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I have had a group of six Clown Plecos for roughly 8 months or so and was hoping to spawn them. However I cannot seem to encourage them to do so, there are at least two females in the bunch, maybe a third. I have PVC caves for them, some open ended and some capped off at the end.
Any tips of pointers for getting these plecos into spawning?

Thanks for the help.

Hi CatWhat,

What water parameters are you using? And what are you feeding them? Have you read my thread on spawning these fish? viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41320

Open-at-both-ends caves won't promote spawning. Also, I recommend bamboo or wood caves instead of plastic.

Feeding should include some meaty food (shrimp, clams, etc) once a week or so, and even live black worms.

Add a power head for strong current and they will spawn when they are ready... Then they won't stop.

Heat them up to over 80F, then drop the temp to about 72-74F with a big water change (75-90%) using cold water.

Good luck,
Eric

Thanks for the tips. I am currently feeding mine, bloodworms, DIY beefheart/tilapia mixture, DIY veggie mixture (spinach, romaine lettuce, carrot, tilapia, shrimp, and garlic), cucumber, algae wafers, and sinking shrimp pellets. How I do not see them eagerly eating any of it, but I have had them for almost 8 months now so they are eating something lol.
I'm waiting to get some terra cotta pleco caves in the mail, hopefully soon. I can't seem to find bamboo in my area for some reason though.
A few days ago I dropped the water level and increased the temp. After a couple of days I topped up the tank with cool water a turned back on the power head.
I thought it may have done the trick as I seen two of them in the one cave, but as it turns out it was a no go.
But I'll keep trying and hopefully with the clay caves that will do the trick.

They may be getting comfortable with each other...… after the large water change keep doing small daily water changes. Your simulating a rainy season so and you want to keep the water clean to simulate this. Try if for a least a few days after the large one and hopefully by this time they have spawned. They aren't the easiest pleco to breed so it may take more than one try to get them going. Once they start they seem to keep going for some time..... it's just getting them going the first time that is tricky.

Chuck

Yeah, what Chuck said.

I had some of mine for 2 years without breeding. But once they started, they never stopped.

Patience.

By the way, most people I know discourage feeding beef heart to fish. They say it increases the risk of bloat and other issues.

Cheers, Eric

I have spawned them in both bamboo and clay pipes, but bamboo is preferred. The diet above, depending on frequency, sounds rich. Driftwood should be their main diet. I usually fed algae wafers once a week,but that was mainly to make myself feel like I was "helping." Not sure the fish cared.
-Shane

Shane wrote: 16 Jun 2018, 19:08 I have spawned them in both bamboo and clay pipes, but bamboo is preferred. The diet above, depending on frequency, sounds rich. Driftwood should be their main diet. I usually fed algae wafers once a week,but that was mainly to make myself feel like I was "helping." Not sure the fish cared.
-Shane

Agreed... mine have bred in granite and Oak (wood) caves so I really don't think they care to much what it is made out of. Only problem I have seen is using wood caves, after some time they eat their home! lol

Chuck

stuby wrote: 16 Jun 2018, 19:16Only problem I have seen is using wood caves, after some time they eat their home! lol

Not a problem at all. Wood cave becomes first food for fry.

Cheers, Eric

bekateen wrote: 16 Jun 2018, 22:24 Not a problem at all. Wood cave becomes first food for fry.

Cheers, Eric

Speak for yourself...... the more they eat the more I have to replace and Oak is hard to drill out!
I'm just messing with you, it's all good.... the reason I use the Oak in the first place is because the fish like to eat it. So every year I have to replace some wood and make more caves..... I made some this year but I still need to make more. And when I add new wood to the tanks all the fish seem to like the tea colored water......


Chuck

Tried asking if anyone near you has better tools to dig the oak out?

There is a good amount of drift wood in their tank, that they certainly do gnaw away at for sure. I have replaced a couple of pieces since getting them in fact as it seemed that stripped it off as I noticed the plecos were no longer feeding off it.
I don't feed the beef heart/tilapia mixture, about once every 10 days perhaps, however they are not huge fans of it anyhow. I just have it on hand for my Cetopsis coetuins.
Well hopefully time will tell.

Shane wrote: 16 Jun 2018, 19:08 I have spawned them in both bamboo and clay pipes, but bamboo is preferred. The diet above, depending on frequency, sounds rich. Driftwood should be their main diet. I usually fed algae wafers once a week,but that was mainly to make myself feel like I was "helping." Not sure the fish cared.
-Shane

I was finally able to track down some bamboo, so now it is just a matter of waiting for it to actually sink. Hopefully once it does, it will do the trick with the clowns.

Bamboo sinks slowly. I boil mine for about 15 minutes, which still isn't sufficient, then I overlay a piece of slate to get them down. Eventually they will sink on their own.

Cheers, Eric