Cool! How did you hatch the eggs? I don't like egg tumblers. I take a large glass jar with 7/8 water (so it will float) in the tank they were bred in and an air stone. The first 12 hours or so I have Alder cones in with the eggs.... after I do 100% water changes several times a day till they are re...

Jools wrote: ↑03 Aug 2022, 20:21 Well done! Hope you get a decent number from the spawn.

Cheers,



Jools

Thanks Jools,

Looks like 24 hatched out in good shape. Not bad for their size and I know at least 4 were eaten/injured.

Take care,
Chuck

Moved the L345's to the new fish room a few weeks ago and finally got them to breed. I pulled the eggs and hatched them myself. The male did destroy a couple eggs before I pulled them and injured a couple more, so they did not make it. Looks like ~20 hatched and are doing well so far. Take care, Chuck

S@@t happens, on the other hand I found suprise fry from corydoras metae when about to empty a tank last week so there's atleast some success. Guess I might have scared him, "curiosity" got the better of me and in hindsight I shouldn't have lift the cave up, or something else like the fem...

Cancel the party, egg/fry are gone no idea what happened this morning when I woke up he had simly left the cave and there are none in there. Maybe the female eating them thing happened since I have seen atleast 2 females sitting around the cave more often than not. Or the male is just not experienc...

Like Jools said... they are easy to keep. Breeding on the other hand take time and patience. A nice sized tank with wood, caves, and plenty or hiding places would be ideal. As far as tank mates.... tetras, angels, rainbows, some Corydoras stebai, ect would be fine. Never tried plants with mine I sus...

@stuby Thank you, I suppose they have been hatched for a week or so if that's the case, tank is kept at 27 degrees but might have been warmer depending on weather at times. Would you advise me to move the cave+male to a small tank/breederbox? They are with a group of L397s, Sterbai corys and an anc...

Eggs hatch in 3-4 days depending on the temp. Typically they stay in the cave for ~21 days total...... the male will come out at night but will not move far from the cave. So, make sure to feed right before lights out and some food right on front of his cave would help... But they can go without foo...

Like above L397's seem to like it warmer than other plecs do. Mine are kept around 80-82f. I never feed them any live or frozen foods. Strickly pellet foods and mine are fat and happy. Don't do any water changes for at least 10 days.... then a large water change (30% to 60%) two days in a row. Chang...

Side pictures would be best..... but all look like L129's to me.

Take care,
Chuck

Hi Bonobo1, Kind of a trick question IMO.... what might be easy for me to breed may not necessarily be easy for you to breed and vice versa. Off of the list you have the L397 and L201's should be the easiest ones to breed..... though I don't have the L52's to say. Like Eric my L134's have breed a co...

Very nice! Not sure on the first Ancistrus but second one looks like a L349 to me??

Take care,
Chuck

For me I have seen this often with mine as well. Sometimes I will have double or even triple spawns..... more often a second female will breed with a male that already has eggs and the eggs get destroyed, eaten, or just kicked out. In my experience the same can be said about Peckoltia, Panaqolus, an...

bekateen wrote: ↑19 May 2021, 14:39

Panaqolus maccus

?

You got it Eric!! Well done! I'll have to take a better picture and show it better...

Take care,
Chuck

Jools wrote: ↑19 May 2021, 06:35

L340

?

Jools

Nope.... I'll narrow it down a bit. It's a Panaqolus....... and fairly common one.

Take care,
Chuck

Just wanted to see if anyone can guess the pleco....... F1 and out of ~300 fry stood out so I kept it. Hopefully I can breed him and see if I can get this in his fry.

Take care,
Chuck

Here is a female that I had to compare your to..... ~13" TL (~33cm) HTH

Chuck

If you follow the sexing guide for L14 it would be a male..... but from personally having them I would say female! To me it looks nice sized...... what is the size on this beauty?


Chuck

It took years before mine started breeding...... my suggestion is this. Stop with the large weekly water changes and stop messing with the temp. I bred mine in ~78 degree water.... I know others that bred theirs in much warmer water so temp has little to do with it. My thought with them is this, the...

Fresh as in I just added a bunch of it to the tank...… I would never use green wood for my tanks!

Take care,
Chuck

Mart1996 wrote: ↑07 Jun 2020, 15:06 I've wanted to try oak but wasn't sure (afraid of the sap/oil)
Thanks for the post !

All the wood in this tank is Red Oak.... works great and is safe! Just know fresh Oak will turn your water a nice tea color..... but my fish seem to love the tea!

Take care,
Chuck

Broomha1 wrote: ↑25 May 2020, 15:33 Hi chuck
Thanks for the added info, very helpful. May I ask what your water parameters are after you've mixed your water and aged 24 hours? Thanks Dan

GH-7, KH-5, TDS-135ppm, and PH-7.4.

I do a 50/50 mix of tap and RO..... peat moss, Oak leaves, or branches is a good way to get tannic acid in your tank if you don't mind water that can look like tea. I always age my changing water before hand... about 24 hours give or take. That way is stabilizes before adding it to the tanks. I agre...

High current isn't needed to keep or breed most plecs..... high oxygen levels in the water is needed IMO. Air driven sponge filters are a good way to not only filter your tank but also make sure there is plenty of oxygen in the water.

Take care,
Chuck

bekateen wrote: ↑15 May 2020, 16:45

stuby wrote: ↑15 May 2020, 16:31I am bad about that... often they go into a QT tank and that is where they stay!

Needing a QT tank is my standard excuse for adding another aquarium.

Mine too..... and the reason I am building a bigger fish room! lol

Chaos in B&W, who could have thunk it? I thought I was bad quarantining wild fish for 3+ months. I do the same thing. I buy 10-15 new fish at a smallish size to grow out. I put them into their own tank so it starts as Q and ends up permanent :-). I sometimes forget how many should be there. I h...

A secret spawn? Awesome! Oh, yes, I can see at least one (maybe both in diff. photos) in your pics. Cool! Cheers, Eric I am assuming that is the case.... unless I'm not remembering correctly and I did buy 10 and 2 of them never grow much in a years time. I think they where about the size of the sma...

Beautiful fish Chuck... But oh I hate trying to figure out the ID of black & white lined/spotted Hypancistrus. :)) So many look alike, unless you have accurate catch location info or a reliable chain of custody for captive bred fish. Sorry, Eric P.S., a year in QT? Dang, that's "next level...

Bought some Hypancistrus as L345's over a year ago and decided it was time to move them out of QT. I'd like to hear your opinion on if they are in fact L345 or something else.

Thanks,
Chuck

Before I got hurt and couldn't work anymore I did plumbing and heating for many years..... I have don't a lot of in floor heating. More than I care to remember! lol I started doing this in Alaska... ground temp is a bit colder than it is here in Michigan. If I find it doesn't put out enough heat (I ...