Stopped Spawning??????? Pleae HELP

Hi please can anyone help??

I Have a proven breeding trio of bn plecs - Brown male just under 4", 3.5" brown female and a 3" albino.

I started off with just a brown male and female i got about five spawns before christmas then intorduced albino, she spawned on the thrid day i had her 11/01/10 and since then i have had nothing from either of them?? I was getting spawns from my brown pair every month without fail now nothing. Is it because of the introduction of the albino?? Is the Male stressed with it all?? Is ther no competition for the male? I have even tried cold water changes for a week to get them back in the mood, but nothing?

My water and tank is the same as always

PH. 7
Temp. 25*C
Food. Algea Wafers And Cuccumber
Tank. 2ft Planted with males cave and bogwood

Please any Help will be brilliant

Thanks Danp99

their could be a few reasons why they have stoped spawning. i dont think its because of the albino female to be honest.
you say youre water as always been the same ph7 and the temp have you ever tested the gh and kh ov the tank as i find this more inportant than ph and temp.
have you added anything new to the tank ie bogwood stones or anything at all.
you say they are getting cucumber and wafers this doesnt mean they are in top breeding condition. you could try adding a bit of protien to their diet i use raw prawn not cooked ones twice a week to keep them in tip top condition.
it could be just a case ov them having a rest period they do this from time to time. i have a pair going throu this at the moment. the female is in good condition and is trying to spawn with the male but he isnt in top condition and is just taking a rest from his last three spawns.
how is youre male behaving.??
his he just sat in his cave with his head poking out???
is he cleaning his cave at all and fanning for female intrest.???
the answer to these will help find out if its the male or females.
hope this helps

ps could you intrudce yourself to the forum members in the intrudction section cheers

Thanks for the info.

i have had a kh test done at the fish shop about 3 weeks ago he said it was fine but not sure now as i have not got a test kit but i will get one tomorrow.
As for the gh i havent got a clue?? as i said i will get a test kit for that aswell and let you know.

I have also added more bogwood to the tank and nothing else has changed.

The male has been mainly around his cave not in it just on the bogwood on top of the cave. He comes out for food has a peak around the tank and thats it. thinking about it he seems a bit stressed to me not his normal self i havent had a good look at him in ages as hes really shy. But the girls are fine just pottering about as usual but they dont seem to want to spawn with him they usually get bloated or gravid when they are ready.

I also do one water change a week now is this good?? what would you suggest i do??

I will definetaly try the prawns on them thanks for that.

Thanks a lot will introduce myself aswell.

on a 2 foot tank one water change a week is ok.
you could remove the bog wood for a few days and see if the male will take back to his cave.
i wouldnt worry too much they will get it back on at some point.

Ok thanks deano

i will keep posted on how i get on

cheers for help

BN breeders often take some time off. Often its becasue tey ahve been breeding hard for too long and need a break. the males in particular get like that.

I wouldn't go trying to trigger a spawn til he is ready. and he will indicate this by getting back into his cave. if you try and force him, he will either quite breeding all together (it happened to me with my first breeder) or he is will overwork himself and die.

Have you been having irregular weather conditions there?

I ask this as I [and a lot of folks] have found that the weather plays a big part in the spawning of Bristlenose.

The main thing to watch for is the barometric pressure.

If you see on the news [if you dont have a barometer] that a change is coming, I would do the following:
- Do a 30% water change but make sure that the temp of the water is lower than the tanks usual temperature - This apparently fools the Bristlenose into thinking there is a rise in water levels coming and usually has them spawning that evening. [I also add Potassium Powder to the tank as this is a natural stimulant for spawning in most freshwater fishes]
- Feed sparingly for the night, you want your Bristlenose to concentrate on spawning rather than eating!
- Reduce any or all lighting to the tank [again to simulate a stormy sky]

Please Note:
This is a very successful manner of encouraging your Bristlenose to spawn......BUT......as with any methodology [and as Doug stated, it will only happen if the Bristlenose are ready to spawn.

HTH
CHEERS

Oh, so im not crazy and that is true? i have noticed that too but i alway thought it was just random. might explain the 2 spawns yesterday tho

Weather has been hot cold rainy dry humid this makes sense now

could be the weather then

also i noticed yesterday after removing bogwood that the females kept on hanging around the cave one went in for a bit but then the male just chaced them away and they have been doing this ever since. i think the females want to but the male doesnt. do you think i should move him away from the females so they stop annoying him and then add another male to keep them happy???

What is potassium powder??? where would i get it???

thanks for help and advice guys