Biz's Bn Pleco Breeding Journal!

I've had a couple that went through dramatic changes after a dominant adult was removed from the tank.

It makes sense!

 

I've had a couple that went through dramatic changes after a dominant adult was removed from the tank.

Even when the adult was the opposite sex? Graham never seemed to have a problem with him and I never saw her bully him (although, just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it it didn't happen). In fact, they seemed to hang out together quite often. She never pushed him away from food, either. They seemed to coexist quite well.

 

I had 2 young male BNs in a 40b and 1 seemed to be a runt. I moved him to my 75 gallon and he had a growth spurt almost immediately. Part of the reason might be getting to food. The bigger one would chase the little one away so he was hiding most of the time.

I have a 40b pleco tank with about 14 young plecos of various species. I do 10% water changes at least every other day with 50% weekly changes. They all get fed well and they all seem to grow at normal rates. I see some pushing and shoving during feeding but nothing I would call aggressive.

 

I had 2 young male BNs in a 40b and 1 seemed to be a runt. I moved him to my 75 gallon and he had a growth spurt almost immediately. Part of the reason might be getting to food. The bigger one would chase the little one away so he was hiding most of the time.

But that was 2 of the same sex in a 40b and this was a female and male in a 75g. and she never tried to stop him from eating. There was no aggression between them at all, that I saw. They were often hanging out near each other.

 

Even when the adult was the opposite sex? Graham never seemed to have a problem with him and I never saw her bully him (although, just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it it didn't happen). In fact, they seemed to hang out together quite often. She never pushed him away from food, either. They seemed to coexist quite well.

Had it happen with a female that looked like it would be male. She was over 1.5 years before she was proven, also put on 3/4" after being moved away with just one male.

 

Well I definitely ended up with one nice Male and female pair from the 4 long fins I was growing out.




Of the other two..one is a for sure Male. The other is still a question mark. But appears to possibly be a slower developing Male. But we will see.

I have a few standard lemons I'm growing out too. But they all appear to be Male as well. My luck is terrible!!

I was hoping to have at least a couple females so I could sell a pair. But I obviously gotta keep the lady above. So there is my new young pair.

 

Well I definitely ended up with one nice Male and female pair from the 4 long fins I was growing out.

View attachment 556403

Of the other two..one is a for sure Male. The other is still a question mark. But appears to possibly be a slower developing Male. But we will see.

I have a few standard lemons I'm growing out too. But they all appear to be Male as well. My luck is terrible!!

I was hoping to have at least a couple females so I could sell a pair. But I obviously gotta keep the lady above. So there is my new young pair.

Try to look at the bright side? You could have ended up with all males, and not even have your beautiful keeper pair.

 

Hopefully that last one will be a female.

 

Hopefully that last one will be a female.

This is the last one. It's not growing as well as the other 3. So it's a lot smaller than the 2 obvious males. (As you can see by the big Male's face on the left)



This one is the obvious female. (Also a lot larger than that one above)

 

This is the last one. It's not growing as well as the other 3. So it's a lot smaller than the 2 obvious males. (As you can see by the big Male's face on the left)
View attachment 556464

This one is the obvious female. (Also a lot larger than that one above)
View attachment 556465

Yeah, I am not seeing the white ovary spots on the sides of that one that Mcasella has trained us to look for. The shape could be female though and not a hint of wiskers...... that one could go either way.

 

Little one looks like a subdominant male, sticking it with an adult female will cause growth in length and bristles. But definitely male.

 

Little one looks like a subdominant male, sticking it with an adult female will cause growth in length and bristles. But definitely male.

Ya. that's what I was thinking as well. You can see the start of bristles along the lip. And a faint red heart on the back. And he is pretty narrow overall. Its a bummer. I really wanted two pairs so I could try selling a pair of long fin lemons.

Granted...I am in really deep with my angelfish breeding and I am not sure that I even want to breed plecos anymore. Especially now that my local market is becoming so saturated with lemons. (there are still not many long fin lemons though...there were only standards at the auction. but lots of them)

Maybe I will sell the pair anyway and just be done with the plecos. But I don't want to close that door completely. So I need to keep them.

 

Maybe I will sell the pair anyway and just be done with the plecos. But I don't want to close that door completely. So I need to keep them.

Way to cover all the bases! LOL Maybe I will sell them .. or keep them!

 

Maybe I will sell the pair anyway and just be done with the plecos. But I don't want to close that door completely. So I need to keep them.

One thing I've heard repeatedly from fish breeders is they regret letting go of something they developed only for it to die out. The people they had shared them with didn't keep up with the breeding and so the strain was lost forever.

Not telling you what to do but just sharing what I've heard others say.

 

One thing I've heard repeatedly from fish breeders is they regret letting go of something they developed only for it to die out. The people they had shared them with didn't keep up with the breeding and so the strain was lost forever.

Not telling you what to do but just sharing what I've heard others say.

I think that is very true and I think I would definitely regret it if I sold them off.

The lemon pleco strain isn't going anywhere whether I breed them or not though. So its not like I will risk the strain itself by selling them off. But, the long fin lemons aren't as common as the standards, and if I ever want to start breeding them again....getting a pair would be challenging! And expensive.

So for that reason alone, I should at the very least separate them, and tuck them away in separate communities and keep them as pets until I get the urge to breed them again.

Some things just do not have a price tag. I just don't think I can put a price tag on this pair. If I had a 2nd pair sure...but not with just one pair.

