Mixing Hypancistrus spp.

[Savant]

While sourcing for L46 livestock, I went ahead and bought 3 Hypancitrus sp. from NKS which is believed to be either L174, L333, L236, L129... and 2 other hypancitrus sp. from Fish Pet World labelled as L333, 2 pieces of L168 (a peckolita) and a L239.

The initial plan was to grow these guys out in the 3ft L46 Hardscape and transfer them into my 4ft community tank when I get my L46s. I am also thinking of setting up a seperate breeding tank for them in the future. The problem is, I am having difficulty identfying which is which... With such a mixed bag and no sure way of ID, will they interbreed and cause problems?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[celticfish]

I believe if they are similar sized individual you shouldn't have a problem.
But watch the matured length though.
L046 is about a good 1" smaller than the rest.
So when matured specimens are concerned they rest will probably out compete the L046 for space and food.

Difficulty in ID is normal for these guys, especially when not matured.
Remember Forrest Gump?
"Life is like a box of chocolates"...
So you may not be able to tell what you actually have till they are matured enought to ID.

To aggrvate the above, exporters try to label for "best price".
And the local imoporter doesn't have much guarantee on what they ordered.

[Savant]

Actually that is why anyone who wants to try breeding hypancistrus spp. should try the L46 (if available), its alot easier to be sure that you are getting the same fish...

[Quixotic]

If it was that easy, it would have been much readily available and very much affordable.

[Savant]

Oh what I meant was that it would be easier to ensure that when you buy a L46, you will actually get an L46... not that it would be easy to breed them

With the other lookalikes such as the L333, L66, L174, L236, L129 they look really similar and are often mislabelled. So if you buy six of them at different times, you may end up with a mix of different spp.