BN Pleco Breeding Questions

I got 3 BN super red plecos around half a year ago that I have been hoping to breed so I have a few Questions.
1. What size tank should I move them into? (have them in a 30gallon with guppies and a LOT of snails)
2. What type or size of caves to buy?
3. A few food ideas other than cucumber and zucchini?
4. What tank size for growing out fry?
5. What to do if I have all male/females? (where to get one of the opposite sex)
Thanks in advance!

 

Cans of french cut green beans are great to feed pleco juvies. Cheap too. I find the terra cotta watering stakes work great for breeding caves. 30 gal should be fine to get them to breed otherwie a 20 with no other fish works pretty good for breeding/growout, especially a 20 long.

 

Cans of french cut green beans are great to feed pleco juvies. Cheap too. I find the terra cotta watering stakes work great for breeding caves. 30 gal should be fine to get them to breed otherwie a 20 with no other fish works pretty good for breeding/growout, especially a 20 long.

Thanks!
I'm just wondering whether or not the plecos are getting enough to eat since the snails in my tank crowd the veggies and the plecos can't get to them. Do you think this would be a problem? That's why I asked about changing tanks for it.

 

Thanks!
I'm just wondering whether or not the plecos are getting enough to eat since the snails in my tank crowd the veggies and the plecos can't get to them. Do you think this would be a problem? That's why I asked about changing tanks for it.

The plecos can swat the snails if they really want the food

 

At 6 months old you/we should e able to sex the BN . They should be breeding size unless now unless you were sold tiny fish. Or they are starving.
Zucchini is a great addition to food but straight algae wafers and ordinary dry food should be part of the diet. Most often they find uneaten dry food on the floor etc. anyway?

To answer some of your questions.
#1
I have used 20 gallon tall to breed BN . As the female needs to only be in the tank for a few days and the male can be removed after they hatch.
#2
The male picks a cave that is his size . He traps the female in the cave so size is important but at the end of the day it’s HIS choice. A selection of sizes is not a bad idea.
#3
Live worms. The micro worms will be suitable for fry with white worms a better culture for adults.
#4
20 gallons is a suitable size for part of the hatch.
A mature female can have 200 eggs so ether you have six 20 gallon tanks or you cull out most of the fry at birth. Seriously it’s 6 months of hard work raising BN to 2 inches. That’s a lot of extra water changes each week. At two inches you will need to have found new homes for the juvenile as the males need lots of space by then . The females will already be getting pushed off the food.
#5
A picture of the face is all we need .
Males have bristles on the face with females they are only on the bottom lip. A female or male would be in no demand at club auctions/ cheap.

My suggestion.
Have the BN in separate tanks as I assume they are?
Feed the females heavily to make eggs.
The male goes without food for a fortnight when fanning eggs so he needs to be in good condition as well.
My experience with this species.
Each time I have put a male and female together there have been eggs in 4 days . Remove the female . The last thing you need is a second lot of eggs if it’s over a hundred at a time.


Cherry shrimp as the only tank mates for fry.

I wonder if you have the BN in the same tank already? I have no experience with that approach. I don’t think the females will get enough food to get in breeding condition. I would remove as many snails as possible. Snails will attempt to eat the eggs in the cave ? . I also wonder if having both sexes together makes them see the opposite sex as a competitor around food?

I use a 40 gallon as minimum for a single BN when not hatching eggs.

The shops in my town will always buy juveniles at a good size.
At least in my country you can’t cover the cost of time and food selling a few hundred BN .
edit
I do it for fun and the enjoyment. It’s definitely worth doing at least once.

 

At 6 months old you/we should e able to sex the BN . They should be breeding size unless now unless you were sold tiny fish. Or they are starving.
Zucchini is a great addition to food but straight algae wafers and ordinary dry food should be part of the diet. Most often they find uneaten dry food on the floor etc. anyway?

