l333

[firefincomp]

hi all i'm new to keeping pleco's i have 5 l333 about 7cm, but i can't tell male and female and i want to breed these fish. this morning i seen that in one of the breeding logs there was 2 fish in there. would this mean that there's a strong chance that there is a male female in the tank? will 2 males go in the same log without fighting? any information in breeding these fish would be appreciated. thanks for your time
ben

 

[Irene0100]

hi, two fish in a cave , might be male and female or two males fighting for same cave.

males have more hair on their bodies and above the tail, and longer face wiskers.

there are a few articles about breeding L33 and other similar hypancistrus species such as L66.

http://plecoplanet.com/?page_id=539

Tell us more about the tank setup, size, temp, contents etc, and post a pic of you have a camera?

 

[firefincomp]

hi thanks for your reply the tank is a 70L, the ph is 7 and the temp is 26 degrees this houses 4 l333 at 7cm and 1 at 4cm. i've only got 2 breeding logs i there at the moment waiting on some more to come i run a 800l/h internal power filter and a sponge filter also got 2 pieces of drift wood. i'm not that good at telling the sexes apart i tend to second guess myself.i have not had these fish long about 3 weeks so there still getting use to there tank. i'll try to get some pic up.

 

[thegeeman]

Hey mate:hi:

A really good choice of first Hypan to breed. L333 can get quite big and chunky. 7cm maybe a little small for them to be breeding but anything is possible. L333 seem to prefer higher temps of 29/30c. Nothing else really required apart from well maintained water and tank. Feeding meaty foods like frozen bloodworm will help aswell.

Look after them and you will be rewarded

Goodluck

thegeeman

 

[Irene0100]

yes I second that, a bit warmer will help.
they are very hard to sex. Also hard to id - some shops sell L66 as L333.
small water changes every few days.
what food are you trying them with?
do you have any other fish in the tank?

 

[Miquatics]

Good info that. I believe too that's its just good maintenance of your tank. And feed good quality foods. When they are ready, they will breed. A pair of mine just bred for first time. My best guess is the Male is around 10-11 cm and the Female around 8-9? Make sure you include lots of aeration if you raise the temp.. Then it's just a waiting game I think.

Sorry Gee, cant put photo's up as my Camera has gone into storage as I'm moving soon. I'll do it when I can if my Fry survive? :dk:

 

[firefincomp]

thanks people i feed them frozen brine shrimp, sera catfish chips, sera viformo, hikari sinking carnivore pellets does this sound ok? i will raise the temp now to 29 there is no other fish in with these fish. as for aeration the sponge filter gives out alot of air.

ben

 

[thegeeman]

Sounds good to me.

Just keep an eye on aeration

Cheers & goodluck

thegeeman

 

[firefincomp]

do you guys think at 7 cm maybe it will be about 12 months until they maybe old enough to breed?

 

[Miquatics]

Yeah probably about that. Depends on them I guess. Mine are around 1.5-2 yrs old. But I was doing water changes nearly everyday and fed well. Gluck!

 

[Irene0100]

there is a theory that more frequent water changes helps them grow quicker (its all about removing pherimones)
good luck