Any advice is much appriciated

[SavageProject]

Currently i have a group of common Bn's
The alfa male has tried breeding many times for me but each time he chose the small hole at the top of a Rena smart heater which is barely big enough for him to squeeze into, and lost the eggs each time with them looking infertile a day or so after. I have slate caves in the tank which are mostly ignored by the Bn's and more used by the other fish in the tank.
Any ideas how to over come this or is it possible that the male is shooting blanks :S
i have another male that hasn't grown at the same rate as the rest and is lots smaller than the females but is the same age.

 

[Doodles]

Is there anyway of preventing him getting to the small hole? Chances are, he will find somewhere else that may be more suitable and do a better job.

 

[Lornek8]

You need to look at your other slate caves. For some reason or another the males doesn't find them suitable. You need to try a different cave, possibly with a smaller opening and/or different orientations for the cave. When the male finds one he likes that'll be the one he uses.

 

[SavageProject]

hi thanks, I guess i could plug the hole or add some pipe to stop him, its a huge size difference between the heater hole and the slate cave openings, is it possible to get a lot of different size caves ? i really don't think i've seen many smaller but i haven't been looking for them, i guess i didn't really think about the size caves.

 

[Lornek8]

Yes it is. It is quite common for breeders to have or use different sized caves for different species. Most breeding plecs prefer a cave that is somewhat snug compared to their body size. Caves that plecs deem too open are often not utilized.

 

[Joby]

Plug up the hole if you can and yes make different size caves available to him so he can find just what he wants

 

[SavageProject]

Thanks guys

 

[Irene0100]

try a piece of sponge or filterwool in the heater and/or have top of heater just above water line. try offering other tank ornaments and possible nest sites, half a coconut shell with an entrance sawn in it or an upturned flower pot etc.

 

[SavageProject]

Thank you Irene0100
To update i have now dedicated a 3ft tank with the usual bog woods and the same slate cave that i wedged the end of a rock in to close up the gap slightly and cut a small length of tubing to fill the heater hole which still allows water through but is way to small for the male. the same night in doing this and moving the Bn's over the male found the cave and has not left it since in and out but never for very long and sits with his head in the cave but fanning with his body outside the cave ? im sure there are no eggs yet but cant believe how fast he took to just a few changes.

The plan was to see if i could get these guys happy enough to breed then maybe move on to something a little less common than "common Bn's"

Big thanks for the info guys

Edit: Scrap that there are eggs and only been 3 days

 

[Brengun]

Congraties on the eggs!

 

[Irene0100]

brilliant well done

 

[Joby]

Congrats on the eggs :woohoo:

 

[SavageProject]

Thanks guys

If this all goes well i would love to move onto a nicer L number but quite torn between a few i have seen, Like i said i have 6 L144's but they are still very small around 4~5cm so it may be a while for them yet, Just how much of a jump in expertize is needed to go from a group of commons to say something like L183's ?