Pleco set up
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If I remember correctly, mud.
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Were it me, I would use a thin layer of marble size pea gravel which would make vaccuming the substrate much more effective at removing the waste created bt these fish on a daily basis.
I would use large smooth river stones such as one might find at lawn and garden store for decor, or landscaping store along with large driftwood pieces,fake caves.etc with maybe some anubia attached to the wood.
Would try and arrange the wood and stones in such a way as to create hidy holes if keeping more than one pleco so that fighting amongst each other (males) can be kept to a minimum.
I would want robust filtration with large canister or two ,and or powerhead's for good water movement as well as more surface area to collect organic waste.
Dim lighting would bring them out more often than bright lighting and the Anubis plant's mentioned ,don't need much in the way of lighting.
Would want a tank large enough to house the fish through juvenile stage to adult size which would also help with water quality by creating more water volume for dilution of organic matter over smaller volume of water.
Many of the plecos I have kept over the year's at times liked to dig in the sand or fine gravel or dirt and this created quite a mess on regular basis so the above mentioned is what I have found to work for me.
I would use large smooth river stones such as one might find at lawn and garden store for decor, or landscaping store along with large driftwood pieces,fake caves.etc with maybe some anubia attached to the wood.
Would try and arrange the wood and stones in such a way as to create hidy holes if keeping more than one pleco so that fighting amongst each other (males) can be kept to a minimum.
I would want robust filtration with large canister or two ,and or powerhead's for good water movement as well as more surface area to collect organic waste.
Dim lighting would bring them out more often than bright lighting and the Anubis plant's mentioned ,don't need much in the way of lighting.
Would want a tank large enough to house the fish through juvenile stage to adult size which would also help with water quality by creating more water volume for dilution of organic matter over smaller volume of water.
Many of the plecos I have kept over the year's at times liked to dig in the sand or fine gravel or dirt and this created quite a mess on regular basis so the above mentioned is what I have found to work for me.
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Which particular type of pleco are you looking to breed? Some don't typically breed in the home aquarium as they need mud banks and MANY hundreds of gallons- such as the large leopard sailfin (petco sells as columbian pleco) aka Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps which get to 18" long, or the common pleco aka Hypostomus plecostomus which can reach 24"+.
If you want to bread the bristle nose -the Ancistrus family (ranges 4-6") they breed too easily. Once sexually mature if you have a male and female they will be making babies pretty much constantly. They don't care about substrate planted/unplanted as long as water quality is acceptable. Be mind full having a lot of little pleco babies means a LOT more poop.
The smaller rarer (more expensive) breeds like zebra I've seen bred in bare bottom tanks with clay made box caves/pleco hides.
If you want to bread the bristle nose -the Ancistrus family (ranges 4-6") they breed too easily. Once sexually mature if you have a male and female they will be making babies pretty much constantly. They don't care about substrate planted/unplanted as long as water quality is acceptable. Be mind full having a lot of little pleco babies means a LOT more poop.
The smaller rarer (more expensive) breeds like zebra I've seen bred in bare bottom tanks with clay made box caves/pleco hides.
I have the Super red Bristle nose I have one male four females in a 29gl bear bottom/driftwood and 8 caves for them to hide in they are over a year old I had one small bache of 5 baby's that was mouths ago and they have not breed since I only try to clean and do WC once a week keep tamp at 80 ph normal
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29 gal is too small for five bristlenose and still maintain good water quality IMHO
I keep long finned albino bristlenose X3, and Royal Pleco in 55 gal With Rena XP3 filter and Aquaclear 70 powerhead with quick filter attachment.XP3 Filter + quick filter attachment need cleaning every couple week's due to waste created by the four plecos.
I change 50% or 60 % of the water each week normally.
Twice weekly water changes with cooler(not cold) water would be my suggestion, along with good quality pellet food such as New Life spectrum for large fish(once daily),occasional (once a week), food such as Hikari Sinking wafer or Carnivore pellet for a bit of animal protein,and once a week Zuchinni sliced long way's and left in tank over night.(Babies glom onto this too).
My experience tell's me that clean cool water, NitrAtes around 20 ppm, is difficult with the number's of this species you are keeping in relatively small volume of water.
Had a batch of about 15 babies exit the cave in my 55 gal two week's ago,and male currently tending egg's once again .
I keep them in moderately hard water 12dgh,pH 7.8 from the tap,temp 76 degree's F with afore mentioned food's and maint routine.
I currently have them over straight Black diamond substrate about four inches deep ,and their digging in this material has resulted in replacement of two impeller's in the RENA XP3 due to sand damage despite pre filter over the intake to protect a few hundred Cherry shrimp that also inhabit the 55 gal.
Try twice weekly 50 % water changes with cooler water for a few week's and do consider larger tank IMHO.
I keep long finned albino bristlenose X3, and Royal Pleco in 55 gal With Rena XP3 filter and Aquaclear 70 powerhead with quick filter attachment.XP3 Filter + quick filter attachment need cleaning every couple week's due to waste created by the four plecos.
