PlanetCatfish.com

Hey all,

I have been keeping (and recently have had some limited success breeding) some species of Hypancistrus. But lately I've been noting that, as my collection expands and I get more and more tanks, I have a whole lot of tank space that the Hypancistrus aren't using. I was wondering if any of you guys have fish that you breed in the same tanks as your plecs and if you can give any recommendations. I was thinking it might be nice to breed something like danios, tetras, killis, or small rainbowfish, but I'm interested in hearing some thoughts from anyone on what you guys have done. One thing is that none of my tanks currently have lights, but that can change if I get something that is actually diurnal (hopefully that doesn't kill the good mojo my Hypancistrus have had so far). Furthermore, I currently have normal power filters and powerheads running, without anything like sponges over the intakes. I have had no fry losses from this so far, but I suppose I might have to adjust what I'm doing if I'm going to try to breed other fish in the same tanks.

My breeding tanks are 40 gallon tanks with dividers. I've also got smaller grow-out tanks that I could possibly put other fish into. Thus, I can't really do big fish like Discus (which I know apistomaster does) because I separate my breeding groups with tank dividers in all of my breeding tanks, so something that doesn't need a whole lot of swimming space is what I'm thinking. Breeding/raising Hypancistrus is paramount, so obviously I don't want anything that will eat the fry.

Thanks for your thoughts

Milton,
There are plenty of options, but they will be somewhat dependent on how you are keeping the Hypancistrus (i.e. temp, current, water parameters, etc). With this info I am sure several members will chime in with ideas.
-Shane

i keep some diff types of characins, tetras etc but not fussed on breeding them it was more for some activity in the tank, the additional flow i think could be a prob for some fish therefore limiting spawning success.

I have been in your situation and so now I have several tanks that has both hypancistrus and another plecospecies. I cannot recall ever having both species spawn in a tank that had more than one species. I've only have ever gotten a single species to spawn in a multiple species tank. The hypancistrus is usually the spawner. That's at least my experience up to now with multiple pleco species. I don't really have much of anything else other than discus to give advice on.

I keep a few of the Rasboras that will take the warmer temps quite happily. And I have an uncountable number of cherry shrimp and assassin snails breeding in all my tanks.

Jools

I've also got smaller grow-out tanks that I could possibly put other fish into.

Any reason not to use these as spawning tanks? Condition egg scatterers with your loricariids and then transfer them to these tanks for breeding and initial fry rearing. Your tanks may be a bit too warm for many cyprinids and have too much current for many killies, but would be just fine for many faster water tetra spp. Many SA and African tetras would be great choices.
-Shane

I have lights and some plants in my pleco breeding tanks but I have never found a fish I could keep and breed along with them. I use pre-filters or sponge filters. You have almost certainly lost some pleco fry to the filter strainers so why not eliminate that source of fry loss with some kind of pre-filter? I like a DIY type I made from 2 X 4 inch clear plastic jars with lids. I drill a tight fitting hole in the lid so I can slide the pre-filter over the inlets of AquaClear 50 HOB filters. I wrap a length of blue bonded filter pad around the inlet and drill 1/8" holes all over the clear plastic jars. These pre-filters work great for shrimp, which I often keep colonies of with my catfish and the work well in my Corydoras hastatus breeding colony. These pre-filters collect the majority of the large particles so I often only clean the pre-filters because the media within the filter stays so clean.

Most fish which would seem like good candidates for a dual breeding colony set up actually have different temperature requirements than warm water plecos so breeding a Killiefish like Fundulopanchax gardneri or Aphyosemion australe doesn't work. Feeding their fry is also difficult and cannibalism is always a problem. Most of the fish that were mentioned would share similar draw backs.
Endler's Livebearers are a possible additional fish which could coexist well but I haven't tried them together.
But you sure can build up some whopping big Cherry Shrimp colonies in a pleco breeding tank or Corydoras hastaus for that matter. But only if you use sponge and/or HOB filters with widely dispersed intakes pre-filters like I described.

Milton, I know you know how I try to do more with less as much as possible but I have not yet yet found a desirable(or any other) fish I could keep and breed in my pleco tanks. I wish I could but I just haven't been able to come up with a workable combo.
I have been able to keep six 1-3/4" Peckoltia compta and 1-1/4" Bushy Nose with breeding pairs of Discus and raised Discus fry with the small plecos present. . I use one small BN to help control the algae growth on the glass. I no longer trust them in a Discus breeding tank once they reach 1-3/4". The Peckoltia never seemed to bother the spots Discus choose to spawn but they do help keep the dead bbs cleaned up that the Discus fry did not eat.

I think if you are breeding Hypancistrus then you need grow out tanks. So, maybe the thing as suggest above by Larry, is what to put in the grow out tanks.

Jools

Id also be wary of outcompeteing fry as many cats wont compete, L134 i found wont challenge corys for food, i had mine with sterbia when young and they easily pushed them into hiding

And I tried raising L134 and L260 fry together and the L134 starved out half my L260's before I caught on to how incredibly shy they were.

I was thinking more in terms of what fish might be possible to raise in a breeding tank. I normally leave my pleco fry in the breeding tank until they at least triple in size so the tank may not be too crowded if you don't have many pleco fry. It occurred to me that a carefully controlled population of Endler's Liver Bears might fill the bill.
Personally I just as soon keep Cherry Shrimp with my breeding plecos and/or grow out tanks. I know they are compatible and they add a little action and color to what is often a pretty boring tank. I think pleco breeding tanks are only a bit more interesting than watching grass grow. Of course, that may depend on what kind of grass you are growing.

Ataeniobius toweri has worked for me in the past.