To answer some of your questions.
#1
I have used 20 gallon tall to breed BN . As the female needs to only be in the tank for a few days and the male can be removed after they hatch.
#2
The male picks a cave that is his size . He traps the female in the cave so size is important but at the end of the day it’s HIS choice. A selection of sizes is not a bad idea.
#3
Live worms. The micro worms will be suitable for fry with white worms a better culture for adults.
#4
20 gallons is a suitable size for part of the hatch.
A mature female can have 200 eggs so ether you have six 20 gallon tanks or you cull out most of the fry at birth. Seriously it’s 6 months of hard work raising BN to 2 inches. That’s a lot of extra water changes each week. At two inches you will need to have found new homes for the juvenile as the males need lots of space by then . The females will already be getting pushed off the food.
#5
A picture of the face is all we need .
Males have bristles on the face with females they are only on the bottom lip. A female or male would be in no demand at club auctions/ cheap.

My suggestion.
Have the BN in separate tanks as I assume they are?
Feed the females heavily to make eggs.
The male goes without food for a fortnight when fanning eggs so he needs to be in good condition as well.
My experience with this species.
Each time I have put a male and female together there have been eggs in 4 days . Remove the female . The last thing you need is a second lot of eggs if it’s over a hundred at a time.
View attachment 879614
Cherry shrimp as the only tank mates for fry.

I wonder if you have the BN in the same tank already? I have no experience with that approach. I don’t think the females will get enough food to get in breeding condition. I would remove as many snails as possible. Snails will attempt to eat the eggs in the cave ? . I also wonder if having both sexes together makes them see the opposite sex as a competitor around food?

I use a 40 gallon as minimum for a single BN when not hatching eggs.

The shops in my town will always buy juveniles at a good size.
At least in my country you can’t cover the cost of time and food selling a few hundred BN .

They are a little over 2.5 inches and not showing bristles. I'm going to let them grow for another few months since everyone says they sex out at 3inches and I have them all in the same tank. Is that a problem? I'm thinking of moving the three of them to 20 gallons with preferably no snails and maybe a sump. Should I get individual tanks for each fish? They have been in the 30 gallon for the 6 months and the water changes stay relatively manageable. So a 20 gallon for an adult seems reasonable to me. What do you think?
Thanks for the answers!

 

If they are working in a group it’s not surprising as that is how many people keep them . They probably have enough space not to be aggressive? My main concern with having more than one per tank is uncontrolled breeding.

I have no scientific evidence to suggest that I can get them to breed fast ( 4 times) by having them in separate tanks any better than having them always together. I only guess when they finally see a member of the opposite sex they think they should breed quickly as it may be months before they see anyone else?
Young males are more likely to fan the eggs with more enthusiasm. It’s a long time to wait fanning eggs without food. It is said an old male is not as reliable. An old female will have many more eggs.

3 inches is big enough to breed.

By all means try all 3 in the 20. One thing I have learned about fish keeping is there are no hard and fast rules. You have a spare tank to separate if needed.
No need to by more tank just to breed as long as you are willing to cull down to a reasonable number of fry.
Grindle worms are another easy culture for conditioning.

 

If they are working in a group it’s not surprising as that is how many people keep them . They probably have enough space not to be aggressive? My main concern with having more than one per tank is uncontrolled breeding.

I have no scientific evidence to suggest that I can get them to breed fast ( 4 times) by having them in separate tanks any better than having them always together. I only guess when they finally see a member of the opposite sex they think they should breed quickly as it may be months before they see anyone else?
Young males are more likely to fan the eggs with more enthusiasm. It’s a long time to wait fanning eggs without food. It is said an old male is not as reliable. An old female will have many more eggs.

3 inches is big enough to breed.

By all means try all 3 in the 20. One thing I have learned about fish keeping is there are no hard and fast rules. You have a spare tank to separate if needed.
No need to by more tank just to breed as long as you are willing to cull down to a reasonable number of fry.
Grindle worms are another easy culture for conditioning.

Thanks!
I guess I'll be moving all the plecos to a 20 then using garden watering spikes and a few other things as caves.