Why so white? Any ideas?

[plecoman]

This female is whiter than any albino bristlenose I've ever seen! Her offspring are also whiter. Is this a good trait, or should I take her out of production and replace her with one that is more the traditional color? I think that she is beautiful! She is an egg laying machine also! Below I will also add pictures of her young.

Young from 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch. Over 200 in this tank.

Newly hatched batch of over 100.

 

[Doodles]

I'm not sure what is bred Ancistrus cf cirrhosus wise to make 'albinos' but you are likely to get different 'shades'. There was a thread on here where one of the members said that 'albinos' aren't real 'albino' even though they have red eyes. Ill have to try and find the thread for you.

 

[plecoman]

Thanks Doodles! That will be interesting!

 

[Irene0100]

they look stunning.
my only idea would be that albino often look pink because of blood, so maybe yours are actually white fish, or anaemic - ie diet related, so as long as they are getting a wide variety of food, I would assume they have some white pigment??

 

[plecoman]

They do get a wide variety of food. Shrimp and spirulina flake's are rotated. They also get the pleco wafers and the occasional zucchini. And of course they go after an left over flake food that I feed their tank mates too. Thanks for the info.!

 

[Doodles]

I would try and increase the veggies, these types of bristlenoses should really be fed an omnivore diet that leans more towards veggies. My albinos get veg every other day, plus algae wafers every other day, and occasionally something meaty. Spiirulina is good to feed but maybe not so much shrimp lol.

Theres a veggie list here that should help

http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49

 

[plecoman]

I found out today from a good source, who came by to see the big ABN female, that she is a true "albino". He said that the more popular one's, going around today that are more orange in color, are a cross between a pure albino and a gold. I think that I'm going to try to find a pure albino male to mate her with. He said that he has seen them before. :thumbup:

 

[Lornek8]

What's a "gold"? I've never heard of it as a color morph of a "Common".

What could be going on is that there are a couple of color conditions going on at the same time. There are a couple of conditions that result in coloration similar to an albino. A standard albino has reduced or absent melanin but this is not necessarily a total lack of coloration which is why you can still see a pattern in a standard albino. Leucism is a lack of all body pigment which results in a patternless solid coloration but maintains normal colored eyes (theres a lot that goes into it so google it for the full scoop). Cross leucism & albinoism & it may be possible to get a patternless solid colored fish with red eyes. See the various cornsnake/ball python/python morphs for examples of these various conditions & crosses.

 

[plecoman]

I though he was talking about the "Gold banded L134", but I'll have to double check to make sure. Thanks for the info! :thumbup:

 

[Lornek8]

I though he was talking about the "Gold banded L134", but I'll have to double check to make sure. Thanks for the info! :thumbup:

"Gold banded L134" cannot cross with a Bushynose, they're different families.

I'm assuming he/she meant a gold color morph of the common bushynose, but the question is what is that? What does a gold BN look like? What are the genetics behind it? How does it differ from an albino?

Normal = brown coloration
Calico/marble = splotchy light/dark coloration
albino = light body, red eyes
L144/leucistic = light body, normal colored eyes
Gold = ?

 

[plecoman]

I'm lost myself on that!

 

[plecoman]

I thought this guy knew what he was talking about. He has raised many over the years and also had an aquarium shop. I still haven't been able to reach him again to ask him that question. I'll let you know when I do though! Thanks