Pleco Breeding?

[Fluval-1200]

Im thinking of setting up a pleco breeding tank.
Heres the spec im aiming for.....
8x2x2 tank
4ft sump or 2 fx5 filters
A couple pvc tubes for them to nest in and possibly coverd in mud.
 
Im planning on making the tank similar as possible to a river bed, will have all the flow from 1 end to the other to create a flowing stream effect and then the tubes and mud built up as a river bed.
 
planning on breeding some rare expensive l numbers. Blue eyes etc etc.
 
What's everyone's thought's on this? im hoping to make some nice money from this and possibly a business.
 
Thanks

 

[TwoTankAmin]

What plecos have you kept and spawned to date?
 
Anything that spawns in river bank caves will require a pond as a tank would be impractical, un;less you are a public aquarium.
 
If you did manage to spawn Panaque cochliodon  or Panaque cf. cochliodon`upper_magdalena`  in captivity, you will make the papers since it is unreported to date.
 
There is a reason why expensive plecos are expensive. One of those reasons has to do with how difficult they are to spawn in captivity.
 
Also, if yoy plan to spall some of the more expesive small plecos, you need to have much smaller tanks.

 

[Fluval-1200]

Ive never actually spawned a pleco lol.
How come I would need a pond over a tank? surely if I can build a setup that has the characteristics of a river bed it would act the same way.
I would like to start off with a couple of lo46 and then build my self up to the more rarer pleco, im not very good with the l numbers tbh.

 

[lrhodes]

I sure hope you can do it! I wanna see this setup when you're done!

 

[Fluval-1200]

I haven't even started yet lol, been to busy with work.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have kept zebras since about 2002 or so and began breeding them in 2006. I hope you have a few $/£1,000 available for this project to get it started. You wont need a tank anywhere near the size you describe for that.
 
PVC is not the material of choice for caves. Most plecos do not spawn in mud banks.
 
I suggest you see if you can spawn plain old bristlenose before you jump into the harder stuff. The most important thing you need to study is seasonal spawners,spawning.
 
Oh yes- Panaque cochliodon, Panaque cf. cochliodon`upper_magdalena` and Panaque suttonorum, which are the three species called blue eye, have not been reported as being bred successfully in aquariums. So if you can pull it off you will rise to the top of the international community of experienced pleco keepers and breeders.

 

[Blobfish]

I have kept zebras since about 2002 or so and began breeding them in 2006.

 
It must have been exciting when they first spawned!  Is the difficulty with them getting them to spawn in the first place or rearing the fry - or both?

 

[Fluval-1200]

I have kept zebras since about 2002 or so and began breeding them in 2006. I hope you have a few $/£1,000 available for this project to get it started. You wont need a tank anywhere near the size you describe for that.
 
PVC is not the material of choice for caves. Most plecos do not spawn in mud banks.
 
I suggest you see if you can spawn plain old bristlenose before you jump into the harder stuff. The most important thing you need to study is seasonal spawners,spawning.
 
Oh yes- Panaque cochliodon, Panaque cf. cochliodon`upper_magdalena` and Panaque suttonorum, which are the three species called blue eye, have not been reported as being bred successfully in aquariums. So if you can pull it off you will rise to the top of the international community of experienced pleco keepers and breeders.

This was a rough draft tbh, the idea being slip some tubes into mud/sand and then have the one way water flow. Hopefully that would resemble a river bank to them and hopefully see some results.
I am wanting to get another sailfin for my tank and see if I can get them to breed, but thought of the size of them + trying to sell sailfins might be abit impossible.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Good luck on the gibby. Here is what PC has to say re spawning them;

Although commercially farmed, spawning in a home aquarium would be very difficult to achieve as a large wall of mud (I.E. a river bank) is tunnelled into and used for the incubation / hatching process. Large tunnels and fish would be required in a super-size aquarium.

from http/www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=148
 
My guess is the bank would have create would be at least 2 and more likely 3 feet deep with another 3 feet open in front of the bank.So figure maybe a 5 - 6 foot wide tank. This fish needs to me mature to spawn so that may mean over a foot at least. Your tank is too small for this. Which is why I mentioned ponds.
 
To spawn plecos for sale you really need to understand the market for them. One way to see this is to go to AquaBid, look in the pleco section and see what always gets bids.
 
What you will find is small ones sell, big ones are specialty fish that most hobbyists can't keep.
The myriad varieties of bristlenose outsell all other pleco species combined.
 
 
Sort of both re the zebras. They are a seasonal spawner so they usually have to put through a dry and then a rainy season. Once they start to spawn they will go for some time and then pause for a few months and then resume. In nature the dry and rainy seasons are fairly consistent. In tanks I found the year was more like 13 months and they spawned for 8.5 and then rested for 4.5. The fry are not hard to raise they just need the proper care and feeding. I prefer to leave them in with the breeders as they seem to grow fastest this way. Good cover of the right type is key, imo.
 
The problem is they are know to just stop and not resume for extended periods. Mine gave me hundreds of fry for 3.5 years and then after a spawn in Nov 2011 they did not resume until a few months ago- it was almost a 2.5 year pause.
 
The do not spawn anywhere near river banks. the live deep in the dark in very fast flowing crystal clear water with little sediment or nutrients in it. The live in very warm water which must be well oxygenated. I have found in tanks they don't really need big current to spawn. One of the most accomplished breeder of Hypancistrus I know of uses only sponge filters in his tanks. I use powerfilters and sponged powerheads. I blow water down both the rear and front of tanks, but it is not a violent current. I like to have water flowing across the open end of the caves (never into them though).