Second male?

Hi all,

I'm new here (as of 2 days ago) and my husband and I are working on rearing up our first (surprise) batch of fry from our albino bristlenose plecos. They hatched yesterday and so far are doing well (still large yolk sacs).

I'm not sure if this is the correct area to post this question so mods - feel free to move if it should go somewhere else.

My question:

Since the fry have hatched I've noticed one of our adults that we previously believed to be female (from the lack of bristles further up the nose) is starting to get longer bristles and some of them are branching off. I also noticed her/him fanning under one of our decorations today.

Is it possible that we actually have a 2nd male? Is the sure sign of a male the branching bristles or can females have that too?

Our for sure male - has very prominent bristles all the way up his head with multiple branches on most of them. This female/male still has small bristles just on the rim of its lip (none further up its head), but as I mentioned they now look a little longer and are branching.

If this is actually a male - should we get rid of him?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Jessica

Do you have any pictures of the fish? How big is he/she?

In a 30 gallon tank if you set up places for both males to hide at opposite ends of the tank they should be fine. Just make sure you have a few pieces of wood and a few different hiding places at separate areas of the tank.

it sounds like you do indeed have two males there. The lack of developed bristles is often associated with dominance. The other male was more dominant but for what ever reason the other one has decided he is no longer ok with being in the background. In a tank your size i can not see an issue with it. if it was a tiny tank then i would be suggesting a change.

Sorry for the delayed response...we were out of town for our anniversary.

Anywho. Here is a picture of the proposed 2nd male:

Hopefully that comes out...first time trying to post an image from dropbox Also sorry if it isn't very clear. He is the shyest of the 3 and doesn't like to pose for photos.

Thanks you guys for your responses. I guess we will keep him in there and see how it goes

This is a sub-adult male

females can have them as will i have 2 here that do but just a few and dont go up the nose