My BLogs Right Breeding report for Panaqolus maccus by bekateen

Down Basics
Overview The first spawn was on Tuesday 9th of June 2015. The breeding group consisted of 3 males and 4 females. The smallest male was at least 35mm SL and the smallest female was at least 40mm SL. The youngest adult was approximately 14 months old. The individuals were obtained from Petsmart and LFS.
Feeding
1.Wood (dry / prepared) daily
2.Sweet potato fresh (live) few times a week
3.Algae Wafers (dry / prepared) occasionally
4.Live tubifex worms (live) occasionally
Down Water Parameters (at time of spawning)
pH 6.30 to 7.30
Conductivity 600µs to 700µs
Temperature 24.5°C to 27.5°C
Current Strong
Other Water Params For first spawn: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate, 10. 75% water changes every 7-14 days. I used tapwater to refill the tank during water changes. Tapwater was treated with SeaChem Prime to neutralize chloramines (1ml/gal) and a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon SeaChem Neutral Regulator to 1 teaspoon SeaChem Discuss Buffer in order to adjust final aquarium pH to between 6.3-6.5. Later spawns occurred at higher pH, up to 7.3 because I stopped treating the tank with SeaChem Discus Buffer and Neutral regulator; I simply accepted the pH that came out of the tap, which stayed stable around low-mid 7 range.
Down Aquarium
Dimensions The aquarium dimensions were 610mm x 305mm x 305mm (24" x 12" x 12") all Length x Width x Height.
Furniture A 15 gallon aquarium, with 2-3 mm size gravel, about 1/2 inch deep, with several pieces of driftwood (Mopani, Manzanita, and random wood), some slate rocks, flat smooth stones, and a few plants. Four bamboo pipes, and 2 PVC pipes (with a capped end), each 4-5 inch long and 1 inch diameter, included as caves. A photo of the aquarium is visible here: http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/my_aquaria.php?task=show&username=bekateen
Filtration Aqueon QuietFlow 30, with a block of sponge added to the intake as a pre-filter. Additional water circulation accomplished using a Hydor Koralia Nano pump positioned above an airstone.
Lighting T5 fluorescent on a timer set to a 12h:12h Light:Dark cycle.
Heating Submersible 100W Aqueon heater set to approximately 80F/26.5C. Each time a water change was performed, the heater would be turned off for 2-3 days, to allow water temperature to drop to 76F/24.5C. After 2-3 days, the heater was plugged back into electricity and water temperature rose to 80F/26.5C. SECOND and THIRD SPAWNINGS occurred during times of warm weather (water temp 81-82F, even without water heater) and no water changes preceded the spawns.
Down Breeding
Behaviour FIRST SPAWNING: 9 June 2015: Although this spawning event wasn't observed, other males and females were engaging in spawning behavior in the same aquarium at the same time: One male was observed trapping a female in his bamboo cave, he would go into and out of the cave, flaring his fins and his cheek odontodes. She would exit the cave, position her body across the mouth of the cave, pivot or rotate her body (like the hands of a clock) over the entrance to the cave, then renter the cave. He would perform a similar dance then reenter after her. The spawning behavior can be viewed as a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cm4wauHJBk. Interestingly, the active courtship and spawning behavior was observed in the bamboo tube immediately beside the strong current of the Hydor Koralia Nano, but the eggs were found in the bamboo tube farthest away from the Hydor Koralia Nano (in the quietest water). I don't know how to interpret that. SECOND SPAWNING: A second spawning occurred 31 July 2015. This spawning event also wasn't observed. Like the first spawning event, this spawning occurred in a bamboo tube at the opposite end of the aquarium from the Hydor Koralia Nano pump (but not the same tube as was used for the first spawn). This time the male kept most of the eggs deep in his cave; two eggs were observed on the gravel outside his cave and were lost. I estimate about 15 eggs remain in cave in the second spawn. Numbers in the rest of this report reflect second spawn, except the number of eggs laid and the number of free swimming fry, which describe the third spawn, since it was larger than both spawns 1 and 2. MOST RECENT SPAWN: In late Dec 2017 and on 01 Jan 2018, I discovered new spawns from the last small F1 P. maccus I still had in my tanks. These F1 fish were just over a year old, and were smaller than any other clown plecos of mine to spawn. Whereas the original spawning fish were 40mm SL (male) and 45mm SL (female), in these F1 fish the male was only 35mm SL and the female about 40mm SL. Very small fish! Wow!
Eggs There were 50 yellow eggs laid which were 4.0mm in diameter.
Time to hatch 7 days
Number: 47
Free swimming: 6 days
Segregation FIRST SPAWNING: Within an hour of discovery, the four eggs had been expelled from the male's cave. The eggs were picked up with a turkey baster and placed into a home-made egg tumbler, attached by a suction cup inside the parents' aquarium and powered by a separate air pump (not the air pump running the airstone under the Koralia recirculating pump). A video of the eggs in my tumbler can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXCLUb0Nz0. A video of how I made my egg tumbler can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny5sUylbBsw. SECOND SPAWNING: The eggs were left with the parents, and the fry were left with the parents. A video of the male brooding his eggs can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ8XqibhoSg. THIRD SPAWNING: A third, larger, spawn occurred with the same male in the same cave less than 9 days after the second spawn hatched. The fry from spawn #2 were still in the cave with dad while the third clutch of eggs were incubated. A video of the male brooding the third clutch of eggs and protecting his 10 day old fry from spawn #2 can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ok0jB6y7Rc. Around day 15, I set up a fry basket with a net wall (not rigid plastic) inside the parents' tank. I placed as many fry as I could capture from both spawns into the fry basket, along with small sticks of wood, a single smooth stone, and a slice of sweet potato. In all, I captured 42 fry from the two spawns (only about 3-5 juveniles remained from the second spawn; the remainder were from the third spawn. There were still about 3-7 fry from the third spawn hiding inside dad's cave, putting the total number of living juveniles at approximately 45.
Fry sizes 7 days: 7mm
14 days: 11mm
21 days: 14mm
7 days
14 days
21 days
Juvenile sizes 1 month: 17mm
3 months: 22mm
6 months: 31mm
1 month
3 months
6 months
Fry and juvenile feeding Fry were left in parent tank. The first fry emerged from their dad's cave about 10 days after hatching. After day 10, I'd see 2-3 juveniles out of the cave. Feeding same as adults - mainly wood, with occasional sweet potato and algae wafers. I offered them sliced red peppers, but neither my juveniles nor the adults in the tank would take even one bite of it. Around day 13, I started finding an occasional dead juvenile in the tank. I don't know why they're dying because there is lots of wood to eat, plus algae wafers and sweet potato (and the red pepper they never touched); water quality is normal. I really don't know why some are dying. As mentioned above, most of the fry were transferred to a netted fry basket when the oldest juveniles reached 15 days old. They were fed pieces of wood and sliced sweet potato for food. Also, occasionally I would give them a few small NLS Thera A+ 1mm pellets to supplement the wood and sweet potato. Videos of the babies are available here (5 months old feeding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-bArawS1-U) and here (6 months old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACRkGlQz3Ow).