move the breeding cave or not?

All posts regarding the care and breeding of these catfishes from South America.
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wijnands
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move the breeding cave or not?

Post by wijnands »

My tank looks like this:

Image
DSC_8481 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

on the right at the foot of the tree stump there's a breeding cave:

Image

Marked in read.( There's also a second cave in the back left but nobody ever uses that.)

Up until about two months ago this was a fairly common sight:
Image

However since then he's moved to the back of that tree stump and when I peek around the corner he scurries into a hole he's dug there. He's also quite skittish now, only darts out to feed when there's no movement at all near the tank. When I do maintenance and vacuum out the cave a bit as soon as I get my hands out of the tank he pops in and sweeps out any bits I missed.

Now I understand this change of behaviour is fairly normal. I'm wondering if I should place an extra breeding cave at the back of that stump or just leave him. the fish looks and acts perfectly healthy and has grown it's bristles a bit. This was taken recently:
Image
finally showing itself again by j_wijnands, on Flickr
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vanillarum
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Re: move the breeding cave or not?

Post by vanillarum »

Fish looks great. Personally, I would leave well enough alone. Good luck.
Never give up until you have released your unused capacities for service and shared your gift with others. One enkindled spirit can set hundreds on fire.
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antec
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Re: move the breeding cave or not?

Post by antec »

agreed, I'd leave him alone, he looks very happy. nice colours! :YMAPPLAUSE:
mcaquatic
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Re: move the breeding cave or not?

Post by mcaquatic »

beautiful tank you have there. Which ancistrus is that?
wijnands
Posts: 317
Joined: 09 Sep 2008, 18:35
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Location 2: netherlands

Re: move the breeding cave or not?

Post by wijnands »

That's A. Claro. They're getting to be a year old and I really hope that they'll start breeding. I've got one male, one female and one I'm not too sure about.
wijnands
Posts: 317
Joined: 09 Sep 2008, 18:35
My images: 1
My cats species list: 2 (i:2, k:0)
My aquaria list: 1 (i:1)
My BLogs: 1 (i:2, p:21)
Spotted: 1
Location 2: netherlands

Re: move the breeding cave or not?

Post by wijnands »

Well.. suddenly mustache fish has shown an interest in cave number 2.
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