L34, L255, L46 higher flow rate for breeding, but how much higher?

I been reading up on the profiles/discussion of L34 (Medusa), L255 (spotted Medusa), L046 (zebras), on various forums. In general everyone agrees that to breed these fish you need a "HIGHER FLOW RATE", my problem is HOW MUCH HIGHER?

normal flow rate (from my research) for a freshwater tank is about 6x the volume of the tank.
so a 10 gallon tank requires a filter with a flow rate of ~60 Gallons per Hour (GPH)
40 gallons requires ~240 GPH.
Although I know what the flow rate is for a normal freshwater tank, the information I collected Doesn't clarify the actual flow rate of L34,255,46's natural habitat, the Xingu River. I tried researching what exact parts of the Xingu River these plecos are found and the depth of the water there, but found noting.

I was hoping you guys can help specify what is meant by "these plecos need a higher flow rate to breed"?
does this mean they the flow rate needs to be doubled?
could this be achieved using a larger filter for less water or a smaller tank?

interesting question and I am sure there will be a few people who will have some ideas out there.

For me, there are two aspects to the higher flow rates. One is flow though a filter system and the second is flow through the tank. both are important and both will have an effect but it is possible to have one with out the other.

Flow though the filter firstly. For the fish you mention you will be looking for a high filtration rate with excellent biological filtration. I would be looking for 8-10x the volume of the tank. This is because the fish you mention like nice clean water and are not at all tolerant of organic pollutants. This will also mean frequent water changes. The higher filtration rate will also mean more water movement in the tank. Most filters come with a spray bar which is designed to dissipate the flow of water in the tank by spreading it out. If you have fish that like the flow i would suggest removing the spray bar. this will cause a single point entry into the tank resulting in greater water movement.

The second aspect is simply the addition of water movement without filtration by adding a powerhead or wavemaker. there are simply pumps that move the water around. there can be handy to crate water movement past the entrance to a cave or similar.

one final thing to consider is that bristlenose live in very fast flowing water and are used to very high flow. There is little that you could do in a tank to 'out flow' them. The only real no no is blowing water into a cave. Outside of that, go nuts.


Anyone else got any thoughts?

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it.