Breeding Golden Nugget...

[BadBadger]

Just wondering if anyone has attempted?
Heard its very hard

 

[JenCliBee]

A snippet taken from planet catfish....

Again I can do not better than quote Vires, ''After having spawned this species off and on for nearly 3 years, I had not found the requirement which would make it possible to easily duplicate the success until late last year. Each time, in the past, the fish would dig caves under the same piece of slate mounted driftwood and spawn in my Hypancistrus zebra grow-out tank. Whenever the pair was removed to another tank to attempt a spawning , nothing ever resulted from the effort. This is where my theory about the effects of current came in. When setting up a new tank system, in an attempt to produce commercial numbers of several species, I intentionally oversize the pump to guarantee a good oxygen supply for all the fishes in the system. However, I had to find a place for my breeders while I made spray bars for the tanks and the fish were left overnight with only a direct flow from the water inlet. The next morning, upon inspection to see if everyone survived what I though would be stressful conditions, I found a cluster of eggs laid in the bottom of the tank in front of a rock. From that point on, convincing these fish to spawn has not been that difficult. Once a pair of fish is conditioned and have found a suitable spawning suite, the addition of a supplemental powerhead aimed at the cave is all that is required. Raising the fry is not very difficult, but this is a long process. They will not reach beyond 2 inches within 6 months of age. Feedings should be given regularly with baby brineshrimp initially and the food size increase as the fry gain some size.''

Yes they have been reports of breeding and yes apparently it's very hard, id imagine unless the circumstances are spot on and the tank been reasonably big they will just not play game.

The other factor is they tend to be quite aggressive plecs to not only there own species but to other plec species aswell, if you can combat the GN's living in harmony within the tank, im sure it would be a matter of time as longs as all the spawning needs are met.

Out of interest, whats the tank size and other inhabitants?

 

[BadBadger]

cheers for that mate.
Seems current is very important.
I dont have the tank im thinking about putting them in yet. The tank will be based around the plecs i choose ie .
Got a 3ft tank coming next weekend which im playing to breed BN's in. If that goes well over the course of 12 months im planning on getting another tank to breed a rarer species in.
Im thinking a bit far ahead but just trying to learn as much as i can

Thanks

 

[JenCliBee]

cheers for that mate.
Seems current is very important.
I dont have the tank im thinking about putting them in yet. The tank will be based around the plecs i choose ie .
Got a 3ft tank coming next weekend which im playing to breed BN's in. If that goes well over the course of 12 months im planning on getting another tank to breed a rarer species in.
Im thinking a bit far ahead but just trying to learn as much as i can

Thanks

Nothing wrong with looking ahead mate, i would be inclined to try a smaller specied, more placid plec after the BN's tbh GN's as i mentioned can be a bit of hit and miss, not only for general keeping but introducing a group aswell. There are many species which are reasonably easy to breed as well as easy sell on's, hypan species seem to be a very good seller with the more hard to come by at a cheapish price ones like L260, L333, L66, L411's and a very nice excellent selling peckoltia L134.

Choice is endless mate, the benefits with these species aswell is that you can hold alot more within a smaller tank than you would a GN breeding project. I personally wouldn't think GN babies would be as highly saleable as the 'in' species like hypans at the moment.

 

[BadBadger]

Thanks for all the info mate.
I do like a challenge though haha
Well i suppose i've got alot of time to think it over.
Yeah my friend has an L066 breeding group and a L134 breeding group. Doing very well off both. Beautiful fish.
Have you got any breeding groups jake?

Cheers

 

[indigoj]

I'd also go for a hypan or similar sized plec - smaller (3-6") plecs are more saleable in general and hypans are very much sought after without being particularly difficult to huose/breed a group.​

 

[JenCliBee]

Thanks for all the info mate.
I do like a challenge though haha
Well i suppose i've got alot of time to think it over.
Yeah my friend has an L066 breeding group and a L134 breeding group. Doing very well off both. Beautiful fish.
Have you got any breeding groups jake?

Cheers

Currently no mate, have just today got a group of six 66's but there only babies and a fair while off breeding yet.

 

[matubula]

The only properly documented report that im aware of is this one who bred the smallest GN's the L177

 

[BadBadger]

The only properly documented report that im aware of is this one who bred the smallest GN's the L177

Brilliant link mate. Thanks
Sounds very difficult. Big tank needed amongst other things.
Bigger challnge then i thought. Will leave it for now and gain some skills on the easier L numbers.

Thanks all

 

[dave_oddballs]

why not try L046 zebra pleco's??
once requirements are met they will breed, easier than golden nuggets, and sell for a lot more so re-homing would definitely not be a problem!
and if you look in the right places you can get them at good price's!

 

[BadBadger]

why not try L046 zebra pleco's??
once requirements are met they will breed, easier than golden nuggets, and sell for a lot more so re-homing would definitely not be a problem!
and if you look in the right places you can get them at good price's!

I've had a little look at the zebras. nice fish.
How much expirience in breeding do you think is needed for the zebras? Or for any of the other pleco's mentioned (excluding BN's and GN's)
I've been toying with the idea of not breeding BN's and going straight for next years project ie L066, L134 or L046

Cheers

 

[JenCliBee]

why not try L046 zebra pleco's??
once requirements are met they will breed, easier than golden nuggets, and sell for a lot more so re-homing would definitely not be a problem!
and if you look in the right places you can get them at good price's!

I've had a little look at the zebras. nice fish.
How much expirience in breeding do you think is needed for the zebras? Or for any of the other pleco's mentioned (excluding BN's and GN's)
I've been toying with the idea of not breeding BN's and going straight for next years project ie L066, L134 or L046

Cheers

I would personally get some experience of breeding easier plecs first, BN's are one of the easiest due to you really not having to do much, zebra's take a long time to reach maturity and getting adult fish is either going to be none existent or very very expensive. People just aren't selling them as adult fish at all or at a decent sort of price. The other problem with zebra's is that the fry tend to be alot harder to rear from experience and they also don't produce many fry and tend to not spawn no where near as often as other hypan species.

66's, 333's and even plecs like L270 even though still hard to obtain as adults, when you do the price per fish is far more reasonable to get a nice group together.

It's totally upto really which to go for but been patient and persistent with other species than BN's could prove disheartening if they either never do spawn or take years to even get going.

Raising BN fry will give you that little more experience on the best ways to do it without having very expensive fish die, a cheap learning curve so to speak

Let us know what you decide on and good luck with which ever you do go for

 

[BadBadger]

Cheers for that mate. Yeah going to stick with the BN's. Getting ahead of myself haha

I'm going to start a diary on it when I get the tank so keep your eyes peeled

Thanks

 

[JenCliBee]

Cheers for that mate. Yeah going to stick with the BN's. Getting ahead of myself haha

I'm going to start a diary on it when I get the tank so keep your eyes peeled

Thanks

Look forward to looking through the journal/diary mate, good luck with breeding