breeding

[leonsmith]

Hello all just a quick question i would like to try and breed some plecs i have been going threw the l numbers and find alot of them saying that alot of them havent been captive bred is that because no one has tryed or that they wont breed? or is it a bit of both? any help or advise would be much apreciated thanks

[MatsP]

In a huge number of cases, it's probably a combination of:
1. Many people keep only one of each species - that's NEVER going to allow breeding.
2. Many plecos aren't EASY to breed - they need a little bit of "work" to make them breed.
3. We don't know about EVERY success in breeding catfish - someone has to tell us that the fish has been bred for it to be recorded.

If it's your first attempt to breed fish, I'd say you should start with something REALLY easy -

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

would be my choice - it was the first fish I bred when I re-started my fishkeeping. The reason for this is that you probably need a couple of goes at getting the fry to survive the first couple of weeks. And the last thing you want then is a fish that only spawns once a year or less...

Then graduate to something more difficult, like Peckoltia or Hypancistrus.

--
Mats

[DJ-don]

i would totally agree with mats
the thing about my bns is that they spawn too much!
even though they spawned about last january they already on their third.
they pretty much are like rabbits

your first go might be hard like it was for me. but with paience and time you will get it

[leonsmith]

thanks for the advice mats and jon, sounds like a good plan to me. with the fish you mentioned do you just get one male and one female or do you buy a few and wait to see who pairs up?

[MatsP]

With Ancistrus, it should be possible to get a pair directly. With other species, it may be necessary to "take your chances" and hope that you don't get all males or all females - it is not unusual that the fish in the shop are too small or not in good enough condition to trivially say if they are male or female. The difference can be hard to tell, if you see what I mean.

--
Mats

[DJ-don]

if you plan on taking juveniles, i would reccomend get around 6 and see what turns out after a some months to see whats male or female
a good ratio from male to female in ANY pleco is 1:3
this is because males are more aggressive towards each other