Which Plec To Breed?

[Kaida]

Hey all,

I don't have any tanks set up atm, but I miss it, mostly I miss my common pleco which is living at my Mom's in a large tank. I don't have a big enough house to fit a big enough tank in for him to come with me, so what about a nice smaller tank with a couple of another pleco in?

I have some experience with fish, enough to know how to set up and cycle, and how to keep an eye on water parameters and so on, but I'm not an expert. Is it feasable to breed any of the littler plecs without expert knowledge or a huge fancy set-up? How big a tank would I need for a breeding pair of the littler ones?

I have a vision of a gorgeous sand-substrated tank with a couple of pretty plecos in, and a gorgeous half-moon betta too.

Thanks.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Just do not go for the common Plec.... I'm also attempting to move into this field, and I think the most common to go for is the BN's..... seems like they are more prolific than the average.....

 

[Davo86]

Just do not go for the common Plec.... I'm also attempting to move into this field, and I think the most common to go for is the BN's..... seems like they are more prolific than the average.....

I would agree on BNs and I would go for something like the albino or long-finned variety as IMO they look stunning and aren't as common as they should be so you would easily be able to sell on the youngsters once they had grew to a suitable size

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Thanks for the support in this one Davo.... yes!... in a lot of fish, there is the common straint, and then a more advanced variety..... they are both bred as easily as the former (or latter), but then..... why go for the common???... the latter has the big market & that's what you want... (is'nt it)???

 

[bagu]

zebra plecs? expensive but id say worth it!

 

[scatz]

zebra plecs? expensive but id say worth it!

They are nice but not the best plec to start breeding with, as the others have said, one of the bn sp. would be your best chance, not overly demanding as far as getting them to spawn is concerned and a great way to gain some breeding experience before moving on to the more sensitive sp. if thats what you want to do

 

[Kaida]

I've just fallen in love with L183, the starlight bristlenose, and also with the long-fin trait. If I could get some longfinned L183 I'd be a very happy camper. Unlikely, of course, but at least I can use the time it takes to get OH to agree to another tank productively in my search.

Thank you for the advice guys.

I have had an idea of making my own tank, a good 6 feet long but only about a foot wide and 18 inches tall. It would go at the back of my kitchen counter. I just need to figure out if the counter could handle that weight (and persuade OH). How many do you think I could keep in there?

 

[scatz]

as far as i'm aware, there hasn't been a long finned var of the L183 developed yet.
these are meant to be one of the harder ancistrus species to get to spawn too, certainly not impossible, just a bit more challenging than most of the others, lovely plecs though, would be a good one to crack

 

[ALW]

Blue Phantom Plecs (L128) http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92

 

[JenCliBee]

Blue Phantom Plecs (L128) [URL="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92"]http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92[/URL]

Not meaning be rude but this is twice now youve mentioned people breeding these plecs.. well this and L200, do you relise what sort of size tank you need to even consider breeding these fish?, and how hard these are apparently to breed?.

To the OP...

If you want to try ancistrus why not try L182 much easier to get hold of and alot easier to breed than L183.

 

[afishdude]

Blue Phantom Plecs (L128) <a href="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92" target="_blank">http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92</a>

Edit: Well I guess they get to 7".

 

[JenCliBee]

Blue Phantom Plecs (L128) <a href="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92" target="_blank">http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92</a>

Those get to over a foot long. You would need a 100g to breed them.

More towards 8-10 inches and a 5 foot minimum tank with 6 foot plus been much better and even then it will be hard to breed.

 

[jane76]

hiya im going sound stupid now because im a beginner,but how do u about breeding plecs?? i absolutely love them but wouldnt know where to start and how do u know which is male and which is female,ive got a common plec at the moment and hes lovely (well i say he,could be she )but am interested in breeding them just want to know all the facts first,better bein safe than sorry

 

[JenCliBee]

hiya im going sound stupid now because im a beginner,but how do u about breeding plecs?? i absolutely love them but wouldnt know where to start and how do u know which is male and which is female,ive got a common plec at the moment and hes lovely (well i say he,could be she )but am interested in breeding them just want to know all the facts first,better bein safe than sorry

Unfortunatley you wont breed common plecs in a home aquarium, you will need a large heated pond with plenty of caves preferably mud caves, there apparently ways of sexing commons but IMO unless there actually breeding then you cant be garenteed to be accurate.

Just to add even if you could or have got the facilties to breed commons... DONT... harder than you can believe to sell and tbh most who will buy them wont know they get to 18 inches + and they just wont be able to give it the home required for life maybe leading to a very painful SLOW death with been housed in a to smaller tank.

jen

 

[afishdude]

Blue Phantom Plecs (L128) <a href="http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92" target="_blank">http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image...amp;image_id=92</a>

Those get to over a foot long. You would need a 100g to breed them.

More towards 8-10 inches and a 5 foot minimum tank with 6 foot plus been much better and even then it will be hard to breed.

I must be going nuts. I know I researched blue phantom plec and it said they have a max length of 13". But now when I re-researched them everything says 7".

I must be crazy.