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Male 11 cm female 9 cm.

These pics taken when they were just introduced in the tank. Still stress and scared lol

Male

Female


ANd after 24 hours
The biggest mail has occupied the middle cave. He took it by force lol. The middle cave was occupied by a smaller male. Biggest female is upside down underneath the anubias planted rock.


Now I have 3 pairs of 333s. Should I add the feeding frequencies? I used to feed them a block of frozen blood worm at night, should I put 2 blocks now?

Also, is there anyone here that feed their 333 with uncooked peeled prawn? I tried to feed em prawn but they dont even get to near it. Heard that they love prawns.

What are other food I can try that good for breeding purpose? I have ordered hikari sinking carnivore pellet from the net but it hasnt arrived yet.

have you've tried mussel?

i have heard that hypans love mussel-but thats what i've heard-i don't keep hypans though
http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1306 here is thread on this website about mussel

All of mine love earthworm sticks from
http://www.kensfish.com/

L333 do love earth worm sticks. I believe I can safely say I am the one who popularized these as a carnivorous pleco staple food.
Do feed them a lot of frozen blood worms too and offer them black worms in a bowl from time to time.
I happen to keep one of my home grown adult Sturisoma aureum in my pleco breeding tanks to keep the algae cleaned up even though they are primarily carnivorous they still make decent algae eaters. Don't keep a bushy nose in with other species of breeding plecos; they may commandeer the cave and eat eggs or newly hatch larvae if the male is unsuccessful at repelling such persistent intruders.
A Sturisoma never will enter a dead ended cave. They like open spaces and places.
L333 are not particular about water chemistry and most tap water is suitable for breeding them.
What you must have is some patience. Just give them a standard pleco breeding tank set up and feed at lights out. That way when they come out to eat the food is fresh.
Keep their water very clean, provide them with a brisk current; I use 2 Azoo OxygenPlus Bio-Filter #6 sold by fosterSmith.com and run one with the air lift and the other with a MaxiJet 600 power head. These power heads fit perfectly into the top of the Azoo pedestal design filters where the air lift tube is inserted. I lay that filter over on it's side so the current streams across the bottom. I recommend that you buy 6 spare sponges. This will give you clean spares and the filter sponges collapses from the suction when they become clogged. Once all but one spare is available I wash the dirty sponges in the washing machine using the low water, warm temp settings and add a cup of bleach to help cut the dirt loose. You can rinse them prior to use in some water containing Prime or your favorite dechlorinator.
This allows you to get a lot of mileage from your sponges.
I also supply an air stone. I use a thin, approximately 1/4 inch of a FloraBase substrate in my breeding tanks. Sand, not gravel is my preference among other cheaper substrates. I don't like using bare bottom Pleco tanks. I have my reasons but the substrate is not an essential component of the breeding set up.
Since you only have one pair just give them one spawning cave. Supply some wood for the female to hide under.
I change 70% of the water every 3 to 4 days. If you follow these directions I think your fish will spawn within 3 months.
Use a 20 Long breeding tank.
I leave the fry in with the parents until (a) they are sold or (b) the numbers of fry have exceeded the carrying capacity of the tank.
I keep my breeding group of 7 fish, 3 males and 4 females in 40 gal breeder using the same filtration and aeration described above.
I keep my breeders at 84*F

Hey, you ever consider just writing an article, Larry? It seems like it would save you time from writing the same stuff over and over again, haha! Great info, though!

Larry, what's the purpose of the air-lift powered filter? It seems like it wouldn't add much filtration on top of the one powered by the powerhead?

Hi Milton,

Actually I plan to set up a web site/blog to keep some of this stuff available permanently and then I will simply begin inserting links to the FAQ's I respond to frequently. I am more of a wild and domestic Discus expert than catfish and Apistogramma are among my favorite fish to work with hence my username. I can make a broader amount of my experience and advice available on my own web site and I think I could help more people that way with subjects covering nearly all types of tropical fish, plants, build tanks, building filters, treating diseases and tricks I have discovered over the years. Many Discus people have been urging me to do this for years. I have helped so many people become accomplished Discus breeders that I lost count long ago. I am a moderator over at the wild Angelfish forum http://www.finarama.com so I cover wild Angels, too. I have raised well over 150 different Killliefish species. I have been involved with the tropical fish as a business since 1966 when i was only 15 but I began breeding fish at 11 years old. Not guppies but Mozambique Mouth breeders, used to be Tilapia mossambicus but I believe they were placed in a different genus quite a few years ago.
i am also very interested in the small species of wild bubble nesting Betta species. Like I said, I need my own web site to spill all my beans. I am getting old enough and am retired early due to an injury and now it is my time to help the hobbyists who are still wanting to learn some of the things I know that can help smooth their way.

