A bad night for females :(

[jvision]

This weekend I did a decent sized WC with nice cool water on most of my catfish tanks. It got my P. compta and Common BNs in the mood, as I saw both of these males trap their favorite girl in their cave the next day!!
Tonight, as I'm doing my rounds I see the female BN floating at the surface, obviously roughed up by the male (there are only 1 male, 2 mature females, and several young females in the 20gal). Boo Then, I moved to the next tank and can see that the male P. compta is definitely guarding something in the cave, and using the flashlight I can see something that looks white and fuzzy... I'm hoping its eggs that have fungused. NOPE! I pulled apart the rest of the tank to find both females, only to find one. The cave is a tube with the end plugged, so I pulled the plug to find the female dead.

Not a good night for me... it's go me considering selling off most of my plecos and going back to being a plant guy.

[pleco_breeder]

It's a bad pic, just took it for this post, but this is what I've resorted to for most of my non-Ancistrus breeders. The back section of pipe is two inch and the front is sized for the breeders by the traditional formula. In order for the male to "trap" the female, because of the wider diameter, she actually has to want to be there. In order to start beating her, he has to leave the narrower entrance. That allows her enough room to escape with only minor injuries. Peckoltia compta is the exact species which prompted me to come up with this design. The males just seem to be absolutely brutal.

Larry

[GhostArcher]

Damn..... Sorry about that man.

[pleco_breeder]

Forgot to add the image.

[jvision]

Thanks for the suggestion, Larry. If I decide to keep them, I'll give that a try.

[Matt30]

Hi mate,Sorry to here about your loss, but dont give up unfortunatey things like this are just out of our control,sometime these thing happen even if you are doing everything right.Give it time, it will all be worth it when you get a spawn,goodluck

[exasperatus2002]

Sorry to hear about your girls. Nice idea pleco_breeder!