Hoplosternum punctatum breeding

[MissNoodle]

So caught my boy trying to build a bubble nest using fallen leaves, had a laugh because it wasn't going where he wanted it to go.
Gave him some fresh dried leaves that floated and now he's happy, building a bubble nest, and my girls are very chunky...
Fingers crossed for a spawn.

But enjoy a laugh

There he is all happy with his new leaf. Keeps pushing it back to that back corner when it floats away lol

Best catfish these guys, make me laugh

[bekateen]

Excellent!

[MissNoodle]

It would be awesome if this turned into a spawning. Hes probably just "playing house", but its so good to see.
Ive recently had a tragic turn of events with this tank, so a little bit of good news is a win here.

Besides, hes so stinking funny with the leaves.

If anyone has any tips with breeding this group of catfish, I'd love to hear them
Can only find info on their breeding in other species in the hoplosternum group, there's no reported breeding listed on here (perhaps due to the low number of people keeping them), but assuming bubble nesting by the male, good regular water changes similar fashion to corydoras, and good hearty feedings... my females are pretty porky.

[bekateen]

You're using leaves. Some people put floating plates, foam, etc., on water to strengthen the site for the bubble nest. Worth a try?

[MissNoodle]

I'll give that a shot. He never showed interest in this behavior until today lol ill see if he likes a flat plastic lid. Hes been pushing around the plants up top too lol

Female left, male right

Female below, they've been pretty porky lately.

[MissNoodle]

Since he seems to like the leaves, I secured dried leaves to Styrofoam with fishing line, to keep them from falling off or flopping around.

[bekateen]

Clever. I'm looking forward to a breeding notification soon.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

@MissNoodle, check this out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/csg.mem ... 588963972/

Cheers, Eric

[MissNoodle]

@MissNoodle, check this out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/csg.mem ... 588963972/

Cheers, Eric

Going off of other species preferences for breeding these guys because there's not really any reports, but I tried a lid and he didn't care for it. Maybe another colour haha

He does go up to the leaves and play around with them, but doesn't look serious yet. But theyre young, just come to maturity. Wasn't expecting anything until next year haha
Whenever it happens I'm happy as I do want to breed these guys because theyre such a fantastic catfish I want other people to know about them. They're my favourite fish by far.