Albino vs Lemon BN Pleco

What is the difference, and is one genetically sounder than the other?

I recently lost a very young albino longfin to unknown causes (only 6 weeks old or so 3cm) , I suspect he had ich which appeared literally overnight , but I'm not certain, he had something obvious and severe wrong internally too and I lost him just last night RIP

Now, I'm looking into getting another...slightly older, "2.5 - "3 BN in hope it'll fair better.
(after the tank has been watched for a couple of weeks of course)

I have albino, golden and lemon available to me.
The only clear difference I notice between them are the eyes, the albino have pink eyes and the golden and lemon have blue, but otherwise the colors appear identical.
I'm guessing the Lemons are leucistic as apposed to true albino.

Does anyone know if Lemon plecos are leucistic ? and if so , would this make them a little less sensitive and susceptible to disease than true albinos?

 

I can't answer your question but wanted to say I am sorry that your little guy lost his battle

 

Thank you for your condolences I am pretty heartbroken about it honestly, he was a great little fish. But I tried my very best. At least he's no longer in pain.

 

What is the difference, and is one genetically sounder than the other?

I recently lost a very young albino longfin to unknown causes (only 6 weeks old or so 3cm) , I suspect he had ich which appeared literally overnight , but I'm not certain, he had something obvious and severe wrong internally too and I lost him just last night RIP

Now, I'm looking into getting another...slightly older, "2.5 - "3 BN in hope it'll fair better.
(after the tank has been watched for a couple of weeks of course)

I have albino and lemon available to me.
The only clear difference I notice between the two are the eyes, the albino have pink eyes and the lemon have blue, but otherwise the colors appear identical.
I'm guessing the Lemons are leucistic as apposed to true albino.

Does anyone know if Lemon plecos are leucistic ? and if so , would this make them a little less sensitive and susceptible to disease than true albinos?

I have three plecos one albino BN male that I bought as fully bristled young male. 1 lemon blue eyed L144 female that I bought as a youngster about 1 and 1/2 inch tip of nose to the end of her tail and one Blue eyed yellow ancistrus who was about 2 inches when I bought her. They are all BN plecos. The L144 is the smallest of the three at about 3 to 31/2 inches I have had her about one and a half years and she is different than the other Blue eyed yellow ancistrus. The latter one looks more like my male except her eyes are blue and she is also bigger than the L144. Was your pleco eating vegetables daily as well as wafers and shrimp pellets? I am so sorry you lost yours. They are my favorite of all my fish. Alison

 

Oh! thank you for the reply, that's very interesting! So Lemons are smaller from your experience? or do you think it depends on genetics?
Unfortunately my LFS doesn't include identification codes so I cannot say what exactly they are, though I'm assuming if yours is lemon blue eyed, then these are probably L144 too ?
They do state that the expected adult size is up to "6 for males and "4-"5 for females but this could have just been taken from a general BN guide. I do know albinos are generally a little smaller than natural colored ones.
Thank you for your condolences too, I will truly miss him.
He was eating correctly on minI HikarI algae wafers, zucchinI , carrot or cucumber daily and de-shelled boiled peas once a week . He would often rasp on the driftwood and occasionally nibble on remains from the zebra danio's bloodworm and flake too. He was active and eating regularly right up to when he passed so I am really stumped on what could have happened to the poor thing
Though, I can honestly admit that BNs , even after such a short experience, have quickly become a favorite of mine too, they're truly lovely little creatures and he will always be remembered.

 

I'm sorry for your loss, my lemon is about 4 inches and I got him at around 1 1/2 inches a year ago. He is fab but haven't had any other BN so can't comment on size etc.
Mine is very peaceful, doesn't bother anyone or my plants unbelievably, he does kick my dwarf cichlid out of one cave then the other though

I prefer the lemon but I'm not a great fan of any albino, I think it's the eyes that freak me out a bit

 

The L144 should top out at 4 inches. The albinos usually get and inch smaller than the standard BN pleco. My male BN Lucky is a golden yellow with red eyes. and my blue eyed yellow ancistrus is also the same golden yellow with blue eyes, her name is Bella. Buttercup the L144 is a lemon yellow color with the blue eyes and was bought from a breeder. The albino also comes in a white form with red eyes as well. The 2 girls are definitely not the same color. Sounds like your's was eating well. I was asking because some people think they can live off the algae in the tank and they end up starving to death. I am not sure about genetic differences as far as health goes. Alison

 

@
Thank you for your condolences, he will be missed </3
Aww! He sounds just lovely! bless em. I noticed my little one never bothered any of my plants either! and surprisingly was quite comfortable with his little danio friends entering his cave lol! Perhaps because he wasn't sexually mature though, I do hear they're quite territorial once they reach that age.
I think I may go with the lemon or golden simply for the fact they are a little bigger than the albinos they're carrying at the moment and will probably find eat easier competing for food with my greedy Danios haha.
@aliray
Thank you so much for all the information, it's really interesting!
Your guys all sound amazing, what sweethearts.
I have also just found a local breeder carrying "2.5 longfin Golden ancistrus with blue eyes too. I might go and have a look at those tomorrow . I've got a couple of weeks to wait anyway, make sure my tank isn't carrying anything that needs treating, so plenty of time to decide All I know for now is I would like one a little older because I think 3cms was probably a little too small
Oh gosh yes I have heard of that too, but no..I did lots of research before getting my guy and really did want the best for him.

 

If you go to the pleco forum I have a picture of my male lucky . Introducing my male ABN Lucky. And if you go the pleco picture sticky section Than Double Dutch has some pictures of his 2 girls both L144's There are lots of picture in that section of plecos that member have. Alison

 

Lemons are Xanthistic

 

@aliray , Oh! still getting used to the forum, haven't quite found my way around yet so thank you I will definitely check out you guy's plecs.
@DoubleDutch
Wow! that makes so much more sense thank you, what a gorgeous girl. I've only bred dogs so I'm not too familiar with xanthochromism and xanthism lol! very interesting reading up on it though.
So, the "golden" ones, that look pale like albinos but have the blue eyes. Would they be the leucistic ones? or am I just looking too much into it haha, the ones I looked at today labelled as golden look like this, but with blue eyes


(Image courtesy of google s)

 

I think the leucistic ones have the black eyes not blue but with the same coloring but I could be wrong. I am still learning and trying to get it straight in my own head. I rely on Double Dutch for that kind of info. Alison

 

That would make sense! though in Canine genetics it's possible and very common for leucistic dogs to have blue, but can also have green , amber or brown eyes. Aaahh fishy genetics I know nothing about them.
It's definitely very different and something I would love/need to learn as I plan on possibly breeding these guys in the distant future when I have more experience. I'm only versed in canine genetics thus far. Though from all the good things I read about DoubleDutch , he appears to be the go to guy!

 

Hahaha I'am not knowing it all and definitely 100% sure. To my knowledge it is just like Alison said : having "normal" black eyes. Funny thing is there are also yellow albinos available overhere !!!

 

Fffft! still 100% more than I do at this point haha! I've got a lot to learn and all opinions, experience and advice are very much appreciated
It's funny you say that! My little one I lost (in my ID photo) was very much yellow in color and albino too, he was a German bred import , I think Europe has some strange ones, I've even seen dragon green ones online. It's a very complicated subject, but very interesting nonetheless.

 

Ancistrus will crossbreed, interbreed, overbreed, linebreed, aso if they get the chance hahaha.

 

Oh yesss, that much I do know!
It's very difficult to find any true single and identifiable strain, I notice most don't even have codes, and the ones that do are significantly pricier.