The airlift filter will never collapse due to suction and clogged sponges so it provides a back up. I always use one air lift filter, an air stone and the power head driven sponge filter even in my Discus tanks. The Pleco tanks produce more silt which clogs sponges sooner than in my other fish tanks and I sometimes maintain high stocking densities and during the summer my aquariums sometimes reach nearly 90*F so I consider air lift filters and air stones live saving devices should a sponge on a power head clog and I loose all that circulation.

Makes sense, thanks!

Wow thanks for the nice info and breeding tips. I have not heard about earthworm sticks here in Australia. I'll look around.

How do you put worm in a bowl? I suppose you submerge a little bowl and put the worm inside? I do have 2 very small bristlenose (common) in the tank together with the 3 pairs. I also have about 20-30 cherry shrimps in this tank.

About tank setup, please take a look at this picture and tell me your opinion please. This tank is 4ftx18"x18". Holds about 250 liter of water (55 US gallon).



I have fluval 305 running with spray bar plus otto 1200 (1200L/300gal per hour) internal canister on the left side pushing/bursting water flow to the right and acts as aeration as well. The 3 caves are at the bottom of the wood. I have gravel and some pebbles for substrate. And I use anubias planted wood as well.

Just incase anyone wonders what's in the cloth bag near the canister, it contains purigen resin in the bag for further water polish. I cant put it in the filter chamber as they are all full with biomax.

Should I add another power head just close to the caves to create bottom current for the "love" cave?

If your tank is 48"x18"x18 it is actually 67 gallons and some change. As far as spawning your plecs goes Hypancistrus are pretty easy really. Give them clean water adequate food then bump your temp to 82-84 degrees farenheit (27-29c). As far as current goes, they really don't need it. The 333/66 are about the horniest Hypancistrus I can think of, the biggest thing is patience. After 8 months I was ready to sell my Hypancistrus contradens-had a buyer and everything-when out of nowhere I had a big male in a cave on eggs. That was 6 months ago and they finally took a break a week ago, probably because I moved them into a larger tank. I think the biggest thing is your plecs have to be comfortable with their surroundings, and this does take time. The biggest thing I can tell you is that patience is definately a virtue! It sounds like they are in good hands. Good luck!

dconnors wrote:If your tank is 48"x18"x18 it is actually 67 gallons and some change.

It is 55 gallons, but 55 Imperial gallons or 66 gallons or so.

Thanks again for the info.

I got the first 2 pairs 2 weeks ago and actually just got the last (also the biggest) pair 2 days ago. I am covering my tank with darkblue bed sheet to provide darkness (I do turn the light on for like 5 hours a day in the morning till about 3-4pm for the anubias to grow, gotta look after the plant a bit too hehe)

I've been advise locally to change the water every 2nd day, what you guys think?

dconnors wrote:If your tank is 48"x18"x18 it is actually 67 gallons and some change

.
Ah Ok, thought 1 us gallon was 5 liter

As far as spawning your plecs goes Hypancistrus are pretty easy really. Give them clean water adequate food then bump your temp to 82-84 degrees farenheit (27-29c). As far as current goes, they really don't need it. The 333/66 are about the horniest Hypancistrus I can think of, the biggest thing is patience.

lol ok, that's nice to hear. The males are in the cave with only their tail sticking out and flapping. Is this how they "call" their GF to get in the cave and do the love?

It sounds like they are in good hands. Good luck!

Glad to hear that =D

Hi Larry,

Here is a old post about earthworms sticks. I think this is one of the earlier or earliest talk about earthworm sticks between us. It is definitely a great food for many fish.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =earthworm

Thanks,

Ken

I furst saw them in www.aquaticeco.com's catalog in 2006 and tried a pound. I have been buy 10 to 15 pound of earth worms sticks ever since.
I was quickly sold on their value to me.

plecotac wrote:

dconnors wrote:If your tank is 48"x18"x18 it is actually 67 gallons and some change

.
Ah Ok, thought 1 us gallon was 5 liter

As far as spawning your plecs goes Hypancistrus are pretty easy really. Give them clean water adequate food then bump your temp to 82-84 degrees farenheit (27-29c). As far as current goes, they really don't need it. The 333/66 are about the horniest Hypancistrus I can think of, the biggest thing is patience.

lol ok, that's nice to hear. The males are in the cave with only their tail sticking out and flapping. Is this how they "call" their GF to get in the cave and do the love?

It sounds like they are in good hands. Good luck!

Glad to hear that =D

1 us gallon =3.7836240023647653 liters
1 imperial gallon = 4.522613065326634 liters
And yes, that is how they entice the females.

Oh, one more food you may want to try is frozen mysis shrimp. All of my Hypancistrus love them. They are larger than brine shrimp, but smaller than krill. I feed all my fish a little bit of frozen mysis and frozen bloodworms everyday.

dconnors wrote:Oh, one more food you may want to try is frozen mysis shrimp. All of my Hypancistrus love them. They are larger than brine shrimp, but smaller than krill. I feed all my fish a little bit of frozen mysis and frozen bloodworms everyday.

Ok will try them. See if my LFS has frozen mysis