Want to try and breed some plecos

[bgates]

hey all im want to try my hand at breeding some pleco and dont know what to get can anyone help me out with something to start will i have breed ABNS and just got 9 calicoBN pleco too.

[exasperatus2002]

Heres some info you'll find useful-

species info- http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... cies_id=48

article - http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=112

[MatsP]

There are plenty of choices of "other things" to breed. Small Panaque, Hypanicstrus, more exotic Ancistrus, Peckoltia, and so on.

It really is up to you. There are of course several parts to choosing a species to breed:
1. How much of a challenge do you want?
Finding something that a lot of people have bred will obviously increase your chances of success. If you ask "What do you think about X?", I'm sure someone can suggest whether they think it's easy or hard.

2. What fish would you personally like to breed?
No one else can advice on this one - it is what YOU like to do...

3. What size tank(s) you have available, and what species "fits" in the tank?
Trying to breed a 60 cm/2ft Panaque in a 4ft tank is almost certainly not going to work.

4. What is available around you/how much effort are you willing to put into finding the fish?
It's absolutely no point in setting your mind on breeding Corymbophanes unless you are willing to spend $2000 on flying to Guyana, $1000 for a private plane to take you into the Guyana highlands, $5000 on a Helicopter to take you the right river - and you manage to convincethe Guyana government to allow the export of course! And even if it's something a bit less difficult to get hold of, you may want to consider it's cost and how many you need in case you loose one - if it's a fish that only gets imported once every two or three years, you will probably want 6-10 of them just to ensure you don't end up with all males or all females.

5. Are you using tap-water or RO water?
If you are using tap-water, then you need to consider the fish you can keep in the water you've got. Many plecos can be bred in almost any water, as long as it's clean enough. But if you have fairly hard water, don't try to breed

Ancistrus dolichopterus

for example - it will need soft water to breed properly.

I hope this helps clarify what your choices are and what to think about.

--
Mats

[bgates]

well i would have a 55 gal and a 40 cube avb. and tap water would be nice and something kinda small like 5in and under and not to hard to breed not real picky and not to much money

[apistomaster]

One of the best species of plecos to try to breed after you grow tired of the easily bred common Bushy Nose Pleco is

Hypancistrus sp(l333)

I raise them in large numbers along with some that are far more difficult.
One of my customers who bought 6 L333 from me last year has already bred them. The tank bred specimens usually grow to about 4 to 4-1/2 inches TL. The males tend to grow a little larger than the females. All the plecos I sell are at least one year old. My L333 that are ready for sale are 2-3/4 inches.
These are not algae eaters. I feed my breeders and young a diet that consists mainly of earth worm sticks, Spirulina Sticks and frozen Blood Worms. I also regularly give them a snack of live black worms.
They are very popular among Discus hobbyists as they eat the same foods except beef heart as Discus eat. I have been keeping and breeding Discus for many years and am a regular on www.simplydiscus.com forums. Almost half of my pleco customers come from Discus keepers who use the warm water plecos as an interesting and attractive substitute for Corydoras. One L333 can eat as much as 5 or 6 Corydoras so 6 plecos in a 75 gal tanks and up can keep the uneaten foods cleaned up well.
I have had enough experience with what happens when they are fed beef heart too often to advise avoiding it's use; The results are usually rapid bloating quickly followed by death. They may simply not physiologically able to digest such a rich red meat as beef heart blends.
They like to be kept warm. I keep, breed and raise them in water temperatures of 84*F.

I may be able to accept a few more orders for the smaller and very beautiful

Peckoltia compta

. Also previous known as L134 and the common name, Leopard Frog Pleco. The aquarium bred fish usually only reach about 3-1/2 to 3-3/4 inches.
This species is much more challenging to breed than many of the others. Not the best choice if you wish to try something a little harder to breed than BN but a very desirable species none the less. I also keep this species at 84*F.

[MatsP]

Well, it ten really comes down to what you have available around where you live (or you are willing to get mail order). Check out what your shops have around you, then come back and we can tell you more about each species.

--
Mats

[Sue Foster]

Aww... Why do I feel like nobody likes the little ugly bushynose here. Yes they are common but they are a good confidence builder.
They are also a nice community fish. They aren't all that crabby about other bottom feeders. They are out a lot in the day. My mature pair actually interacts with me a bit (at least for a fish). I sit down at the desk and Mr. Piggy is immediately at his feeding corner trying to get my attention. He believes every time I sit down I'm supposed to feed him. Will even flip and twitch his fins to make sure I see him. I even get an exasperated toss of the tail when food isn't dumped in. Mrs. Piggy isn't so animated but she will hang on the glass in front to make sure I see her. They don't bother with my husband. My husband never feeds.
"Hey it's the smaller, ugly human creature! Lets flip around! She will probably feed us."

