so he is on day 3 now of the second treatment. it only got worse, he is huge now. i am still hoping that the meds will work but at some point i'll have to freeze him as i do not want to put him through the pain of exploding. can this guy go for a week w/o food? it has been 6 days of hunger total. I ...

what happened? did they all leave the cave? in that case you can try to catch the fry somehow and put them in a breeder trap to raise yourself.

I'm interested in this too. I recently got 6 L260s (juveniles) to grow out and eventually breed. if you can ID the males vs females then i imagine one male per two females is good because two males will fight. you can prob get away with 4-5 of L260 in that tank but just to be safe I'd do 3 or 4. a m...

you need a parasitologist to ID it. or someone who studies invertebrates - particularly parasites. I took an invertebrate class in college that covered parasites but i don't think that's enough for this.

i had about 70+ BN plecos in a 40 gallon tank. idk how that worked but it did. one 5 gallon water change per week was not enough. whenever i forgot a week the water would get a bit pungent since i was feeding every day (the majority were fry-juveniles). the worst was about 0.25ppm of ammonia and nit...

1 tablespoon per 10 gals is ok for plecos?

thanks man. I am using epsom salts. originally i overdosed i think but now i put in 1/8 of teaspoon per 5 gals and that should be tolerable for plecos.

Also using meds with Metronidazole which should kill off any intestinal infections.

they do poop tons haha. but my male is not going to the bathroom at all. I am doing epsom salts and some med right now.
have you bred BN plecos before too?

To David R from OP:

Do you have experience keeping this many plecos in this large of a tank? will they kill each other? I am very worried about intraspecific aggression...

75 gal is big enough. these look like nice fish :) Just like the albinos i raised last summer. i have a pair of albinos right now from my last spawn of browns and i was planning on growing and breeding them along with my L260s. but recently my male got bloated and may not make it :( I am doing every...

yeah maybe i'll pass. lots of people use them for shrimp so i thought what the heck, but if it will be a fry hazard then nope!

still alive. 0 improvement.

i hear spawn and grow repashy is good for carnivore plecos. i was going to try some for my L260 but can't afford more food right now lol.

do you have a big tank? how big is it. males will get territorial if not enough caves are present.

First pic: top one is female. right one is the obvious male, left one could be either and i am leaning to immature male due to head shape. males will have flatter more pronounces snouts. does it show any buds of bristles at all? Second pic: bottom one is female. top one am unsure. All of these besid...

made it to day 3.
i changed his water and re-dosed the salt and meds. less salt this time around.
we will see what happens. fingers crossed.

cool vid, he hops around non stop

they usually glue the eggs tight so idk if you can siphon them out. maybe just leave them be and let them hatch. if it's only plecos in there they should be eaten.

you can try to condition your plecos to come out in daytime with food.
doesn't always work though.

can you move the wood? siphoning them out will likely damage them but you can try. I'd move the wood and place them in a breeder box or net inside the tank so that there is minimal water parameter differences and there is ample circulation, so add an air stone to the trap if you have to. also block ...

could also be eye anatomy but i'm not sure. my L260 are like gremlins. they seem to be hurt by light. they would get exited when food was in the tank and would go nuts until they reached the line where light border dark. the moment their eyes hit light, they'd turn around and go back. you could almo...

he made it past day 2 but is looking worse. tomorrow is end of day 3 and i will water change and retreat the tank. less salt this time. proper medicine concentration though.

if you want red just get astaxanthin powder and mix it with food (or feed it to live food and gut load it.) you should get best reds out of your fish that way.

i think it's because it's in their genes. instinct tells them to be nocturnal and hide from light so they do unless they are sick.
i have seen the same differences between my bristlenoses and L260s

Mopani wood is tough, but the plecos can choose not to eat it. i have manzanita branch in the tank as well but they don't really do anything with it. they love to hide among the two big mopani pieces.

Is cholla wood a good choice for them? is it a softer wood they can eat?

He made it past day 1!

just keep looking, you will find one eventually. maybe a breeder somewhere online is selling them.

Yea i'll let you guys know if anything changes. thanks for the helpful info! I have Mopani wood in my community from where this pleco hails. its tough wood but that doesnt stop the plecos. i do have fresh peas ready for him once he feels better and deflates. So far he needs to make it past day 1 of ...

Very informative, thanks

I added more water to the quarantine tank he is in. he is still alive this morning.

that one looks very cool