L46 Breeding Season

All posts regarding the care and breeding of these catfishes from South America.
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ronkar1316
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L46 Breeding Season

Post by ronkar1316 »

Hello everyone. New to the forum, and this is my first post. In need of advice of regards to my breeding groups of L46. I was fortunate enough to obtain a number of adult L46 last year. I currently have 2 groups. 2M and 2F in each group. Throughout the year, they have all spawned for me a number of times, alternately and all seemed well. 7 spawns in total. Around the end of November everything seemed to stop and no matter what I did to try to trigger spawning, neither group showed any interest in spawning or showed the slightest hint of spawning behavior. Oddly enough, the same has happened with my L134 group, however they stopped a month later by trapping, then eating what eggs were produced by the spawn. Anyway, I decided to leave them alone and just went on to a normal feeding/maintenance and water change regimen as I did not want to push them to hard and potentially effect their health. I assumed that they're biological clock kicked in and they know it's not breeding season. I haven't changed anything. They're diet, breeding environment and water parameters have remained relatively consistent as far as I can tell.

Each group is set up the same,

30Gallon, barebottom. slate, caves, a little driftwood.
Temp - 82
PH - 6.8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0 < 5
TDS - 68 (at time of post)

Diet consists of Kens Earthworm Sticks, Premiumfood Pleco Softgranulate, Northin Bugpro, Frozen Bloodworms, Frozen Brineshrimp. No green anything. They won't eat it. I've tried. (Before someone says I should feed repashy, I had a bad experience with it....fed bottom scratcher to my first colony of L46. 12 juveniles, all died overnight. Im willing to give it another go, actually ordered some yesterday...but I am a little hesitant. I dont blame the food but....yeah.

My question is, has anyone else experienced lulls in breeding like this? Is this seasonal breeding behavior? Will they start breeding again on their own or should I take measures to get them going again? I've heard that if they stop for to long...it's almost impossible to trigger spawning again. I started feeding heavier and started doing larger water changes more frequently with RO but still nothing. A pair of males started chasing each other around but that's about all that's been the only new development. I was thinking about swapping the females over, or maybe 1 of the 2 males that are chasing? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
ronkar1316
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Joined: 19 Jul 2021, 16:57
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Location 2: New York

Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by ronkar1316 »

Hello again. Just re-read my post lol....apologize for my crappy grammer. I type everything on my phone and I got fat thumbs. Anyway, does ayone have some insight or advice?
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by OregonOutdoorsChris »

I can't speak to the specific species, but something I've seen is if the municipality changes the water source, that can put a stop to breeding.
ronkar1316
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by ronkar1316 »

Hello, and thanks for the reply. I've actually thought about that possibility. We got a letter from the water company sometime last year that said the water exceeded maximum contaminant levels for Total Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids (no idea what that is) in drinking water, but when on to say that we didn't have to do anything and that it was fine. It makes total sense, but I use 100% RO/DI, remineralized and tank water is buffered with crushed coral. My water is weird, and we'll just say that I've always known that it sucks. Wouldn't the RO/DI process remove these chemicals and contaminants? I also have a couple Discus pairs, and Angelsfish pairs who continued to spawn and raise fry. Different altogether I know, but the fact that they weren't effected was a promising sign. I convinced myself that it couldn't be the water but who really knows. Ugh. I really hope the municipal water isn't the case. I would hate to think that all of my breeding projects, hopes and dreams were thwarted by my city's poopy water.
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Shane
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by Shane »

Here is a quick checklist I would go over. Keep in mind it is not unusual for spawning groups to take breaks from time to time.
1) Changes in water chemistry. This can be a change in where you get your municipal water or can be seasonal. My water source is the Potomac so my water values fluctuate with the seasons. Neutral and medium hardness in spring to Alkaline and hard after months of no rain.
2) Changes in water temps (failed heater)
3) Changes in photoperiod length or intensity. Old bulbs, failing light timers, changing seasons if the tank is exposed to natural light.
4) Changes in DO (clogged pumps/filters)
5) Rearranging tank decor. This can break up territories that have to be reestablished.
6) Changes in diet (amount and/or types of food)
7) Changes in stocking density (i.e. so many fry with parents they stop spawning)
Hope the above gives you some ideas.
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
ronkar1316
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by ronkar1316 »