Last night I was baiting out some snails to give to somebody and the male BN didn't even move away when I put my arm in the tank. I got a look like, "excuuuuse me! I'm eating here." I had to push him with my finger to get at a particularly nice snail. The female moved away but not too far. They aren't much bothered by me. The two babies in the tank aren't so confident but aren't terrorized by me either. They just move further away.

I wasn't thinking about breeding them at first but I've decided that it will be interesting to watch. It's raining for day 12 in a row. I will probably putter with some rocks and make Mr. Piggy a defensible cave or two. None of the articles I've read mention any courtship behavior. I'm seeing some definite flirting going on. I am cringing just a little because I think the 2 small ones in the tank are females too. I may be buried in BN.

I only bought the one female BN. The rest came free. I suspect others get buried in BN babies often. None of this pleco bit was planned. I bought some guppies on-line. Mr Piggy came free with them. When I was certain he was a male I bought him a girlfriend. 2 other small ones got thrown into the bag. Then some black BN babies showed up at the local pet shop. Kind of like kittens, hard to resist.

I'm completely enjoying them.

I now have 4 small hypans, L129. Some tried to talk me into the more exotic but I figured I'm better off to start with an easier one that has been around for a while. If I get stuck I figured I'll have plenty of help. Also I've never, ever seen them locally. I've seen a few royals. BN show up periodically but not often. Mostly you see the big diner plate sized brown fish. I won't get stuck here.

Now I'm looking at an oak bureau in my bedroom. Not much on it......

[apistomaster]

I thought by now every community had at least one local breeder supplying the local fish store with common bushy noses in at least one or two varieties. Looks like you have an opportunity to become the local source of BN.
They are fine fish to learn the basics of pleco breeding but for some of us they are too productive and there are already other breeders supplying the shops so the fry can be hard to sell.
I avoid letting my remaining bushy noses to breed. Last times I had them spawn I use the newly hatched larvae as Discus food. I call them "Guppyostomus." My buddy raises normal and albino BN and trades them in at the LFS for credit. I won't work with them because I only sell my plecos and do not want shop credit.

Hypancistrus debilittera

(L129) is another excellent choice for an intermediate level of difficulty and as good as any other to try to breed when you feel you are ready. They are one of the smallest species of Hypancistrus so 15 gal to 20 gal long tanks should be large enough for a breeding group of 5 or 6.

[Sue Foster]

Just once so I can see.

I'm seeing what happened to the accidental pleco litter that was dumped on the LFS. They are all dying. Few dead ones in there each time I stop and the others are skin and bones. I'll probably just do a pleco adoption on craigslist.

[MatsP]

Possibly that the shop isn't feeding them properly... Especially young ones need decent feeding with both protein and fibre-rich food. Algae wafers are good, but additional vegetable (e.g. Zucchini, Sweet Potato, etc) is a good idea.

--
Mats

[Sue Foster]

Probably not. The owner did say he just throws them an algae wafer now and then. The tanks are too clean for the babies to find any algae and there are just too many of them for the little sales tank.

The 4 I have from that bunch have little fat tummies.

What do you feed newly free swimming babies? The way the pair are checking that cave out over and over I figure I had better have some on hand.

For all the time I spent picking up rocks and piecing things together I'm betting they have the brood under the cave rather than in it. I put the cave in a corner and the female squeezed in between the glass and the rock and went under the thing. She actually rolled several times to make a space just her size under the cave. The male did try to follow at one point but was too fat and couldn't make it under there. I had to move the cave out a bit.

[MatsP]

When I was trying hard to make all babies survive (I can hardly give away my babies these days, so I breed using "mild neglect" rather than "high attention" - still have 8 larger ones to take to todays auction and lots of smaller ones), the first week or two, they'd get zucchini or sweet potato that was just enough cooked to take the "crunch" away - you don't want a soggy mush, just enough softness that the babies can bite (small) chunks out of the veg. After the first couple of weeks, just the same as the parents.

--
Mats

[Artem]

How long should I boil the zucchini for? I tried 2mins but neither my BN or the fry have touched it

[MatsP]

2 minutes sounds a lot. 10-20 seconds in a bowl of cold water in the microwate on full blast is all I've used.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

I have raised more BN than I can count on just Spirulina and earth worm sticks. These foods are suitable for adults and newly free swimming fry.
I feed about 2% dry food by weight of fish in a tank per day.
I use more of an aquaculture approach and feed and breed on auto pilot. I pay little attention beyond making water changes and feeding the stick foods.
Giving them garden vegetable is more fun to watch but is less efficient from a productivity perspective. The veggies are nearly all water.

[bgates]

thanks for all the help guys
let you know when i get something and how thing turn out