I change 50% or 60 % of the water each week normally.
Twice weekly water changes with cooler(not cold) water would be my suggestion, along with good quality pellet food such as New Life spectrum for large fish(once daily),occasional (once a week), food such as Hikari Sinking wafer or Carnivore pellet for a bit of animal protein,and once a week Zuchinni sliced long way's and left in tank over night.(Babies glom onto this too).
My experience tell's me that clean cool water, NitrAtes around 20 ppm, is difficult with the number's of this species you are keeping in relatively small volume of water.
Had a batch of about 15 babies exit the cave in my 55 gal two week's ago,and male currently tending egg's once again .
I keep them in moderately hard water 12dgh,pH 7.8 from the tap,temp 76 degree's F with afore mentioned food's and maint routine.
I currently have them over straight Black diamond substrate about four inches deep ,and their digging in this material has resulted in replacement of two impeller's in the RENA XP3 due to sand damage despite pre filter over the intake to protect a few hundred Cherry shrimp that also inhabit the 55 gal.
Try twice weekly 50 % water changes with cooler water for a few week's and do consider larger tank IMHO.
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294 Posts
lol xD I have 3 males and 6 females(and about 300 babies atm) in a 15 gallon aquarium, hooked up to my aquaponics where i breed my moss and some other emersed aquarium plants, the water quality is perfect, and they breed so fast, i've got 2 batches of eggs per male bristlenose/month
the only adjustment i had to make was put in high water circulation so the poop couldn't settle, but besides that I can maintain the tank with one water change every 2 weeks.
Ofcourse if you look at the aquaponic beds as filter, they are 4x the size of the tank lol xD
the only adjustment i had to make was put in high water circulation so the poop couldn't settle, but besides that I can maintain the tank with one water change every 2 weeks.
Ofcourse if you look at the aquaponic beds as filter, they are 4x the size of the tank lol xD
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Quite a different set up than 29 gal tank with bare bottom sans aquaponic
capabilities and increased volume of water NO?
Can only respond to what has been written/posted, rather than what could be.
Whether what is posted is true or not.
I got an eagle in a bird cage at home, and am raising my child in a closet.
Black is white,tall is short,etc.
And so it goes with forum's.
Do post up some photo's of your system so that we may all get an idea as to how it all work's for you.
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http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/33-plants/1044834-my-emersed-setup.html
here's the thread, guppies are gone now since i had too many bristlenose fry, its with my parents also so i cant photograph the current inhabitant bristlenose.
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Is too bad ,that we have no recent photo's, for I was/am keenly interested in the idea. Though not so keenly interested in the care I might need to provide for a method that could produce 300 babies in time frame you have reported according to the thread you linked to and today's post.
2 batches of egg's per month as you report, would mean all 4 females? churning out 50 + babies at a time or thereabout's
Waste from these babies, and food's offered to keep em healthy in 15 gal tank along with the Adult's,, must produce some kinda growth in the plant tray's.?(what type of plant's?)
Or do you have several of these fifteen gal tanks going with the aquaponic benefit's for using the waste?
Why choose such a small 15 gal tank for the 6 Adult's and 300 babies?
I will eagerly await most recent photo of your success with this system and am thinking of housing a few plant's in spare tank's I have ,and using the waste water from my 55 gal breeding tank in similar fashion.
I like the idea, but have no outlet for the number's of fry you report.
2 batches of egg's per month as you report, would mean all 4 females? churning out 50 + babies at a time or thereabout's
Waste from these babies, and food's offered to keep em healthy in 15 gal tank along with the Adult's,, must produce some kinda growth in the plant tray's.?(what type of plant's?)
Or do you have several of these fifteen gal tanks going with the aquaponic benefit's for using the waste?
Why choose such a small 15 gal tank for the 6 Adult's and 300 babies?
I will eagerly await most recent photo of your success with this system and am thinking of housing a few plant's in spare tank's I have ,and using the waste water from my 55 gal breeding tank in similar fashion.
I like the idea, but have no outlet for the number's of fry you report.
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294 Posts
I redid that topic, timeframe would be more over 2 months. The first 2 batches of eggs got kicked out by the male because he had another female spawning, i took the eggs and put them in a shrimp tank(they all hatched). Each female lays around 50 eggs each time, as far as i can tell(and its hard to tell since i only do maintenance once/week on the tank). They lay eggs once every 15 days, but the males seem to be sending the signal when they are ready for another batch of eggs.
As for plants, i've been messing around with that, in the end its probably going to be all moss, since thats always high on demand and i've never seen moss grow that fast anywhere else, not even in my high tech tank with a lot of co2... but now i've got a lot of plants in there... pretty much anything(from high very light to low light except plants with small roots like dwarf hair grass(and even thats possible but it grows really funky..)
if you require it i can get you a detailed list, but i'd have to look it up.
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