 

I am with you. I have the lemon trio from you, the red marble pair and now a green dragon pair I don’t want to breed right now m, but don’t want to give up. The current challenge is getting them all separated and downsizing tank numbers. I also have some albino girls and a couple common brown boys so challenge is an understatement, lol. I have room for one more female in a 75g, but not sure where to put the two brown boys when their tanks come down.....

 

Just wanted to let you know that you may be a grandma again!

The little longfin lemon lady I got from you was HUGE a couple days ago. Then I witnessed her in my longfin chocolate marble male's cave....with him and lots of.... flailing finnage. Short while later she came out. He did not. Tonight I finally got brave. Talked myself into trying to raise a clutch of BN plecos myself. So I reached in, picked up the cave to look, and found a nice little clutch of fat yellow eggs. I collected them and placed them in a breeder box. What kind of offspring do you think is possible if they hatch?

 

Just wanted to let you know that you may be a grandma again!

The little longfin lemon lady I got from you was HUGE a couple days ago. Then I witnessed her in my longfin chocolate marble male's cave....with him and lots of.... flailing finnage. Short while later she came out. He did not. Tonight I finally got brave. Talked myself into trying to raise a clutch of BN plecos myself. So I reached in, picked up the cave to look, and found a nice little clutch of fat yellow eggs. I collected them and placed them in a breeder box. What kind of offspring do you think is possible if they hatch?

Awesome!! Congratulations! I feel like that was fast! But time flies!

What will you get? I don't know for sure! I can say pretty confidently you won't have any lemons because I found that "gene" to be recessive. So the other one would have had to have a recessive yellow gene. And if Chocolate marble is a recessive pattern......you may end up with a bunch of common browns?

Or you could end up with some crazy mutts? I don't know! I guess we will find out!! Keep us updated!

 

Just wanted to let you know that you may be a grandma again!

The little longfin lemon lady I got from you was HUGE a couple days ago. Then I witnessed her in my longfin chocolate marble male's cave....with him and lots of.... flailing finnage. Short while later she came out. He did not. Tonight I finally got brave. Talked myself into trying to raise a clutch of BN plecos myself. So I reached in, picked up the cave to look, and found a nice little clutch of fat yellow eggs. I collected them and placed them in a breeder box. What kind of offspring do you think is possible if they hatch?

Congrats! I am curious to see what you get.

Personally, I would always leave the eggs with dad to care for until they hatch. He does a great job of fanning and keeping others out of the cave.

 

Congrats! I am curious to see what you get.

Personally, I would always leave the eggs with dad to care for until they hatch. He does a great job of fanning and keeping others out of the cave.

Yeah, I probably should have but I was afraid I'd lose them in the community tank if they stayed until free swimming stage. Also was afraid he might eat them since I disturbed him to see if there were eggs. Probably shouldn't have done that either.

 

Yeah, I probably should have but I was afraid I'd lose them in the community tank if they stayed until free swimming stage. Also was afraid he might eat them since I disturbed him to see if there were eggs. Probably shouldn't have done that either.

The dad is pretty protective. He will not eat them (typically). I have removed cave with eggs and dad to a separate tank before so that is an option. It takes about a week for them to be free swimming and even then, they do not venture out of the cave very much for a few days. It is longer than you would expect for them to consume the egg sac.

Another tip is to position the caves where you could shine a light in to see where they are in development.

Best of luck with your brood!

 

The dad is pretty protective. He will not eat them (typically). I have removed cave with eggs and dad to a separate tank before so that is an option. It takes about a week for them to be free swimming and even then, they do not venture out of the cave very much for a few days. It is longer than you would expect for them to consume the egg sac.

Another tip is to position the caves where you could shine a light in to see where they are in development.

Best of luck with your brood!

It looks like they're still developing very slowly. Probably because of the lower temp in this tank, and the eggs are in a breeder box with additional airstone. They're getting really orange and yesterday I could see veins. Today I can see more veins and eyes.

 

I have baby plecos!!! There were 7 hatched when I came home on break. By the end of break, over 30. Now, I'm home from work and there's 60+. Looks like all but one egg hatched. Now to try my best raising them and finding them homes.

 

I have baby plecos!!! There were 7 hatched when I came home on break. By the end of break, over 30. Now, I'm home from work and there's 60+. Looks like all but one egg hatched. Now to try my best raising them and finding them homes.

Congratulations!

 

Phew!!! So I just finished reading from the beginning. Took about a week and its been a rollercoaster ride for sure. Also very informative. So now I feel like I can be part of the crowd. Just pretend ive been here the whole time!! What color babies did you end up having jleem?

 

Phew!!! So I just finished reading from the beginning. Took about a week and its been a rollercoaster ride for sure. Also very informative. So now I feel like I can be part of the crowd. Just pretend ive been here the whole time!! What color babies did you end up having jleem?

I ended up with what appears to be normal brown/white. All longfin though. So at least one of the parents is a homozygous carrier for the longfin gene.

 

Oh that's cool! Congrats! Good luck with them and find good homes! I would of assumed you would of had a hodge podge of colors. But I don't know squat about genes. Biz and mcacella were trying to teach me in another post lol

 

Oh that's cool! Congrats! Good luck with them and find good homes! I would of assumed you would of had a hodge podge of colors. But I don't know squat about genes. Biz and mcacella were trying to teach me in another post lol

I'm definitely learning too. I'm really wanting to try and breed this chocolate marble male (which from my understanding has some kind of red genes) to my super red female and see what I get. First I have to get rid of some babies though. They also provided me with a brand new clutch of 80+ a little over a week ago from the wrong pair.