breeding leopard frog plecs [few unansered questions?]

[simotastic]

Hi i have recently purchased 3 leopard frog plec [1 male 2 females] i have purchased and set up a jewel rio 125 for breeding them in. The water is quite soft, PH 7.5, nitrite 0mg/l, ammonia 0mg/l, nitrate 25-30 mg/l, temp 26 degrees [will lower to 23 when everything is ready and im happy with everything]. Two air stones, 3 [6"] pvc tubes held together in a triangle shape by rubber bands [times 3], various bog wood and some java ferm. Feeding once a day on frozen blood worm and a slither of either cucumber or marrow [they love marrows]. without going into vast detail i just wanted to ask a couple of questions.

1. does the female go gravid before or after you lower the tempurature to begin the breeding cycle?

2. i have been told that at the rate they are being taken out of the wild that they will become black listed and be on the banned export list soon? like the zebs.

3. haw many fry to an average spawn form one female that has been well conditioned?

4. does the information i have given sound good or is there anything in there that you belive i have got wrong

5. someone told me that they like mushrooms???????????/ but it sound like bull to me

6 are the elastic bands ok i no they will go hard over time but is there any apparant threat at the moment?
7 if i think of anything else i will add it, dear forum modorators if i have broke a rule or made a mistake please do not hesitate to tell me as i dont want to anoy anyone

[apistomaster]

I only feed mine earthworm sticks, frozen blood worms and live black worms in a bowl. No idea if they eat 'shrooms or not; never tried anything from the produce dept.
I keep them at 84 to 86*F
They have been seasonal breeders for me. For 2 seasons they have begun spawning late Feb/early March then stopped about the end of August/beginning of Sept. There were partially successful spawns during the winter in which only a few fry resulted.
Typical brood size is about 25. I have raised around 400 fry to date.
Very soft water has been more productive than my tap water but I have had some good results in only tap water. Best results were at a TDS of >60 ppm. The pH seems less important but my tap water is only 7.4 but once the TDS has been lowered the pH usually drifts down to about 6.0. Freshets of RO water may help induce their first spawn but once they begin spawning they don't seem to need much inducement.
Rubber bands do no harm.
I don't know if they will use PVC but if they do, most likely they will only use them if one end is plugged. I use ~6" long rectangular caves made from ceramic floor tiles with a stone finish glued together with silicone sealant.
Hope something here helps.

[MatsP]

I believe many plecos like mushrooms - Ancistrus, Common pleco and Hemiancistrus sp(L128) all take them. Since I haven't actually kept

Peckoltia compta

, I can't say if they eat it or not. I do feed a fair bit of vegetables to my fish whenever I can, courgette (zucchini), sweet potato and such are my most commonly used foods, but I do stick the odd common white mushroom in the tank when I have a spare one. Why not try?

A varied diet in general is a good plan.

--
Mats