L135

[psionic001]

Hi,

I'm still looking for ideas on breeding L135s.

I've tried
- hard and soft water
- light & dark tanks
- lots of veges & lots of protein based
- high/low ph
- big caves/small caves


Anyone have any suggestions as I've been waiting quite a while now and everything I try seems to produce nothing.

:dk:
Matt

 

[Irene0100]

how old are they?
can you post pic of tank?

 

[psionic001]

They must be about 6 years old by now.

I've had them about 18 months. I was told they were 4.5 years old when I purchased them.

I'll upload some pictures of them soon.

how old are they?
can you post pic of tank?

 

[scatz]

have you tried adding an extra powerhead for loads of flow?, daily water changes?

 

[psionic001]

have you tried adding an extra powerhead for loads of flow?, daily water changes?

OK, I can try that.
I have a spare eheim pump which would work well.
Will a daily 10% w/c be enough?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Irene0100]

yes 10 % a day should help. use some ro or rain water if your water is a bit hard.

 

[psionic001]

Hi flow pump now installed and pushing a current across the front of their caves at 2400 litres/hr.

I did this along with a 15% cold water change.

Do we think a TDS of 96 is still a bit too hard for these fish?

 

[Bigjohnnofish]

tds of 96.... is pretty darn low.... first time spawners sometime need below 200ppm and maybe below 100ppm for stubborn spawners...

im thinking if they dont spawn now they arent ready yet....

 

[psionic001]

kH/dH/TDS

Thanks Bigjohnnofish,

seeing your post, I thought I'd do a kH & dH test.

My kH was 20ppm or 1.12 degrees which it seems is drastically low.

In fact, all my tanks are low like this so it's a good thing I do plenty of water changes which must have prevented big ph swings.

Any chance that this would contribute to spawning issues?

I'll trawl the forums for some other reference to this too I guess.

Matt

 

[littlebristlenose]

Also a reshuffle of branches and logs and rocks can help.
Have you tried lowering the water and letting it become dirty turn all powerheads off, this can cause them to believe its summer and may help 50 parts or higher nitrate.
Turn back on a do a 50 % change with 6-8 degrees lower temperature water and every powerhead you have than 30 % each day and lots of protein.
A cave in some rocks is a good site i have read to site water flow came across entrance not into.
Cave was bent type of home made clay sort of u shaped eggs but no fry.

 

[plecoaddict]

Some plecs need it a little dirty to spawn....try not doing water changes for two weeks and then start doing water changes every day for three days...and only 10% to 15% at a time.... HTH

 

[Irene0100]

oh the challenges of triggering that first spawn!
I have some plecs that have I have eventualy triggered , then they breed fairly regularly with min effort. but some , like my lep frogs, just dont seem to respond to anything, i think they dont like each other -lol.

 

[psionic001]

Hi Irene,
you have been pretty patient with your frogs for some time now.
How big/old are they?

oh the challenges of triggering that first spawn!
I have some plecs that have I have eventualy triggered , then they breed fairly regularly with min effort. but some , like my lep frogs, just dont seem to respond to anything, i think they dont like each other -lol.

 

[Brengun]

Never mind Irene, I fluked one spawn a while ago and now they are on breeding strike again. Maybe instead of Contra pleco they should have been named Lazy pleco? :lol:

I too have the L135 but haven't really triggered them to breed yet. Its a big 4'6" and its such a lot of water to do just the weekly water change.
Everyday is omg, lots! I might make a bit of an effort though and see if they like it. :thumbup:

I must say they are quite sociable plecos and don't mind sitting out to have a stickybeak what you are doing.

 

[psionic001]

Hey Bren,

how many do you have in your group of L135?

Have you worked out how to tell the males from females?

Matt

Never mind Irene, I fluked one spawn a while ago and now they are on breeding strike again. Maybe instead of Contra pleco they should have been named Lazy pleco? :lol:

I too have the L135 but haven't really triggered them to breed yet. Its a big 4'6" and its such a lot of water to do just the weekly water change.
Everyday is omg, lots! I might make a bit of an effort though and see if they like it. :thumbup:

I must say they are quite sociable plecos and don't mind sitting out to have a stickybeak what you are doing.

 

[Brengun]

I have one male, 3 females and one of the females is a different bloodline.