Ah, the talks! ...I did indeed miss those, but hope to catch what may be your best ever talk (just let me know when and where you plan to deliver it!)
Andy

I was sorry to miss it!
Drove last time (6 hours each way)....but would have flown this time, but instead had to fly to Burlington Vermont, which was remarkably easy.
How were the fish?
What did i miss?
Andy in St Louis

They seem a bit on the young side to be able to tell with any certainty....

My breeders have been about 6 inches for a while....i think this is about max size....maybe my biggest male is 7. However, i think your fish is L-007, based on the black band on the trailing edge of the dorsal and caudal fins that 240 has and yours doesn't. Still gets to be the same size as i unders...

Update: A few days have gone by, and they are somehow doing much better. They eyes are no longer sunken at all, and they aren't breathing hard. Even better, they are eating shrimp and chewing on some wood. So they are going to make it. I am truly surprised.....(and relieved).
Andy

Hello all, I just received a few typhoon plecos, LDA 105, and I have never received fish in such bad shape. Their eyes are very sunken, and they are breathing super fast, and they just sit there, barely clinging on to life. The seller is suggesting that they must not do well with shipping! However, ...

I mix a few together. A little morning wood, some meat pie and some of the veggie stuff (cant remember the name)....a little bottom scratcher too. I also use Xtreme Cat Scrapers and Hikari sinking carnivore pellets. The big ones take longer to come around to food.

I went back and dug up some pics of the spawning tank, and zoomed in on the spawning cave so that you can get a sense of what they liked.

I might go with a 6" wide opening that is 4" high. Also, 16" seems a little bit long. Are they really that huge??

WOW....nice!!

Mine never spent any time on the wood. They always scavenaged along the bottom, and would often get underneath other larger plecos, such as L-95, when they were out feeding....kind of using them for cover. So i would guess slate caves would be preferred. I believe my caves were wide enough for about...

Well, i got a few spawns and sold some babies....but its been quiet since. How about yours?

I think that first photo is a male. The more solid yellow one on their website, which i think was the third fish listed, is a female (IMHO).

Well, it is hard to recommend a size, without knowing the exact size of the big future parents. They were home made caves, nothing special really, but big enough to just get two inside. They liked the caves on the ground, not higher in the in tank, and they liked something over the top, like a bigge...

My chubbies always chose rectangular slate caves to spawn in, even though rounded caves were also in the tank.
Andy

Hi, The females get a lot of bristles too.....so that is not a reliable way to sex them. Instead, it is usually pretty obvious to sex them when viewed from above. The males have a wider head, the females heads are narrower and almost rounded. (looks like you got these from predatory fins, or you ARE...

Nice list!
Getting any more of those L-91 "Flame Demon" in??
Andy

I have a breeding pair, and a lot of youngsters~!
Send me an email: white_a@wustl.edu

I might throw a small shrimp in there at night for him to eat. I use the "salad shrimp" they sell in a frozen bag at the grocery store....but any raw one would do. I have found that the newer imports, while they will eventually eat repashy and pellets, seem to gravitate more towards things...

They are far too young to be able to tell apart! When they are about double that size, it should be easy...See the attached photo of a pair of mine from a while back. Best view is from above. Wide midsection female, wide head, male.

Thanks Mario! Sure....I have 7 fish in a 90 gallon tall, tank. 3 bigger fish, and 4 half their size and nowhere near ready to breed. The tank is bare bottom (but painted on the outside), with a lot of caves and hiding places (i will try and take a photo of the tank, and upload it, but right now the ...

Looks like an L-001......!

Thanks Eric!
I plan to bring some to every convention I can, and I certainly think I will be able to have enough. Now to grow them out.
Andy

So, this 3rd spawn of the L-240 has been much more successful than the first two. I added an additional filter with built in UV, and not a single egg was lost, as far as i can tell. I removed most of the babies today, but left about 30 in the cave with dad. As far as i can tell, the total number is ...

Does anyone do anything special to "rehab" their pleco caves if the spawn was fungused? I have now lost two batches of L-240 eggs to fungus, and I am considering boiling, soaking in bleach, or even destroying the spawning cave, but I don't want to disrupt any future spawns and worry that r...

Eric and all, Thanks for the condolences....I still have 3 left(out of what must have been 150). The pH was 6.4 KH low at 2 degrees GH high at 180ppm NH3 zero Temp 79 I wonder if the low KH and high GH, and may lowish temp (I think they like it in the 82-85 range), could lead to a precipitation of t...

L-240, first spawn, dad abandoned them after 5 or 6 days, probably due to these white spots, or areas, or outpoutchings, that resemble fungus, but not really. There is nothing fuzzy about them. Looks to me like all the eggs were fertile, but they clearly are not going to make it (maybe a handful wil...

I agree with Eric....Proform C might work. Don't recognize the pathogen here.
L-95 seem to really thrive in higher temps for me....I would raise it to 30 degrees and use the Proform C....make sure you have good oxygenation during treatment.
Good luck,
Andy

Very nice!

Agree whole-heartedly!! Sharing knowledge, generating enthusiasm, stoking the future generations of hobbyists...all are more satisfying than making a buck, or losing a few.
Andy