Building a Breedig setup :)

[CanadaPleco]

Well I have finally started to build a small breeding setup. It is a stand that is about 56" long and 24" deep. Top row will carry 4x 20 gallon aquariums. and the bottom row 3x 5 1/2 gallons, and 2 more 20 gallon tanks, this setup will leave me some room to stick a couple 2.5 gallon tanks too if there will be a need :)

Building is still in progress.. I will get some pics up soon.

[Kegboy]

What do you have in the tanks and how do you induce breeding? I have not had any success in that department with Bushynose.

[CanadaPleco]

I havent bread them before either... I have 4 20 gallon tanks setup, each one will have a pair. We'll go from there :)

Generally what is done is lower the water temp for a few days, water changes and feed well and you should have some luck.

[mouse6196]

I copied this from my post on the KWAS website....hope it helps.

I've had many questions as to how I make my BN breed so regularily. I think people are putting too much effort into it. Here's a few hints and hopefully will help. They are simple and easy.

1. Get the right fish. Don't get that 4 inch monster male with bristles from head to toe. He's may be too old and lazy at this point. Try to get a male that is 1-1.5 years. Look for one that is active, but claims his cave and holds to it. I have males that roam and never claim a stake. These might be OK when alone but not worth a pinch if they don't claim a cave.

2. Females need also to be young but adult. Look for them when their bristles are just forming. Yes their first batches will only be 10-20 but in months they'll be 40-60. Leave the old lazy ladies alone...(no comment).

3. Ratio. My best breeding tank has one breeding male, and 4-5 females. I also keep one young male in there. I find this makes the dominant male hold his cave well. Also makes him protect the young a bit longer. Have lots of hiding spots to avoid mayheim. If they fight they won't breed so it's a balance. If a male fights, then I find he's useless for breeding.

4. Tank. I use a 30 long for my breeding tank but anything over 20 will do. I use sponge filters only (they're fry friendly). I also have an air stone. This is all the water movement I use. I keep upside down flower pots, PVC tubes for caves. Tubes seem to work best. I throw in one piece of Mopani wood in the tank...Any driftwood will do I think. I use a bare bottom tank only for ease of cleaning. I think substrate would be fine also.

5. Feed. I feed mainly veggie flake. This is the maintenance food for them. I'll cover conditioning food in the breeding part.

6. Water and Temp. I change only 10% every two weeks. Look to the breeding part for different schedule to trigger them. I keep the tanks at 76 degrees.

7. Trigger to breed. I feed cucumber, peas and veggie flake for a week before I want them to start. I also add some decapsilated shrimp to the tank. This is the protein they require. Not much though. Try to feed as much veggie as you can without fowling the water. Now after a week of this you have to simulate the rainy season in your tank. This is when they breed in the wild. Drop your temp to 72 degrees. I will start by changing 20% of the tank water out, and adding straight cold (room temp) water. I do this every third day. Each change will drop the temp about 4 degrees to about 68-70 and then it will slowly rise up to 74. After a week or so of this (three water changes) I raise the temp back to 76. Usually I see eggs within a day or two after. Once the eggs are there, is keep the tank stable and do only small water changes. The eggs and fry are sensitive to change. I leave them in with the adults and catch then out when about 1/4". THen they are moved to grow out tank.

Note I have no lighting on the tank except from what the room offers. I don't think the light has made a difference with mine.

Here's the most important part. Give your fish time to get comfortable and established in the tank. Leave the tank alone for a good month so they get settled in their new world. Don't mess with caves, add or take away anything. I think people try too many things causing stress on the fish. New techniques are good but don't switch up their little world too often. They are territorial (males) and love to be stable. Once they are established, and settled, they'll breed. This is more important than anything listed above. If I move plecos, they don't breed for months. It's only the ones that are left for months on end that breed regularily.

Hope this helps. Remember this only what I do and works for me. Just thought I'd share as I see a real interest out there. Ah yes...one more thing, I was cautioned by a PM not to flood the market of plecos...I don't think this will happen. If it was that easy, we'd all be doing it...

Good luck all!!!

[CanadaPleco]

Great post.. thanks for the info :)

[pleco_lady]

Thanks Mouse - that was really helpful. I'm going to give my pair a bit of slack for not breeding for me yet - maybe they're still just getting settled in. Thanks for sharing your techniques.