I have access to any species of pleco I want and am interested in trying my and at breeding them.
Are there any recommendations on these fish as to the types that would settle down and breed in a home aquarium.
I am presently building nine aquariums 24" wide 36 " long by 12 or 18" high.
There will be five or six caves in each aquarium, plastic plant for cover and driftwood, the surface will be covered with frogbit plants. Sand bottom. A sponge filter, a power filter, and a powerhead to move some water.
They are adjusted to a ph of 7.2 120 MS. I will soften the water via Reverse osmosis with daily water changes.
I have been researching LDA 333, LDA 33, L183, L107, L270, L128, L260, L264 and L135. They all look favourable.
Any suggestions or experinces on the various species mentioned above or other species so I cna research them also.
Thanks for everything
Jeff
Breeding the smaller sized plecos
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nightowl1350
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Your set up sounds very cool. I breed common brown BN plecos in a bare bottomed angelfish grow out tank. 65g and I have 3 females and 1 male who spawn regularly. There si only 1 cave, and no driftwood in there. I had some, but the BN all but ignored it and junk kept settling under it making daily w/c a pain.
One word of warning some males get very aggressive and can kill anohter male in the tank, or eat the others spawn.
One word of warning some males get very aggressive and can kill anohter male in the tank, or eat the others spawn.
You first need to spawn Bristlenose before attempting anything else. Are all these aquariums for plecos. If so, i would start with Albino Bristlnose. Once you get 2-3 spawns, i would then purchase a species of Hypancistrus, a species of Peckoltia. I would not put the plants on the surface, but that is my Opinion. So, if i were i would would go in the following order
Purchase some Albino Bristlenose(If possible, obtain 2 males and 3 females)
1 or 2 species of Hypancistrus(L260, L066, L174, L333, L236, L316. I would do 2 males and 4 females for these species, maybe trim down one female on the L066 and L333)
1 or 2 species of Peckoltia(L134, L015... Ones under 5 inches i would say 2 males and 4 females.)
And, if i were you, I would keep the Bristlnose tank at the water conditions you have listed. But on every other tank get the PH to 7.6 and TDS to about 220. This way when you use R/O water to trigger a spawn, you can get a more drastic water season
Purchase some Albino Bristlenose(If possible, obtain 2 males and 3 females)
1 or 2 species of Hypancistrus(L260, L066, L174, L333, L236, L316. I would do 2 males and 4 females for these species, maybe trim down one female on the L066 and L333)
1 or 2 species of Peckoltia(L134, L015... Ones under 5 inches i would say 2 males and 4 females.)
And, if i were you, I would keep the Bristlnose tank at the water conditions you have listed. But on every other tank get the PH to 7.6 and TDS to about 220. This way when you use R/O water to trigger a spawn, you can get a more drastic water season
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Barbie
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Laura, again, please, stick to stuff you've got experience with, not just what you've read somewhere, k? If you were given advice like this, it doesn't necessarily mean that advice should be carried verbatim to a different set of circumstances.
I, personally, think this setup sounds ideal. Plants on the surface will be improving the water quality and diffusing light so that the plecos feel more comfortable with roaming around when the lights are on. The flow you're planning sounds equivalent with what I strive for in my tanks. I actually use hydro sponges as prefilters for the powerheads and leave out the air pumps. The floor space available for them in tanks shaped like that will allow them to spread out and increase oxygen levels. You'll find you only need as many caves in the tank as you have males. I'd recommend buying groups of 8 fish and let them work out their differences, which would allow you to remove any subdominant males that were taking the short end of the stick, but still have enough water volume left to raise the fry with the parents.
On to water parameters. You might be overworking yourself a bit on the Hypancistrus types. I use my tap water and actually had better luck spawning them when the TDS was coming out of my tap at closer to 300ppm than I do now where it's softer and about 140ppm and I have to manually "adjust" it. They spawn after the rainy season starts, so the trigger for them is the CHANGE in TDS. It's easier to do that if you've got a wider range for it to swing (realistically remember, I'm not talking 1400ppm or anything!). Save your RO for the rainy season stimulation unless your tap water is VERY hard ;).
With the L183 and blackwater species, I've found that you must keep the water very acidic and the TDS under 100ppm for any real success with having fertile eggs. I was struggling with having more than 5 or 6 fry per batch without adjusting the pH. The TDS could be down to 20, but with the pH right at neutral the success level was not even marginal. Any time you're pulling your TDS and pH down that low, you run more risk of crashing the pH and it's DEFINITELY not as easy to control your parameters. I'm assuming that you've had experience modifying your water, so hopefully that won't be yet another challenge to add to the fun ;).
As to choosing the species, Ancistrus give you experience with feeding the fry. Most people that I talk to that are having trouble keeping fry alive are having trouble managing the water quality with the large volume of food the fry have to have. It's a definite balancing act and usually why people recommend starting with Ancistrus, then branching out. They're cheaper to come by, there's a large market for their fry, and they'll spawn without too much work on your part.
