Questions about tank setup for L134

[JEK]

I'm planning to set 128 litres (30 gal) up for leopard frog plecos and they are completely new species for me. So I have a few questions.

First of all is 40 x 80cm (16 x 32 inches)bottom area enough for small group (thinking of 1+2 or 2+3)? What should the turnover rate be, 10 times the tank volume, 20 times? Filtration is going to be covered with eheim 2226 or 2228. But should I add a small stream (maybe koralia nano) to create more current?

How does their natural habitat look like? Quessing that sand and caves, but more rocky or woody? And amount of plants, much, little, none?

Probably soft and slightly acidic/neutral water?

Thanks in advance

[apistomaster]

Your tank is large enough for at least 8 adult L134, 3 males and 5 females.
I have my breeding group made up of that many set up in a 20 Long which is only 12 X 12 X30 inches. I provide one cave per male and several pieces of drift wood where some of the females hide. Some of them simply hide underneath the pedestal type sponge filters I use.
I use about 1/4 inch of silica sand mixed with a little fluorite gravel substrate.
I have 2 large sponge filters with one of them running the built-in air lift and the other has a MaxiJet 600 power head attached. There is also an air stone running vigorously. I lay over on it's side the power head drive sponge filter so it is pushing a current across the bottom perpendicular to the openings of the rectangular caves made of stone finished ceramic floor tiles and glued together with aquarium silicone sealant.
I have a floating cover of Ceratophyullum demersum, Tropical Hornwort. There is also a colony of Cherry shrimp sharing their tank.
I keep the water at 84*F.
I find mine are seasonal breeders and they stop spawning within +/- two weeks of Sept 1st and resume within +/- two weeks of March 1st. During their resting season I maintain them in my tap water which has a pH of 7.4 and TDS of 340 ppm.
A few weeks before I expect the first spawns I begin making a series of 50% water changes using RO water until the TDS drops to >75 ppm. I try to keep them in soft water with the TDS between 50 and 75 ppm throughout their breeding season. I do this in situ and may use water changes of tap water to elevate the TDS and repeat the follow on water changes with RO water. The pH will slowly drop in the soft water without the addition of any acid buffer products due to the greatly reduced KH. The water will remain somewhere between 6.2 and 6.6 pH.
I do not make any attempt to simulate their biotope and only provide a utilitarian set of conditions I find are conducive to breeding this species.
I alternately feed earth worm sticks with frozen blood worms and the fish are usually fed twice a day.

[JEK]

Thank you, apistomaster. Lots of useful info on the reply.

I'm going for biotope-type setting with this tank. So it would be highly appreciated if someone could provide some info on that habitat-question, especially should I decorate the tank mainly with wood or rocks/slate?

[MatsP]

From what I understand, the area they come from in Brazil is mainly large rocks - there are probably SMALL rocks too. Slate or smooth granite would reflect this fairly well. It's likely that some wood also gets snagged in some of the rocks from time to time, but they are not generally living in a wood-tangle as such.

--
Mats

[stensson]

Thank you, apistomaster. Lots of useful info on the reply

I second that!!

Really like when people give the extra info about the breeding.


Thanks Larry

[apistomaster]

Thank you all, too.
If I were setting up a biotope for L134 I would use about 1/2 inch thick layer of fine silica sand and a lot of pebbles and cobbles with a few pieces of wood. Pretty much as MatsP suggested. Some caves with closed end should be built into the theme of the tank as they do need a protected spot which is easy to guard for breeding and fry brooding. Some of the home made terra cotta caves several people make and sell on line would be easy to work in between some cobbles. The caves I use are made from ceramic floor tiles with a rock finish and glued together with silicone sealant. They are a half tile in length, 5-1/2 inches and about 1-1/4 inches square. Some are a bit more or less but all the same length. These could be blended into a natural themed tank and hidden by cobbles laid over and around them.
I know some people who have bred L134 without providing any more current than what their filters provide, I use the power-head/sponge filter combo to provide a simulated current. I believe L134 come from fairly fast runs below rapids or in quieter water along the rapids. There would normally not be any plants in these places but I would probably use at least some of one of the 3 free floating plant species I previously mentioned.
It isn't possible to faithfully reproduce a biotope in an aquarium. This is true simply because an aquarium is a closed system. The use a free floating plant improves water quality and yet the bottom where plecos live would remain similar to their natural habitat.