L066 Breeding Project

[Kieran]

Currently attempting to breed L066 plecos. I have a group of 6. They consistently trap each other. I think I have 3 and 3 of male/female. All the fish are around the 3 year mark being fed repashy grub pie, spawn and grow, and community. Along with fresh shrimp and mussels. No luck though on any eggs. Any tips are much appreciated 

[Guppysnail]

I breed bn pleco. L144a long fin lemon blue eye pleco. They now lay monthly so I don’t do much. The aco presentation by Barbie Fiorentino is fantastic. The first time dad kept trapping mom but no eggs in the female they are very visible when they do in mine.  I increased protein a lot to help mom make eggs and that was the key for mine. I looked your Pleco up on planet catfish as I’m not familiar with them and seriously fish. It says carnivores. And spoke of bloodworms etc. maybe try increasing protein and adding bloodworms?  I’m not sure that is helpful. I know it also works adding live food or frozen bloodworms for my panda corydora. They go through spawning type behavior all the time but I only see eggs after generously feeding live and frozen food and I see eggs almost every time. The coop presenter also spoke of some pleco that would not spawn and cool water changes were a needed trigger in some. Hope this helps. The presentation was definitely worth watching. The $5 membership fee for me is well worth it and is almost always offset with the 5%. discount on aco products. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I would throw in some tubifex and blood worms once or twice a week. If you can get fresh blackworms that would be great. Those are high fat and protein foods that are closer to their natural diet. When the mosquitoes come back throw in some mosquito larvae. These live and frozen foods really help with egg production. Barbie Fiorentino is a Pleco Goddess that has kept and bred countless L numbers and it was her members only presentation that @Guppysnailis referencing. Sorry I listened to it 6 times already. Amazing. The other trigger for breeding I have heard is super soft colder water changes (if you are keeping them at 82-86 drop them to 76-80 using rain water or snow melt or RODI water) around a weather event - the drop in temp, change in pH and the barometric pressure are all helpful triggers. 

How long have you had this colony? How old are they if you know? I ask because I just rewatched the Eric Bodrock fish tour that @Corydid and he mentioned that it took 2-5 years for some of his Hypancistrus to start mating and producing regularly. This was also confirmed by KeepingFishSimple on YT. I hope it is sooner but with certain plecos it is important to be really patient and think long not short term. They can live for 10-20 years. The omnivore and carnivore plecos are a whole other ball of wax from the ancistrus and also the wood eaters. 

Good luck. They are a really beautiful pleco. Their patterns are wild. Would love to see some pics. 

[Kieran]

I've also seen that presentation a few times myself. An amazing presentation. I should've added that they get black worms and currently have a large amount living in the bottom of the tank in the substrate that I've seen them graze on. Maybe I should add more black worms. I'm currently on year two with this group with one new addition about 8-12 months ago. Whenever I do the temp/rodi trick I always get a new trapping so I'm fairly certain that is working properly. I'll see if I can add pics. The pic below is post trapping so there's a few little scratches on that pleco. 

 

I'll have to try more foods because that's one worked on almost everything else I've been trying to breed, I get rhe water just right then when I find new foods to add I get spawn after spawn.