Janne,
It has been my experience that I can plan spawns from these 2 genera, but only if I plan months in advance. I've kept Panaque maccus, Panaque sp. L002, and Peckoltia vitatta spawning year round. However, it took a lot of attention to detail to do it. Normally, I start dry seasons on juveniles once I've had them for about 6 months. Experience has taught me that most of the small fish shipped in for the hobby are no less than 3 months old. I continue that first dry season for a full 3 months, pushing as much food into them as I can get them to take. It's not uncommon that the temp for low-land species rises above 90'F during those 3 months. I normally shoot for ~85'F. For fish from higer elevations, I keep them slightly below 80'F.
If they do not spawn that first rainy season, which is actually just a series of week of water changes and a week without, I start them on a second 3 month period. The "rainy" seasons are done for 6 weeks at a time. Once they have started spawning, I can usually keep them going by following the week on / week off schedule.
It may also be pertainant to mention that a lot of breeders which never breed, aside from the 2 genera being talked about, will start if given a longer dry season. I've recieved emails and calls from several breeders who are convinced that only a small portion of their fish are capable of spawning. It is a common mis-conception with Hypancistrus zebra. If given a longer dry season, most will come into the rythm the first cycle if they are actually mature. I believe that the fish which are spawning with the short dry seasons are just the ones that are more inclined to spawn regardless of the circumstance. The "guppies" of the catfish world
Larry Vires
Impossible only means that somebody hasn't done it correctly yet.