Thanks so much for that. Exactly what I was looking for. Needed some advice and guidance that would give me some direction. Its given me alot to consider. #1 is definitely a possibility. Even though I use RO/DI, it would be silly of me to think that the water quality going in, doesn't effect the water quality coming out. Something has definitely changed. #2, Temp reading on the controller is accurate, confirmed and reconfirmed manually I don't think its that. #3, definitely possible. I haven't really established a routine photoperiod and I spend alot of time in the fishroom so they are definitely exposed to room lighting for longer periods. #4, again possible. But the changes in dissolved oxygen if anything would be an increase which I hoped would have a beneficial impact. (Powerhead/airator added). Not sure what to do about that one. #5 Tank decor or arrangement hasn't changed....ever lol. A cave or random rock may shift once in a while during maintenance but nothing ever major. #6 Yes. Another possibility.....I used to feed alot of EBO Aquarastik, can't get that anymore. Been looking for alternatives and have been feeding what I mentioned in my first post. If someone has any recommendations on food, please let me know. On the subject of diet, please advise. I used to keep alot of ramshorn snails in their tanks. Every now and again you'd find an empty shell or two. They were obviously preying on a few here and there. I was thinking about adding more but figured since theynwere eating prepared foods regularly it wasn't necessary. Coincidently, after the ramshorn population was decimated, breeding slowed, and ultimately stopped. Could the scarcity of that particular food source be a contributing factor? #7, I pull all the fry when they are free swimming. I have never left babies with adults so there are no fry/juveniles present. Could pulling fry after every spawn have a negative impact?
Something else to consider, I should have mentioned, I was told that these were from a WC colony. Breeder was downsizing and offered them to me, so I have no idea how old they are. Could they just be past their prime and are now done? If that's the case, would they all just stop simultaneously like that? Thanks again and sorry for so many questions. If they never spawn again, so be it. I consider myself extremely lucky that they've spawned for me at all, let alone 7 times. I hope that I had an hand in it as I've worked really hard with them. I hope it wasn't all just dumb luck. I've kept the first spawn from each group for future breeding. They're all growing out in separate tanks so that I can cross over males or females and maintain gene diversity so, I'm not done even if the parent groups are finished. I really just want to do this right so, thanks again for advice and guidance.

Update, after 4 months of nothing, L134s are trapping again. Good sign?
ronkar1316
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by ronkar1316 »

Update #2. Made adjustments over the last couple days going off of Shane's checklist.
1. Changed out filters in RO/DI. I figured if my municipal water quality had changed it couldn't hurt.
2. Water temp was raised from 82 - 84. I remember changing the water temperature setting about 3 months ago. Couldn't remember the reason why, so reverted back to 84.
3. Lights are back on timers, 10am - 5pm.
4. This one was weird..I added a powerhead/aerator a few months back for additional DO. I removed it completely.
5. No change. Decor never changed so left this one alone.
6. Lol....yes I gave repashy another go. There is usually some left over in the morning but I'm pretty sure that they are at least eating it. Still feeding my other usual foods AND I added more ramshorn snails. Haven't come accross any casualties though.
7. Stocking density was never an issue. No additional fish were ever added, and fry was always removed.

Anyways...not sure what did the trick but.....L134s have finally started spawning again. 1 male has been guarding/fanning eggs for 3 days. This morning, did a 75% water change in L46 breeding tanks, within 10 minutes, trapped female. Spawning happening as I'm typing this. Fingers crossed they're successful. If anything, its a great sign. Thanks for the guidance Shane. It put me back on track and I appreciate it.
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Shane
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Re: L46 Breeding Season

Post by Shane »

I am really happy to hear that you are back on track!
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
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