breeding the pleco

hi, i am new to this forum, my question is. i have a pair of bristlenose plecs, i did my water changes and for the past 2 week`s the male has been constantly in his breeding cave fanning away, i have never seen him leave it. but i have been told to have a look inside to see if he has any eggs. but i don`t want to disturbe him. could anyone throw any light on this behavior.becuase it seem`s as though he has been in there for a long time. is this normal?
thank`s, john.

he is either fanning new eggs, or just getting ready for when the
female should join him for play time.

I never disturb him when he is fanning.

Good luck and welcome to the forum

hi wolverine. should i keep on doing the colder water changes while he in in the cave/ thank`s, john.

I would not do any cold water changes untill you know if there are fry or not. If you have to do a normal water change then try not to disturb the male.
It's not unusual for a male to keep most of the fry in the cave for up to 3 weeks after hatching.

If there are fry in the cave you should be seeing them pretty soon.

that is a tough question-
some would say yes and some would say no...

I am of the type that would say yes.... infact I am about to do a water change in my tank right now...

though I would not do a cold water change as such.

I always have my tanks set between 78-80, depending on the fish and set up ofcourse-
though when I do a water change I use two pre heated buckets of one day old treated water.

when I say pre heated my thermometer in each bucket tonight says one is 76 and the other is 74....

I usually had the warmer bucket first.... some do a cold water change to speed up the spawning process...
though each breed of pleco can vary slightly....

Just check your water temp's and don't do too much of cold water as some fish could go into shock...
(I think Doug gave me some advice on this a while back-so if you use search above and typr in temperature you
might fond more advice, as I have to get back to my tanks now as it isgetting late)

I would say my tank set up and breeding advice may vary some what to brengun's, moo's, doug's and even curby's......

just use what you can and improve on the things that do not go according to plan....

as confuscious once said man that stops learning is a man that is just a fool..

hope some of this helps...

good luck LJ

it is important to be safe and sure when you might have fry....

I may not have been fully clear before...

I do a slight decrease water temp, but that is usually coz I turn the heaters off on the bucket
when I begin to change water

That means after about 20 minutes the buckets in my utility room normally cool off by the time I place them in the water.

If you wish to minimise stress further I sometimes pour the new water in to a fish net i HOLD
in the top of the tank, that way the water pressure intake is decreased and it reduces disturbance in the substrate below
where you are adding the water.....

alternatively if you have a spare fry saver -
i sometimes float the fry saver in the top of the tank and then add the new water to the fry saver
that way water disturbance is minimized and as such reduces less stress which might hurt the fry.

regards

LJ

once you have triggered a spawn by doing the cool water changes then rever to normal water changes til you know what has happened. If it is the first time they have bred then i would simply leave it. let the male do his thing. How deep in the cave is he?

if you suspect he is on fry then i suggest small regular water changes that dont disturb the cave with water at tank temp, not cold water as the fry are very sensitive to water temp changes, not to mention it may stress the male and cause him to boot the eggs.

good luck and welcome

firstly i would like to thank you all for the very valuable infomation that you have given me, i think that personal experience goes a long way. on the last question from doug he asked how deep in the cave is he? this seem`s to vary, i made the cave myself approz 6" long x 2"square. from an old roof tile, making sure all the edges are filed smooth. mainly he is all the way in it, other times he is just on the end of it. but he seem`s to have stopped fanning all the time, just doing it now and then. normaly if i go anywhere near to the tank, and he is in view. he spot`s me and vanishes around the back of my pump. but now he will not move no matter what i do. but i have never seen the female go anywhere near to him. probably different when the light`s go out.


thank`s, john.

hi, folk`s. it`s good news. i have been doing a general tidy up in my tank,and low and behold. MY FIRST WRIGGLER`S. thank you all for your help and advice. john.

good work!
do you test your water? can we have the water parameters for this spawn?
would love to see pics too!

Hi & Welcome to the forum..
Congrats on your wrigglers, Depending on your filtration, I would do a 10% change every second day...
& Feed them some cucumber if their egg sacs have been absorbed..

hi, my filtration is a a fluval no 4 internal filter. which the wriggler`s were hiding behind, they have no egg sack`s. i have already given them some cucumber, which they don`t seem to have bothered with. i shall try them with some wafer`s. my male is still in the breeding cave, should i remove this now to give him a rest, and enable him to feed again? in reply to the other question about my water, to be honest with you i havn`t checked it for a while, everything has happened naturaly.
thank`s, john.

Nah, i would leave the cave in there.

And the fry will prefer the cucumber, its better on their stomachs than the waffers.