L260 Queen Arabesque EGGS!!

[Barbie]

If you set a small rock or something under the front side of the cave so it's tipped toward the back, you won't have as many get lose in the tank before their time . Make sure it's something the cave is stable on.

Barbie

 

[meili.harrison]

Thanks Barbie! I will definitely prop the cave up a little... although I think I will have to pull them out once they are wrigglers. Dad ate them!! mg:

I am not having any luck with these guys it seems like!!! A friend of mine advised that I pull them out and put in fry saver once they hatch. Next spawn should be coming end of this month... fingers crossed!

 

[pinkertd]

Why do you think he ate them? Didn't they already hatch out?

 

[meili.harrison]

Yup, they hatched. He wasn't eating the eggs, he ate the babies!! I did talk to a friend of mine who breeds all kinds of plecos i.e. L333, L183, etc. and he told me that some males do eat the babies after they hatch. It just depends on the fish.

Yup, I have 2 fry savers like the ones in plecofanatics. My friend makes and sells them.

 

[pinkertd]

That's a shame! Guess it's total separation next time.

 

[meili.harrison]

I know.... I swear, someday I will get this right! Hopefully they will keep breeding for me!

 

[fishorama]

Oh no! Are they like some cichlids that might eat the first batch or 2 until they get the right idea? Or once a baby eater always a baby eater?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I don't konw how many other plecos are in the tank or if there any other fish. However, most fish will eat their own eggs or wigglers before allowing them to become lunch for somebody else. It is also possible if it is a first time dad that he accidentally fanned the eggs out of the cave and they were eaten by others.

I have always loved spawning plecos because the dad does all the work and I have never pulled a pleco spawn to a trap. I have rescued evicted but viable eggs and had them do OK in a trap. The nice thing about many plecs, especially hypancistrus, is that once they begin to spawn they should continue to do so for many years with pauses between runs. You should get another spawn soon enough and I might risk leaving it with the dad one more time to be sure.

Either way, baby plecs are all cute as buttons.

 

[meili.harrison]

I don't have very many other fish, just about 5 - 6 guppies on the top. There are a trio of adult L260s, and a couple of juvies. Should I start removing everyone else? This is a new dad, I've only had 2 spawns so far, the first one I ruined (!!) and this is the 2nd, which he seemed to have eaten up. I did shine my flashlight in the cave a couple of times, do you think that triggered it?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The flashlight issue has folks on both sides of it. Some folks will say never shine the light in while others (of which I am one) say it doesn't hurt. I have shined twice a day in many of my tanks for years now and have not had problems with dads eating their own offspring.

It is possible that one of the other plecos did it. This can happen for a couple of reasons. Another female may want to spawn and the dad will normally rebuff such advances until he has no eggs/wigglers/fry he is raising. So she is just getting the little impediments out of the way. Similarly another male who didn't get to spawn could be a culprit.

Of course it is still possible you have a rogue dad who will never learn in which case you can replace him or else resort to pulling and hatching the eggs yourself. Only time will tell what the best course of action may prove to be. The good part is you are getting viable eggs so you should eventually have viable fry one way or the other.

I highly doubt the gups were involved in any way