Raising Sub-Adults with Adults

[Ike]

Hello All,

I've got a question for you.

Is it detrimental to younger plecos if they are grown out in a tank which already contains mature adults? Specifically a breeding pair.

I know, at least for bristlenose plecos, In tanks where there are two males only one will fully develop their big bushy nose.

Growing them out together won't stunt their growth will it? Being sub-dominant I mean.

Thanks in advance

 

[Brengun]

Usually no growth stunting from the adults no but woe any juvi silly enough to go into the breeding males cave.
I just lost a juvi L278 who did that in a L278 colony. Chewed real bad he was and didn't survive.

 

[Jackson]

No breeding pairs yet here but I do have 15" panaque with 3" panaque and there is no aggression from the adults. The juvies are aggressive towards the adults.

I also added 2x 9" 330's who had no chew chew and I guess the mature adult male 330 triggered theirs to start growing.

Growth has not slowed down. It's increased considering how much bigger the tank is

 

[Ike]

Hmm that's interesting, so are you saying their growth increased in an all male tank? I know from experience that in an all male cichlid tank all males will color up, but if 1 female is added all but the dominant male will lose their color. I wonder how similar plecos might be in this fashion... Keeping it all male to increase the rate of maturation.

 

[Jackson]

No
The growth of the actual 9" fish did not increase but the chew chew started growing within a week of being in the tank with the big male. I thinks it's more of a "man up or sit down" sort of thing.

The growth of the smaller 3"+ panaque increased a lot considering how much bigger the tank is compared to what they used to be in 75gal>200gal.
Having adults in there did not slow down the growth.

Growth of smaller fish is more noticeable to me. I'm not sure about the bigger ones they always look the same size lol

Hmm that's interesting, so are you saying their growth increased in an all male tank? I know from experience that in an all male cichlid tank all males will color up, but if 1 female is added all but the dominant male will lose their color. I wonder how similar plecos might be in this fashion... Keeping it all male to increase the rate of maturation.

 

[Joby]

Agree with Bren, you have to be careful the juvies don't stray into a cave or they will get chomped, I know from experience as I had a 260 do this :cry: