though it seems not attracted to foods or algae wafers... it continually eats bio film, like my Zebra Oto... it seems to be nocturnal, as I only ever see it at 1st light... super white long fin bushy nose
It's a graceful nice looking fish... this one seems to be thriving
- Thread starter Magnum Man
- Start date
Well, just like humans each individual specimen has got its own favorite food over what they usually would eat.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
It is a mistake to think the Ancistrus are just algae or vegetable eaters. What they mostly are is Aufwuchs feeders. This if from Ingo Seidel's book Back to Nature Guide to L-Catfishes (I own this book and have a funny story about it and Ingo which transpired over a few years).
"These very highly specialized Aufwuchs-feeders include, for example, the popular Baryancistrus species, Chaetostoma, and numerous Ancistrus, as well as the L-number catfishes of the genera Pseudancistrus, Guianancistrus, Lasiancistrus, Hopliancistrus, Zonancistrus, and a number of others. In the wild the central Amazonian species as well as those from the upper Orinoco drainage inhabit very warm shallow-water zones with a strong current and feed all through the night. In the aquarium, however, they frequently receive food only once a day and are also generally kept at too cool a temperature. Species like the very popular "Golden Nuggets(Baryancistrus sp. 'L018', 'L081', 'L177') for example, usually respond to this by a complete standstill in their growth. Even after years of captive maintenance they frequently remain unnaturally small. In the worst case scenario they may also become emaciated and sooner or later die.
For this reason it is important to feed these out-and-out vegetarians several times per day (at least twice) with a diet consisting predominantly of vegetable food. Suitable foods include many types of vegetable, for example, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, sweet peppers, carrot, potato, and many more. Even if this food has to be weighed down with pebbles, a piece of non-rusting metal, or similar, it offers the major advantage that it is available to the fishes throughout the day and they can feed on it continuously in accordance with their natural habits."
And then this from Planetcatfish:
"These fish are grazers, but not in the sense that they eat only vegetation. They actually sift and chew at the film of organic matter on hard surfaces in search of higher protein foods. In the wild this would constitute a variety of foods from small insect larvae and crustaceans to other animals eggs and possibly even recently dead animals. With this in mind, frozen foods such as bloodworm and blackworm should be offered along with frozen prawns. Algae and plants are avoided, but cucumber and courgette appear on the accepted menu. Accepted food morsel size changes with age in all of these fish."
When I wanted to help to get my BN to spawn I would use two things, canned green beans (the no salt added kind) and blood worms. Also, Aufwuchs feeder do live in cooler waters. (I lifted the above from a post on PlanetCatfish as I did not want ti have to type it all from my book. Thw section on Aufwuchs feeders ia severl pages long.)
And then there is this- out in mid-day light just "lazing on a sunny afternoon."
"These very highly specialized Aufwuchs-feeders include, for example, the popular Baryancistrus species, Chaetostoma, and numerous Ancistrus, as well as the L-number catfishes of the genera Pseudancistrus, Guianancistrus, Lasiancistrus, Hopliancistrus, Zonancistrus, and a number of others. In the wild the central Amazonian species as well as those from the upper Orinoco drainage inhabit very warm shallow-water zones with a strong current and feed all through the night. In the aquarium, however, they frequently receive food only once a day and are also generally kept at too cool a temperature. Species like the very popular "Golden Nuggets(Baryancistrus sp. 'L018', 'L081', 'L177') for example, usually respond to this by a complete standstill in their growth. Even after years of captive maintenance they frequently remain unnaturally small. In the worst case scenario they may also become emaciated and sooner or later die.
For this reason it is important to feed these out-and-out vegetarians several times per day (at least twice) with a diet consisting predominantly of vegetable food. Suitable foods include many types of vegetable, for example, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, sweet peppers, carrot, potato, and many more. Even if this food has to be weighed down with pebbles, a piece of non-rusting metal, or similar, it offers the major advantage that it is available to the fishes throughout the day and they can feed on it continuously in accordance with their natural habits."
And then this from Planetcatfish:
"These fish are grazers, but not in the sense that they eat only vegetation. They actually sift and chew at the film of organic matter on hard surfaces in search of higher protein foods. In the wild this would constitute a variety of foods from small insect larvae and crustaceans to other animals eggs and possibly even recently dead animals. With this in mind, frozen foods such as bloodworm and blackworm should be offered along with frozen prawns. Algae and plants are avoided, but cucumber and courgette appear on the accepted menu. Accepted food morsel size changes with age in all of these fish."
When I wanted to help to get my BN to spawn I would use two things, canned green beans (the no salt added kind) and blood worms. Also, Aufwuchs feeder do live in cooler waters. (I lifted the above from a post on PlanetCatfish as I did not want ti have to type it all from my book. Thw section on Aufwuchs feeders ia severl pages long.)
And then there is this- out in mid-day light just "lazing on a sunny afternoon."
All of my ancistruses eat aufwuchs besides algae and greens. So, I certainly agree with what you're saying...
But they also don't mind to eat from a dead fish.
But they also don't mind to eat from a dead fish.
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