Anyone have success in breeding L128/L190?

[Blackhawker]

I'm really curious about this. I've run across some funds and would love to try it someday once I do a heavy amount of research, but the more I read up about it, I'm finding both specimen's are incredibly hard to spawn.

[MatsP]

L128 has been bred, but only a few times. There is a post about one breeding success somewhere in the last few weeks.

L190, or any other large panaque has not been reported in a way that can be verified - there was a post/article on a cichlid forum site some time ago that raised some expectations, but there was never any follow-up pictures of fry developing into juveniles, etc. And more importantly, no repeat... To the best knowledge on this forum, they have never been successfully bred in captivity.

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Mats

[2wheelsx2]

It's sounding like more and more people are having success with the phantoms (L128, L200), but as Mats said, either no one is trying very hard, or the L190's are just that difficult. I've seen the aggression some of the bigger ones show though, so the containment size could be a problem. What size L190s do you have and what size tank are you trying to breed them in?

[Blackhawker]

Well I'm going to have an empty 75 gal soon, and I'd like to start breeding. I have a friend who breeds zebras very easily so I have direction and help too. I don't understand how a L190 could be so much tougher then any other plecos.

[2wheelsx2]

Not sure if anyone knows what mature sizing and age is, for one thing. I recently came across a 14" one for sale (female) that was probably 3 lbs. So if you need to get 2 that size into a 75 gallon, the aggression could be bad. This one was beat up pretty bad from being housed in a 125 gallon with a Blue Eye that was about the same size.

[MatsP]

Not sure if anyone knows what mature sizing and age is, for one thing. I recently came across a 14" one for sale (female) that was probably 3 lbs. So if you need to get 2 that size into a 75 gallon, the aggression could be bad. This one was beat up pretty bad from being housed in a 125 gallon with a Blue Eye that was about the same size.

Yeah, I think we are looking more like 750 gal tank size to have a possibility of breeding these - and as Shane suggested, it may work better if they are brought up together (which takes a LONG time). This is highly likely a large proportion of why no one breeds these - if they are kept in what most people deem a "large" tank (100 gal or thereabouts), it's just not big enough to hold two of these fish when they are mature. Remember, this is a species that grows to about 15", so a 75 gal tank is too small for even ONE adult.

Beyond that, it becomes a case of how to trigger them (dropping the temperature in a 750 gal tank takes a BIG water change, likewise for dropping the TDS level), and how to make the female get into breeding conditions, suitable caves (BIG!), etc, etc.

The reason small fish are easier to breed is mainly that they are smaller, so it takes much less of all these factors to make alter things in the tank.

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Mats

[Farid]

hi there,
as far i know no one has yet bred any Panaque sp.!

farid

[MatsP]

as far i know no one has yet bred any Panaque sp.!

Well, depends on whether you consider Panaqolus as the valid name of smaller wood-eating fish or not. The small ones have been bred by a few people. Large ones, not often at all...

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Mats

[MTS]

A bloke I know in melbourne bred L128.

[Richard B]

Well I'm going to have an empty 75 gal soon, and I'd like to start breeding. I have a friend who breeds zebras very easily so I have direction and help too. I don't understand how a L190 could be so much tougher then any other plecos.

How big is the big panaque at Pier? 18" or a bit more? It's a monster with aggressive tendancies to other plecos so a 75g would be too small for a single specimen. If you have a 75g free then L128 is a better option in this size tank.

The pleco family have a huge variety of breeding methods so where one species might be easy another might be near-impossible