've managed to catch up on your z's


I've added their pleco caves just in case, and will just keep fingers crossed that they're male and female (pretty sure they're the same age, got them within weeks of each other, same supplier/breeder) and they were the same size at first - I was even worried that the larger one might be dominating the smaller one and that accounting for the size difference, but never saw any actual fighting. The larger one does seem to be "bossier", or the leader might be a better way of putting it. They're often near each other, but the bigger one investigates new food and appears first usually and the smaller one follows. As long as they continue to get along, I'm content! Really enjoy having them

The larger one, Ziggy, seems to have claimed the cave-like part of the big wood piece for themselves. They didn't come out for food that I saw last night, and I haven't yet figured out Stardust's new hidey hole - I saw her briefly wiggle behind the wood piece sticking up and left, which has the middle part all along it's length almost scooped out, like it's been carved (but hasn't), so it's perfect for a pleco to hide in. I'll still attempt to get more pics when they feel brave enough to come out of hiding! They became pretty bold in their last tank, always coming out to the front for evening meal time, so fingers crossed they're just settling in.

Side note: what a gorgeous aqua scape! Drooling.

Thank you so much! That made my day I'm no aqua-scaper, but I love live plants, and really wanted to make something with the plecs and cories in mind. Always want each tank to look better than the next! So thank you

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

No problems getting vaves in the states. I have bought from a few sources over the years and this one does ship to Canada, maybe he will to the UK. I have a lot of caves from them over the years. I must have 50-60 caves of all different materials/sizes/shapes.
https://plecocaves.com/shop/

Wow, they really have everything! That mixed pack, where they have a variety of different shaped caves in a bundle is exactly the sort of thing I'd hoped to find online, but couldn't. To give the plecs a variety of options, you know. Thank you for the link


Sounds as though you may have a cave hoarding problem though...

Kidding! I know that you breed a lot of fish

 

[C-Monster]

That's really interesting, learning how to sex them, thank you! Don't be sorry for delay! It's not an urgent situation at all, and real life always comes first Hope you've managed to catch up on your z's


I've added their pleco caves just in case, and will just keep fingers crossed that they're male and female (pretty sure they're the same age, got them within weeks of each other, same supplier/breeder) and they were the same size at first - I was even worried that the larger one might be dominating the smaller one and that accounting for the size difference, but never saw any actual fighting. The larger one does seem to be "bossier", or the leader might be a better way of putting it. They're often near each other, but the bigger one investigates new food and appears first usually and the smaller one follows. As long as they continue to get along, I'm content! Really enjoy having them

The larger one, Ziggy, seems to have claimed the cave-like part of the big wood piece for themselves. They didn't come out for food that I saw last night, and I haven't yet figured out Stardust's new hidey hole - I saw her briefly wiggle behind the wood piece sticking up and left, which has the middle part all along it's length almost scooped out, like it's been carved (but hasn't), so it's perfect for a pleco to hide in. I'll still attempt to get more pics when they feel brave enough to come out of hiding! They became pretty bold in their last tank, always coming out to the front for evening meal time, so fingers crossed they're just settling in.

Thank you so much! That made my day I'm no aqua-scaper, but I love live plants, and really wanted to make something with the plecs and cories in mind. Always want each tank to look better than the next! So thank you

Keep us updated! My pygmy corys are being weirdos today - they made me worry there was ammonia (there was not I double checked). So maybe it’s just that time of the month for fish. Lol. Hope your babies settle in nicely, I sure would in a home like that.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Keep us updated! My pygmy corys are being weirdos today - they made me worry there was ammonia (there was not I double checked). So maybe it’s just that time of the month for fish. Lol. Hope your babies settle in nicely, I sure would in a home like that.

Ohhhh, we need to become forum besties, I have pygmy cories too! Different tank, they're a breeding colony that's always spawning! If you want to encourage the chances of babies, do a couple of large water changes, with the water 2-3 degrees cooler than the usual tank temp. That should do the trick if you've been seeing a lot of chasing and pre-spawning behaviour


This tank of mine is still in the really early days of being set up and planted, I'm excited to see how it looks when the plants have grown in more in a couple of months. You can follow the build, set up and future updates in this thread, if you'd like! I really, really appreciate the advice and the compliments, thank you

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh wow - The video I mentioned earlier about how to tell L183's from L181 plecs, I'd commented to the video creator about my two, and they've kindly responded a couple of times. Seems a good source of advice since they keep both, you know? They've let me know that it takes 3-5 YEARS for these guys to reach full maturity. That the males get the full head bristles by the time they're about 3 inches - I'm not great at judging sizes like that, but I don't think mine are quite there yet. Has put my mind at ease a bit about why they still seem pretty small to me.

But wow, I had no idea it could take that long for a smaller sized pleco to reach full maturity. I guess patience is in order!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Yeah, one of the plecs just came out of hiding to nom on an algae disc, and body size is about the same size as my largest chunky adult female bronze cories, with only the tail adding slightly more length.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Finally got around to adding the black background to the tank, really improves things! The hornwort floating at the top at the moment is only temporary since it's a newish, seeded set up. Established filter, but tank is still settling in. Added better light as well. Have seen more of the plecos lately, not enough to be able to get clear photos of them, but I think they're settling in!
Also the ugly green netting over the filter intake on the right in only temporary, rushed to cover it when I added the shrimp, but I'll switch it for black netting to help it blend into the background, and get the intake hidden behind the crypts. Same for heater and internal filter on the left.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Finally got around to adding the black background to the tank, really improves things! The hornwort floating at the top at the moment is only temporary since it's a newish, seeded set up. Established filter, but tank is still settling in. Added better light as well. Have seen more of the plecos lately, not enough to be able to get clear photos of them, but I think they're settling in!
Also the ugly green netting over the filter intake on the right in only temporary, rushed to cover it when I added the shrimp, but I'll switch it for black netting to help it blend into the background, and get the intake hidden behind the crypts. Same for heater and internal filter on the left.
View attachment 161362View attachment 161363

really nice !!!! Good job !

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

really nice !!!! Good job !

Thank you! That really means a lot coming from you especially!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Stardust came to the front - was on the front glass a couple of times, but shot away the moment I grabbed the camera of course. These were the best I could get for now:

Kept this blurry one only because that's a chunky female adult albino aeneus right above the pleco, for an idea of size:

In case a side and back view helps at all?