A L134 female has been trapped by a male for two weeks. No eggs

[nabulus]

Dear all,
I have a 30G hosting 5 L134s with 2m/3f. One male trapped a female in a cave last Friday and they have stayed there for a week ... I feel that this is a little too long. Is this normal at all?

Thanks!
Ke

[bekateen]

Hi Ke,

I haven't had that with

Peckoltia compta

, but I have had it with other plecos. Unless you see some meaningful injuries to either fish, myself I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck,
Eric

[nabulus]

Thanks Eric!
I can not tell if there are serious injuries since the female is very deep in the cave.
I was actually very surprised at this because this male is a subdominant one in that tank. And he is not hairy at all. I only see a little odontode growth around his tail. Mostly importantly, this male has been eating a lot every day before this happened. I thought that a male would stop eating when he is ready for breeding.

Best,
Ke

[nabulus]

just an update. The female and male stayed together for 14 days and female left the cave this morning (likely last night). No eggs. The male lost all his hairs which is intriguing to me. I guess he was not ready anyways.

I searched from different forums regarding how long a 134 pair can stay together in the same cave. It seems to me that it is not uncommon for a male to trap a female for up to 2-3 weeks. But from what I learned from other's experience, it seems that the longer they stay in the cave the less likely the trapping will result in eggs. Not sure if this is generally true...

[Jobro]

It is pretty rare for my P. Compta to take more than a few hours. I think 2 days was the longest I had witnessed. I don't think a pair that is ready to go would take as long as you described.

It might take a few months for the male to regrow his odontodes.

[nabulus]

The same "hairless" subdominant male trapped another female last Thursday and they have stayed in the caved since then. So it is day 5 now. Do they come out to feed during the night? I see the male keeps vibrating which apparently consumes a lot of his energy. I find this very intriguing behavior.

[bekateen]

That's normal "Hey lady, lay your eggs already!" behavior.

For what it's worth, my male debilittera is now on day 4 trapping a female, and I don't know how long they were together before I found them.

Good luck!

Eric

[nabulus]

Okay this time this pair has stayed in the cave for 16 days and today the female exited without laying any eggs (expected). I think that both male and female must come out during night to eat...

[Phreeflow]

Any updates? I have a couple of male zebras that take turns breeding with various females and my alpha male gets the deed done quick and kicks them out within a day. The beta male, on the other hand, always takes 10 days or more. He seems to be the more romantic one and takes his sweet time. He also comes out to take a nibble before frantically rushing back to the cave. He's even kicked the female out for a day or two before letting her back in. It's pretty comical and nerve wracking at the same time but he eventually gets the job done. Give it time..they'll learn. It's a good sign they are trying at all

[Anna_krepak]

My Peckoltia Compta usually traped during 7-14 days. When they trapped I dont stop change 20-30% water every day. They lay eggs always
Some L134 Fry