Breeding L270

[Rohan Richardson]

I need the temp, ph, gh for breeding and rearing of fry they are a blackwater specie

[MatsP]

I'd expect them to breed like other Hypancistrus. Being a blackwater species, I'd expect gh near zero is the ideal [just make sure you have SOME kh (1-2) to prevent pH crash], and a pH around/below 6 would be higher than their natural habitat, but should be OK for the purposes of breeding them - trying to replicate a pH 4 environment that they live in naturally would be very fragile and not likely to work without a HUGE amount of work, and I personally believe these [like most other captive bred Loricariidae] will breed in more "ordinary" pH and gh conditions. Most of the more commonly bred Hypancistrus species will breed well above pH 7.5, and most rivers where they live natively are closer to pH 6 than pH 7.

--
Mats

[racoll]

Hypancistrus sp(l270)

as far as I am aware are not a blackwater species. I know the Tapajós is clearwater, and i'm pretty sure the Rio Curuná is as well. The

Peckoltia compta

come from here too.

[Luka]

I keep my L270 in temp. 27oC, pH 6.8, dGH 9 and dKH 6 and they started to breed without any effort on my side. I just did regular water changes and put in a cave of right size they really like.
For me, Hypancistrus species are not really hard to breed, I have more problems with Peckoltia` s.

[apistomaster]

I agree with the statement that exact matching of pH and hardness is not essential for spawning most Hypancistrus spp or small "Peckoltia" spp.( I have my doubts that L134 is a Peckoltia. If they turn out to be classified as another Hypancistrus sp, I will not be surprised.)
I do think a large water change using RO water will often help trigger spawning but I have had nearly equal results with my moderately soft tap water with a KH of 6 and ph of 7.4 with ~340 ppm TDS.
L270 has been bred frequently as these small plecos go and that indicates to me that they are not too demanding.
Barbie and I in our pers coms has discussed that persistence and patience are perhaps the greatest determining factors when it comes to breeding the small plecos. So far, everything I have experienced has only supported those factors.

Whenever trying to maintain such a small closed system as a typical small pleco breeding set ups are, the risks associated with extremely low KH of 2 KH or less as Mat mentions, its just as likely to cause a crash that may cost you your breeding stock and not even necessary to risk to begin with.
L270 is a an attractive species and successfully breeding them is an accomplishment to be proud of.