If you've got access to all of those species of plecos, you will have to sit down and decide if you want to produce fry, or if you're in this for the reward of getting fish to spawn that have not been spawned, or maybe just not spawned regularly in the hobby yet. What your goal is will help determine which direction you should go with the colonies you decide on. I have 5 species of Hypancistrus, with 3 regularly producing fry. I also keep 6 species of Ancistrus, with only 3 regularly being worked with. In addition to that, I have 4 colonies of fish that either aren't commonly spawned, or haven't had recorded spawns yet, in hopes that I can figure out what makes them tick. I have limited space to play with (yeah, I know, that sounds sad to have 1300 gallons of water and not enough room!). I need to produce enough fry to help support my addictio... I mean, hobby, yet I still want to be able to work with a few new types for the challenge, if that makes sense ;).
Welcome to your latest "hobby"
Barbie
I, personally, think this setup sounds ideal. Plants on the surface will be improving the water quality and diffusing light so that the plecos feel more comfortable with roaming around when the lights are on. The flow you're planning sounds equivalent with what I strive for in my tanks. I actually use hydro sponges as prefilters for the powerheads and leave out the air pumps. The floor space available for them in tanks shaped like that will allow them to spread out and increase oxygen levels. You'll find you only need as many caves in the tank as you have males. I'd recommend buying groups of 8 fish and let them work out their differences, which would allow you to remove any subdominant males that were taking the short end of the stick, but still have enough water volume left to raise the fry with the parents.
On to water parameters. You might be overworking yourself a bit on the Hypancistrus types. I use my tap water and actually had better luck spawning them when the TDS was coming out of my tap at closer to 300ppm than I do now where it's softer and about 140ppm and I have to manually "adjust" it. They spawn after the rainy season starts, so the trigger for them is the CHANGE in TDS. It's easier to do that if you've got a wider range for it to swing (realistically remember, I'm not talking 1400ppm or anything!). Save your RO for the rainy season stimulation unless your tap water is VERY hard ;).
With the L183 and blackwater species, I've found that you must keep the water very acidic and the TDS under 100ppm for any real success with having fertile eggs. I was struggling with having more than 5 or 6 fry per batch without adjusting the pH. The TDS could be down to 20, but with the pH right at neutral the success level was not even marginal. Any time you're pulling your TDS and pH down that low, you run more risk of crashing the pH and it's DEFINITELY not as easy to control your parameters. I'm assuming that you've had experience modifying your water, so hopefully that won't be yet another challenge to add to the fun ;).
As to choosing the species, Ancistrus give you experience with feeding the fry. Most people that I talk to that are having trouble keeping fry alive are having trouble managing the water quality with the large volume of food the fry have to have. It's a definite balancing act and usually why people recommend starting with Ancistrus, then branching out. They're cheaper to come by, there's a large market for their fry, and they'll spawn without too much work on your part.
If you've got access to all of those species of plecos, you will have to sit down and decide if you want to produce fry, or if you're in this for the reward of getting fish to spawn that have not been spawned, or maybe just not spawned regularly in the hobby yet. What your goal is will help determine which direction you should go with the colonies you decide on. I have 5 species of Hypancistrus, with 3 regularly producing fry. I also keep 6 species of Ancistrus, with only 3 regularly being worked with. In addition to that, I have 4 colonies of fish that either aren't commonly spawned, or haven't had recorded spawns yet, in hopes that I can figure out what makes them tick. I have limited space to play with (yeah, I know, that sounds sad to have 1300 gallons of water and not enough room!). I need to produce enough fry to help support my addictio... I mean, hobby, yet I still want to be able to work with a few new types for the challenge, if that makes sense ;).
Welcome to your latest "hobby"
Barbie
Thanks
Hi Barbie
Thanks for the informative and knowledgable response. I am actually looking to work on a few of the smaller species of plecos, just for something to do that is different. I know what you mean about making the money to support MTS, multipe tank syndrome. I presently breed Apisto's, West Africans and Corydoras for a wholesaler. Just starting with Scleromystax.
He's been asking about breeding Plecos, and I've been researching them for the last six months or so. So his ultimate goal is for me to produce fry for him, and mine would be so in the end, but honestly right now it is to work with a different genus of fish.
If I can't get them to spawn, so be it, I'll just keep trying different methods until they do. That is after all the fun of the hobby. If they spawn and give good size spawns, then the wholesaler will be happy.
Thanks again
Jeff
Thanks for the informative and knowledgable response. I am actually looking to work on a few of the smaller species of plecos, just for something to do that is different. I know what you mean about making the money to support MTS, multipe tank syndrome. I presently breed Apisto's, West Africans and Corydoras for a wholesaler. Just starting with Scleromystax.
He's been asking about breeding Plecos, and I've been researching them for the last six months or so. So his ultimate goal is for me to produce fry for him, and mine would be so in the end, but honestly right now it is to work with a different genus of fish.
If I can't get them to spawn, so be it, I'll just keep trying different methods until they do. That is after all the fun of the hobby. If they spawn and give good size spawns, then the wholesaler will be happy.
Thanks again
Jeff