Trying to breed a common BN with a albino BN

Hi all, trying to get a couple plecos to bred here, just going to tell ya a bit about the set up , and please reply if there is anything that I should try a different approch.
20 gallon tank, AquaClear HOB filter, Natural lake gravel(boiled and cleaned), 1 piece of drift wood approximatly 8", a cave made of slate rock.
Water temp 80f. amonia non issue,water is very hard, ph8.7
I know my ph and hardness are very high but Im on well water and my cichlids love the hard water!I have never tried to adjust ph although I have all the chemicals, just never used them.
I have the tank under another tank and it gets very little light. I was told put them in the dark and it gets them in the mood.
Thanks!!

High cichlidsnorth, just out of curiosity are you trying to get the B/N to spawn in the tank with cichlids in it?
You've mentioned that your water is nice and hard for your cichlids- but are you aware that Bristlies prefer soft water, hence the reason for quite a bit of drift wood in tanks - the tannins the wood release helps soften the water that little bit more.
J

hi mate wish i had some of that well water would save me buffering for my mbuna tank.
my very first pair spawnd in my mbuna tank with a ph of 8.2 and i just left the fry in the tank untill i noticed one of my mbuna with one stuck in its mouth so they all came out and put in another tank thats when the bug bit. but would say a ph of 8.7 is a no no as kuroski j said they preffer softer water also the temp would be too high for breeding bristlenose IMO as for the lighting my bristlenose breeding tanks dont have any lights over them just natural day light except for one that gets 12 hours of light from a single chube and to be honest they all breed the same once they start they just keep on going good luck with them

The plecos are in there own tank, all on there own with intentions of breeding them. I keep plecos in with the cichlids just for tank algae cleaning but i set this tank up just for breeding them.
My cichlids have enough tanks, LOL! 2-90gal,2-65gal,2-55 gal, 2-35 gal fry cubes and a 20 gal for the plecos. I have another3 -20gal empty and a few 10 gals empty.

what temp should I have the tank at? Im good with the cichlids but dont know much about bn plecos. Also what ph should I try to get the water to without using to many chemicals

That's good to hear that the bristlies have got their own tank cichlidsnorth.
Tank temp: mine will spawn anywhere between 22- 27 degrees, you can trick them into spawning using the cooler end of the temp scale( cooler water changes has been known to spur them on).
Water quality: ? I couldn't tell you , I hardly ever test my water- but adding a sload of drift or bog wood should mellow your water out.
J

mine comes out the tap at 6.2 and keep them at a temp of 26 then i lower it down. bit by bit to 22 for a week to get them spawning with 10% water changes every other day i always let them settle into their tank for a few weeks before i try to get them to spawn. once spawnd just start to turn the heater back up to normal thats all i do it seems to work for me.

OK. I turned the heater down a degree and Ill do that 1 degree for the next couple days, I feed them some algae wafers yesterday and a peice of zucinni today. I will do a small water change tommorow. There is a peice of drift wood in the tank. Maybe I will put some peat moss in the filter that will lower ph a bit too.

good luck mate hope they spawn for you soon

well I havent seen my male come out of the cave for a few days now so Im hoping he is in there with eggs. I didnt think when I put the cave in there about positioning it so I could see in it. So Im left in the dark cause I dont want to distrub it now.

Jump on in there cichlidsnorth and spin the cave around for a quick look , if you put it back where you got from he probably won't even notice.
J

Ya I checked it out tonight when I did a water change and false alarm! Nothing happening no eggs. Maybe soon, he seems to like that cave so if he can get her in there we may be in bussiness