Hi guys,

serious question this time,

i need a fish id but i can't seem to find a different's between the 182 and 183 apart from in adults the fins lose all of there seams on the 182?

these guys are at 4" long, and are a little cloudy in patches but its fair to say they had a long journey to get to there home,

there's defo a male and a female, see pic1, female left male right ?

Pic 1:

i have managed to get a couple of pics of the male, see if anyone can help me out,

thanks in advance,

Dave



and while it's flashing one more for ya....

The pepps Id are always the tricky ones....

There defo not L183's.......99% of the time L183's have the white seam.....L182's can have white seams as Juvi's but thats as far as they go, just the same as commons as juvi's have white tips on there fins then they dissapear as they grow....

Although your male show's signs of being a young L182 im not 100%....

Especially when you frow these guy's into the mix...

http://www.bristlenoseworld.com/t942-ancistrus-peppermint-bnl181

http://www.bristlenoseworld.com/t950-ancistrus-sp-lda75-l100

Take your pic...

Its either L182 or L181......im just not sure.....

ahhh Curby,

i was hoping you would be on sooner or later,

there about 4" long, and approx 1.5-2 years old, (i'm convinced there not 183's)

the tips of the caudal tail still has some white on it but seams to be gone from the sail fin,

i went to look at them as 183, but told them they where't when i was there,

i took the fish anyway as i felt sorry for them all crammed up in a 1.5 foot tank with a shed load of corys, rainbows and other things,

i have read so many conflicting storey's online, regards 182/183's,

183 that are true white seams but lose there white seam, 182's that keep part of theres, the more i read the more i get confused,

regards the 181 pep, these are much bigger fish ? i would have thought that these gus would be bigger at aprox 2 years old ?

hahahha anyway, let the fun begin

Regarding the size, my old male was easily 7 inches maybe more and my female is the same...
I kept one juvi from there spawn and after 2 and a half years she is at about 4 1/2 inches and as being growning out in a 5ft tank....

So im leaning more towards the L182 going off the age and size of yours.....

yeah there pretty much the lines i was looking across, suppose now i better get some reading done on the 182's habits and conditions,

seen as your a bit of a pro do you have any light to throw on the situation,

somewhere down the line i'm going to attempted to breed these lil fellers and just wondered what your top tips and reccomendations would be,

they will be moved over to a 4ft tank in the next week or so, i'm just finishing it off,
-what age or size is recommended for reproduction, (as you said yours where 7")
-groups, 2m 3f ?
-caves, just bigger than the male, slate caves ? home made pots,
-strong current across the front of the tank, entrance's to caves,

all the best,

Dave

I'm also sure there not 183's as they have 8-10 soft dorsal rays and 1 hard one. all the others only have 7-8 soft dorsal rays. As far as i know this is the only way to tell the difference. here is a great article I read on them..they also give several plecos that look nearly the same witch you might be able to pick yours out of.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=380

i've removed this post as its not relivant, mine are the top pics only

they are L181 / L071 not L182 as im if correct L182 only have gold spots thee have white spots they look like my L181 and they are nly 4.5" long anf are breeding at this size have they got a wide body ?

here is my male L181 :





they have a white tip oin the top and bottom of there tail when young they have whit end to there tail like L183 thats why some people are sol these as L183 but then find out they aint

stunning fish and getting harder to find

thanks ownz-

if you look at your last pic and compare the tips of the tail to this male i think there very similar......

i'll try and get some top pics tonight to show thickness and size etc....

oh theres a pic from the top at the top of the post if this helps but its at a distance,

also i'll try and get the female on film....she's shy

Dave

they also look like the same stress markins as mine get also
i woul go for L181 more then L182 as white spots / tips on the tails / stress marks and does the fish look flat near its top dorsal finage?

I'm agreeing with OwNz , they look more like L181's than 182's.

yup, i'm pretty much convinced there the 181, if poss i would like to rule out the l100 so i'll have to do a bit of research on that........

are there any other give a way signs on the 181 to look for, soft tail spikes, body lining etc etc

all the best,

Dave

i agree now ive seen your pics ownz......
it was the spots that i wasnt sure about ie L181's white spots and L182's Gold spots.....big give away really...

Here's my old male....








And here's a young Juvi alongside a common and a LDA72..all posing..