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BN Pleco baby - trying to buy a couple weeks

778 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Linwood 
#1 ·
I have two community tanks, 45 and 220 gallons, and both see occasional plecos survive, but only occasional. I pull out a few every few months and give them away to keep the numbers down.

Rarely but occasionally we see an albino. Usually we see them once, then gone. Not sure whether luck of the draw, or their color makes them more attractive to predation, but none ever survive.

So I took a small plastic tank and drilled some holes to be a like a breeder tank so it could sit in the big tank and let water flow through and... the little albino disappeared. I think he squeezed through the holes.

I don't have a separate tank to put one in, so when one appeared again a couple days ago, I decided to try again. The same tank (probably holds about 1.5 quarts below the holes) now has tank water in it, a handful of plants, and a very tiny baby albino pleco. No Substrate.

I'm swapping 70-80% of the water 1-2 times a day to keep it oxygenated and refresh any micro-flora in it, and flush any wastes out.

But... do I need anything else? I'm hoping with some plants, tank water, and a very, very tiny bit of an algae pellet that there's plenty for him to eat. The tank has no substrate, just plastic.

My goal is to get him about twice the current size, then he will be beyond what the other fish will eat (one angel, a bunch of congo tetras, and some SAE).

What do they eat at that age Will they just find it in the tank water and on the plant leaves? (Some of the plants have a bit of decay as well, so there's all sorts of material, but he spends all the time on the bottom or side, never on the plants floating).

It's not worth a huge effort, but I would like to save an albino if I can. Advice welcomed.
 
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#2 ·
I find breeding nets are quite handy for fish like corydoras, I would imagine it would work well for plecos too.
The beauty with the cory's is the adults in the tank would smell any food in the net above and suck uneaten food trough it, and keeping the net clean.

I think the pleco albino gene is dominant, so you just need one albino parent to make lots of albino babies.

I would like to get some of the longfin albinos, they are quite a sight.

 
#3 ·
Those are gorgeous. I have 4 albinos among my 2 cichlid tanks. I have a pretty stout male and what looks to be two females in my 150. I am VERY much hoping for fry, but it will be tough with 30 African cichlids. I have the super fine breeder nets that hang on the side. They were like $8 or less. If you can't do that I would get as large a typer ware as you can, a good amount of plants and preferably some java moss, a little substrate and an airstone. Then 50% water changes each day with tank water. The super fine breeder jet is really the way to go
 
#4 ·
As an update, I did not get a breeder net, but have been just swapping most of the water in the static tank with the large tank water, and the baby is still doing OK as far as I can tell. I've put slivers of cucumber in there, tiny pieces of algae pellets, and various plants. I added a sliver of driftwood if he is so inclined.

I've read mixed reviews on breeder nets, lots of "didn't stay up" and "net comes loose" and "net holes too large" so haven't ordered one. I'm curious if you know of one really suitable. I've plenty of room in the 220 for a large net/tank and lots of water flow. But that "lots of flow" also means if the suction cups come loose it will topple.

How do they work out with BN plecos, who like to stick to the side of things. If they stick to the side of a net hungry fish on the other side are going to be picking at them, aren't they?

It's not much trouble to do what I am doing now. I just set it into the water and dump most out, let some flow in, do that a few times watching the baby to flush out any waste, and then fill back up. Room and tank temp are about the same so no temp stress. But it would certainly be easier to just have it embedded in the tank and let water flow through.

He's right at 1/2 inch long, from nose to tip of the tail. He needs to be quite a bit bigger, at least 3/4" maybe even an inch, before the body is too big for the congos and angle. How fast do they grow? We "raise" quite a few, but it happens down in the foliage and we just see them once they are big enough to explore, so I have no idea how long it takes them to get to (say) 1" long.
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm still mouseing around the house, so not going to put lights on and wake everybody, but I'll take pics later.
I think they take 3 to 4 months to reach the common 3cm(1 and a bit inches) where they get sold.
I got my albinos on saturday, 3 veiltails and a normal finned one. Super cute but very shy.

Albino babies are supposedly weaker and with higher mortality rate and slower growth.
A bit like the black fish I'm breeding.

Oops I forgot to take a photo... will do later.
Just wanted to post quickly, as I have been having trouble getting them to eat.
They finally took to split frozen green beans, softened in a cup with boiling water.
They seem to like it quite a bit. They only nibbled on the English cucumber and butternut.
 
#6 ·
I'm one whose has had bad experience with the commercial net boxes. The fry lay near the bottom in them and that lets the larger fish see them. While they can't actually eat the fry, they can suck them in and the squeeze kills them!
As an alternate, I now have a set of boxes that I made from the sewing mesh that sells in fabric/craft shops like Michael's, etc.
I sew the corners shut with fishing line or thread. The monofilament seems to hold up better. A wood item called screen bead can help to stiffen the side if you want it stronger on large boxes.


It is cheap and works real easy and also comes in different mesh sizes.



For small pleco, I might try floating a small piece of soft wood as they tend to rasp on everything. Something about fiber in the diet? It would be likely to collect all kinds of small things they might like as well?
 
#7 ·
That actually looks like a really simple solution. I take it that it is thick enough fish outside can't do much. I might try that; there's a Michaels not too far away. I need to find some way to attach it; a 220 is awfull wide for wire across. I wonder if I just put styrofoam at the top to float it. It would just bump up and stick at the far end.
 
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