Breeding Pleco's

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newbie breeder

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Aug 26, 2011
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Hey guys I am wondering this for future reference as I am working on my convict project now. Can you guess answer the following question about breeding Pleco's:

1)What is the easiest Placo to Breed?

2)What is the Nicest looking Pleco the Breed?

3)What size tank do I need?

4)What should I have in the tank?

5) At what point do I remove the parents?

6)how long does it take for the babies to be born?

7)What do I feed the fry?

8)How many fish are usually born?

Thanks in advance,
Matt
 

chickenlady

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Dec 28, 2009
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Hey guys I am wondering this for future reference as I am working on my convict project now. Can you guess answer the following question about breeding Pleco's:

1)What is the easiest Placo to Breed?
Bristlenose
2)What is the Nicest looking Pleco the Breed?
longfin bristlenose, any color
3)What size tank do I need?
I have a couple pairs in a 75 community,, but a pair could breed in a ten gal. Just remove mom after breeding, then Dad after the babies are free swimming
4)What should I have in the tank?
lots of caves, and driftwood to hide in and under.
5) At what point do I remove the parents?
when the babies come out of the cave
6)how long does it take for the babies to be born?
can't say, they just show up in my tank, most get eaten, but some survive. But would say no more than a week to hatch, a couple days to wriggle, then they come out when they can swim well, to search for food.
7)What do I feed the fry?
I feed cucumbers, algae wafers, shrimp pellets, flake, frozen bloodworms, basicly they eat what the parents do, just smaller bites, some people feed zuchini, but mine won't touch it.
8)How many fish are usually born?
Can't say for sure, but have seen as many as 35 in one batch, but then mine are in a communuty tank, so most become feeders, though enough live to make my LFS happy.
Thanks in advance,
Matt
Am sure others can add to this list, it's just my experience with the ones I have. Zebra plecos are supposedly as easy to breed and really beautiful, but out of my price range.
 

dbosman

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Dec 5, 2010
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East Lansing, MI USA
Check out PlecoPlanet, PlecoWorld, BristlenoseWorld, and PlanetCatfish.
Bristle nose are the easiest to breed.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like striped plecos, but they're all interesting.
.....I have some really ugly un-identified Rio Ucayali plecos that hide almost all the time.
Zucchini, algae wafers, and earth worm sticks is a good diet. I alternate earthworm sticks, brine shrimp sticks, and sinking sticks from Ken's Fish.

RioU2.jpg
 

toddnbecka

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Dec 17, 2004
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If you want a breeding pair of brown BN that also produce some albino and calico fry I have a couple dozen or so sexed adults available. Also have super red juvies available, but no sexed adults. They're definitely the easiest to breed, even easier than convicts because they never eat fry. A youg female will produce around 50 eggs/spawn, while a really large older adult will produce up to 100. You can breed a pair in a 20L, but that doesn't allow much tankspace for frowing out fry, and they'll spawn pretty regularly once they start. If you're keeping them with cichlids the fry will mostly get eaten (not necessarily a bad thing...) unless you move them to another tank. I've maintained a 30L with a breeding trio of BN for several years now. The young ones are moved to other tanks after they reach 1", and there are typically well over 100 in the tank at any given time. Loads of Najas and duckweed to absorb nitrates between partial water changes, and they do very well for me. Their staple diet is NLS Grow pellets with canned green beans or spirulina flake a couple times weekly, one feeding/day.
 

NaplesAquatics

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Aug 29, 2011
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Naples, Florida
Bristle Nose plecos (Ancistrus sp. Cirrhosis) are easy to breed, you almost can't stop them. Planet Catfish has some great breeding information on them, but basically a pair or trio in a 20 long with some suitable caves will get you in business. The fry, when they leave the cave, are capable of eating the same thing as adults. They love zucchini, sweet potatoes, green peppers and even pellets. The tough part is usually getting rid of the extras.

Jeff
 

abcdefghi

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Jun 6, 2007
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Bristle Nose plecos (Ancistrus sp. Cirrhosis) are easy to breed, you almost can't stop them. Planet Catfish has some great breeding information on them, but basically a pair or trio in a 20 long with some suitable caves will get you in business. The fry, when they leave the cave, are capable of eating the same thing as adults. They love zucchini, sweet potatoes, green peppers and even pellets.
Yup, I had 3 BN pleco's, did nothing special, I just knew I had a male and 2 females and sure enough they started breeding regularly.

The tough part is usually getting rid of the extras.
This is true, make sure you have enough room, and time. I ended up giving away both my females and a bunch of fry as I could not find anyone to buy them locally (even tried giving them away locally).
 

homedog98

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Jul 19, 2011
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I love L-183's... But from what I understand blackwater conditions are pretty much required for spawning lol. But if you could pull it off there'd be no problems finding homes for the fry. (the hardest part is finding a pair in the first place!)
 
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