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Hello,
What I need to know is how do plecos breed?

How do they swim together?
What needs to be done temp wise....

I know they are hard to breed but I am seeing odd behavior in my two.

I know some people from this site are great with plecs!


Thanks alot,
Angel Eel

Hi,

What type of plecos are they?

If they are bristlenose (bushynose) basically they just need a cave and they will do the rest.

Other types of plecos need specialized care to breed. Some can only be bred in ponds.

Try http://www.planetcatfish.com/ for more information.

Cheers.

Just reg ones I think.

Not BN

They construct their own caves within the walls of the riverbank, thus, they have, IIRC, never bred in the home aquaria.

Right. You'd need a very large tank for them, one that had room for long and wide tunnels in the substrate. As far as I know, mud or a mud/sand mixture would be the best material for them, as the plecs would have a tough time digging in gravel and plain sand tunnels might collapse on them.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

So most commons are wild caught?

All common plecos are wild caught, unless the fish farms in Asia have started breeding them. I honestly don't know whether that is the case.

Last edited by sirbooks at 04-Jul-2005 22:26

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Wow thanks I didn't know that!!!
The reason I asked is I seen one of my plecs "riding" the other anyone know what that could be???


Angel Eel

Supposedly, if you dig a ditch large enough and plunk them in there, you'll have a million fry in no time. They are farm raised in large numbers in Florida and Singapore, specifically.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 05-Jul-2005 00:59

Errg, COL beat me to my post.

According to the management at the local Big Al's outlet, they are bred along with a few other giants like sailfins in outdoor ponds in Florida by their supplier. I asked because there was some label or something that said "Big Al's Florida Farm Raised" or something like that (sorry bad memory)....they get all of their captive-bred fish from their own farms in Florida that breed specifically for their stores (or so the story goes). Anyway, they told me they are quite easy to breed if you have the space but of course accomodating the spawning habits of a big old catfish like that isn't easy at home.

I suppose if you really wanted to do it you could just build a big trench and let them do the rest like COL said, but if you live in a colder climate (like I do) and want to keep them outdoors (like I have), remember that you will have to capture a very large and feisty catfish in the fall to be wintered indoors. Trust me it isn't pleasant, I know from personal experience. I used to keep a common in my pond that I had before I moved houses when I was younger. They don't like to be captured from their cozy outdoor ponds, you have to be pretty careful handling them (remember the spines and it is a lot harder to net a fish than it is to catch it with your hands and a bucket), you need a big stock tank to winter them in, and they make a huge mess of things so I really don't recommend them unless you really really like them for some reason. Even then there are other more interesting and prettier large plecs out there if you really want one.

As far as the behaviour of the plecs in question goes, how big is the tank and have you managed to sex them yet? Common plecs can get really territorial and nasty with others of their own kind as they grow larger especially if they are male. They will sometimes fight if they don't have enough space and I could see that being mistaken for breeding behaviour. To be honest to keep 2 commons permanently in the same tank you're looking at a few hundred gallons for territorial needs and just space in general. IMO you should probably separate them before they do much damage to each other or end up stunted or something. Bristlenose plecs are a good choice, IME they are much more efficient at clearing the tank of algae plus they max out at a much smaller size and IME they are better tempered and far less territorial and destructive.

I have two in a 130 gallon that are about 4 inches without tail, they did a couple side bumps like they are known for but after those, they swam together all the time and do the riding thing all the time.

Come to think of it I think I got ahead of myself, I don't even know if they are boy or girls.

Can someone explain that for me??


Thanks again

Angel Eel

It's just a coincidence; they prefer one another's company because, as of yet, they are still youngsters, and like most juvenile loricariids, they shoal together for comfort. At 4", they are nowhere close to sexual maturity, which probably explains why they are so chummy with each other. In fact, when spawning commences, male loricariids tend to be quite oppresive, wrestling the female into place, often not allowing her out of the cave for long durations of time (I just had a failed zebra spawn occur over the weekend--the female was in there for four whole days).

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 05-Jul-2005 17:34