Need advice on which species to try breeding

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » 03 May 2010, 15:28

I've decided to take a stab at breeding Pleco's. I have these species (Wild caught) on hand right now ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Which one would be the best for a newbie pleco breeding attempt ? Thanks

[Mod edit: Add CLOG-tags on long list of fish, so we can at least see what each is (some of us don't know exactly which fish has which number, particularly for the less frequently seen L-numbers) --Mats]

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 03 May 2010, 16:12

Quite a few of those are a great beginner species to breed, particularly the Hypancistrus, Peckoltia, and Ancistrus. On the other hand, some of those have not yet ben bred in captivity, particularly the Baryancistrus and Panaque. You have Pseudolithoxus dumus? Now that's something I've never seen sold. I have never heard of them, or their close relative P. anthrax, having been bred in the aquarium trade; this is despite the fact P. anthrax is fairly common.

What L200 do you have, Hemiancistrus subviridis or Baryancistrus demantoides (hi-fin)? They are different species and only the Hemiancistrus subviridis have been bred so far in captivity. However, despite their likely greater difficulty, these fish would give more "output" than Hypancistrus due to their size. Leporacanthicus have also been bred in captivity. Although I would not consider them best for an absolute beginner, as these larger fishes will need larger tanks than Hypancistrus or Peckoltia to breed in.

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » 03 May 2010, 16:50

I'm kinda leaning towards the 199's or the 134's but would prefer to try the easiest species first. Tank space is not a problem.
I believe the 200's are H.subviridis

Here is a bad pic of a 244 I think we have around 15-20 of these

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 03 May 2010, 17:40

That is an extremely impressive list of fish - do you actually own them personally, or is that what's available in a shop?

My opinion is that before you start trying to breed fancy plecos, I'd aim at being able to "on demand" breed some of the common - brown, albino, long- or short fin, doesn't really matter. But until you have mastered that, trying to breed the more exotic plecos is most likely to end in failure. and are also good "beginner" species for breeding. A large part of breeding is to get the fry to grow up to saleable size, and practicing on something that breeds relatively easy, such as the above mentioned genera, helps at least in the way that if you fail completely, you'll have another batch in a few weeks, rather than Hypancistrus that may not breed for several months (sure, if you KNOW how to breed Hypancistrus, it can be done more frequently, but that's the "expert" level).

--
Mats

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » 03 May 2010, 17:49

Yes these are fish that we have in our tanks right now that is why I wanted to try one or two of those listed.

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 03 May 2010, 19:08

If you haven't got the basic pleco breeding experiences ( which would be my recommendation) then you need to consider the list carefully - some of those species are (at the moment) "impossible fish" as far as breeding goes.

Probably L015, L129, L134, & L199 would give the best chance of success but if you are going to dive in i'd suggest extensive trawling through threads here on PC to read about as many peoples experiences as possible. How big are the sizes of the relative species - some might have a LOT of growing/maturing to do?

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 03 May 2010, 19:41

Actually, I agree with Mats. You should try breeding the common bristlenose just to see that you can. I got them for the express purpose of gaining experience breeding loricariids before I went up to harder species.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 03 May 2010, 21:56

Out of the long L-number list, let's sort out the ones that have been bred several times, the ones that have been bred rarely, and never been bred:

Bred many times.

Bred, but only rarely.

(I think there are a few reports, but our Cat-eLog page doesn't show them being bred at all).

Never bred:

The idea of trying to breed something that hasn't been bred at least several times as your FIRST task is definitely a recipe for disappointment.

--
Mats

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » 03 May 2010, 23:01

I'm not worried about failure or disappointment. I just want to work with the easiest species that I have available right now. I'm aware it could be a long term project but it doesn't matter as I'm only interested in learning from the experience. The L-199's and L-134's are near or at adult size already so I think I will keep a group of each and am thinking about the L-213's. Be prepared to be peppered with newbie question's in the near future

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 04 May 2010, 09:37

I understand what you are saying, but you are asking for advice which species to try breeding. "Try to breed" to me implies the ambition to eventually succeed in the project, and it's probably more likely that you will continue and enjoy more if you "try" something that you have a fair chance to succeed with. It's not much of a breeding project if all you do is keep a mix of males and females in a tank for five years without achieving anything.

And as was pointed out in another post, consider the relative size of the fish (compared to adults) - you may find that the ones that are "best" to breed are the ones that are closes to mature size!

--
Mats

jeff@zina.com · Post by **jeff@zina.com** » 05 May 2010, 01:19

MatsP wrote:And as was pointed out in another post, consider the relative size of the fish (compared to adults) - you may find that the ones that are "best" to breed are the ones that are closes to mature size!

Echo that, especially since most of the species you list take quite a while to reach breeding size. If you have smaller specimens it could be six months to a year before you could breed any of them.

Ancistrus or Hypancistrus would be my choice for a first try, they're hard to keep from breeding and the fry raise themselves without much effort. Just be aware of the diet and water conditions and when they're ready they'll spawn.

Jeff

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