l333 and l270

[tiffanyjayne]

I'm moving the above two groups into my fish house shortly and trying to figure out the right set up for them, currently i believe there in bare bottom tanks, most of my fish are in such setups but this isn't ideal for all plecos.

I've done my research and as per usual everyone has a different view on the right setup so i'm just looking for personal experience/advice as opposed to what the internet can tell me.

These are both breeding groups already so i want to make sure i don't stop there want to breed by changing what there use to but i've found the hypans and (more expensive fish) as my partner calls them aren't overly keen on the type of set ups i have for my already breeding groups.

So my questions are:

Do you find sand or gravel or bare bottoms work best?
Do you 'induce' spawning or leave them be?
If you induce, how? and how often?
What do you treat with, if anything for general breeding grazes?

I've never tried inducing spawning so it's a whole new world to me and i expect there to be a large break between moves before any more spawning commences but i'd like to be ready for when it happens.

 

[Jamie24]

IMO use a sand substrate to the tank, doesnt have to bee too deep, only about 1/2"-1" and i find dark sand or black sand works best. As for inducing a spawn, i just leave them to it, they will spawn when they are readdy.. plenty of good foods, regular feeding, good filtration and regular water changes and you cant go wrong. If you notice trappings or spawning behaviour try a cool waterchange or miss out a water change to allow the TDS to build up so when you do the next waterchange it will bring the TDS down and could induce a spawn.. best just leave them to it and they will do it all themselves without any help, the hardest part sometimes can be the waiting and patience required.




J

 

[bigbird]

agree with Jamie but use white silica sand but just 1cm max to cover :thumbup:the bottom. cheers and good luck jk

 

[Bigjohnnofish]

i use gravel... 40-50mm thick over u/g filter.... seems to work well... i reckon the tank furniture is more important... caves and plenty of overhangs and bridges and places to feel secure.....

and wc,wc,wc,wc,wc..... and then some more wc......

 

[griffin]

breeding

it wouldn't matter about gravel or bare bottom tank.
Personally , i put thin layer of any size gravel or bare bottom.:woohoo:

As long as they are mature , good water , food most importatly aeration going in the tank will do the job.
Rest leave to them.

 

[tiffanyjayne]

Thanks for all your imput, as there use to being induced i didn't want to mess up there pattern and stop there breeding all together but i also don't want to force it, i'm assume if there happy and healthy enough they'll breed, if not i need to change something.

I think i'll go with a very thin layer of sand with some larger stones in there so they can clean if they want to, i've got the caves that they currently have with them, if i add more caves is it likely to change there need to breed? i have 7 caves in with my 134's and they never seem to move out of them and the females never meet the males.

I currently feed bloodworm, tetra prima, Hikari algae wafers and massivore delite. Is there something else i should add to there diet? veg is offered including peas twice a week but with little interest.