I only got my first pleco at the end of Feb, and I adore him already! He's an L183 Starlight pleco, named Ziggy!
He's only an inch and a half long, a little baby. At the store, they were all hanging pretty close together, store says they're about 12 weeks old. Now that I have him/her, I'm strongly considering getting a second one, in the hopes that I'll have a M/F pair when they mature. Still too young to sex of course, but who knows if they'll be able to get more starlight plecos in at a later date, so thinking of getting a second while I can. I know that the store owner and a few staff have also bought pairs, in the hopes of getting breeding pairs later, so I'm thinking we might be able to arrange to do some swaps, if say one of us gets two males, and another two females, we can arrange to swap so we each have a M/F pair.
Or, since the ones in the store are no doubt his siblings or closely related ones from the same breeder, should I wait and look for an unrelated pleco for future breeding?
So my questions for those experienced with plecos and breeding, is how slowly do they mature? How old roughly do they need to be before the bristles grow in enough to sex them, and then how old are they usually before they can breed? I'm expecting a couple of years for full maturity/breeding, but hoping to be able to sex them in a few months.
He seems to be settling in well! He's not in his main tank yet, still in the quarantine. Mainly hid behind the sponge filter or a chunk of driftwood; but over the last week or so, I have seen him out and about more often. Seems to be settling and exploring, getting used to feeling safe as a loner fish without his siblings there. Thinking he might not be as shy as I first worried he might be!
Haven't seen him eat in front of me aside from nomming the glass and working his way across an Almond leaf, but he has a full looking tummy when I see him on the glass, so I assume he's eating enough. Have left the back and sides of the tank unwiped on the inside so there's a good amount of biofilm, micro-organisms and algae, and I drop an algae or shrimp pellet behind the filter where he tends to be most of the time. Have tried courgette and cucumber in there so far, but haven't seen him nom anything like that yet. What other veggies do your plecos like?
Any tips about pleco caves? They had different sizes in the store, I asked his advice (my LFS is pretty good, they're not afraid to admit they don't know something, but do their best to help) about whether I should get a smaller one that would feel cozy for him now, and upgrade the size as he grows, or one that will work for his adult size. He suggested getting the larger one that would work when he's bigger too, but so far, he's ignored it. Should I add a variety of different size caves in his main tank, so he has a choice and variety? Or just lots of shelters and hidey holes, and only worry about actual pleco caves when it comes time to try breeding?
Sorry for the essay of questions! I've been reading around of course, just also like to hear tips and thoughts from people who've kept plecos before!
He's only an inch and a half long, a little baby. At the store, they were all hanging pretty close together, store says they're about 12 weeks old. Now that I have him/her, I'm strongly considering getting a second one, in the hopes that I'll have a M/F pair when they mature. Still too young to sex of course, but who knows if they'll be able to get more starlight plecos in at a later date, so thinking of getting a second while I can. I know that the store owner and a few staff have also bought pairs, in the hopes of getting breeding pairs later, so I'm thinking we might be able to arrange to do some swaps, if say one of us gets two males, and another two females, we can arrange to swap so we each have a M/F pair.
Or, since the ones in the store are no doubt his siblings or closely related ones from the same breeder, should I wait and look for an unrelated pleco for future breeding?
So my questions for those experienced with plecos and breeding, is how slowly do they mature? How old roughly do they need to be before the bristles grow in enough to sex them, and then how old are they usually before they can breed? I'm expecting a couple of years for full maturity/breeding, but hoping to be able to sex them in a few months.
He seems to be settling in well! He's not in his main tank yet, still in the quarantine. Mainly hid behind the sponge filter or a chunk of driftwood; but over the last week or so, I have seen him out and about more often. Seems to be settling and exploring, getting used to feeling safe as a loner fish without his siblings there. Thinking he might not be as shy as I first worried he might be!
Haven't seen him eat in front of me aside from nomming the glass and working his way across an Almond leaf, but he has a full looking tummy when I see him on the glass, so I assume he's eating enough. Have left the back and sides of the tank unwiped on the inside so there's a good amount of biofilm, micro-organisms and algae, and I drop an algae or shrimp pellet behind the filter where he tends to be most of the time. Have tried courgette and cucumber in there so far, but haven't seen him nom anything like that yet. What other veggies do your plecos like?
Any tips about pleco caves? They had different sizes in the store, I asked his advice (my LFS is pretty good, they're not afraid to admit they don't know something, but do their best to help) about whether I should get a smaller one that would feel cozy for him now, and upgrade the size as he grows, or one that will work for his adult size. He suggested getting the larger one that would work when he's bigger too, but so far, he's ignored it. Should I add a variety of different size caves in his main tank, so he has a choice and variety? Or just lots of shelters and hidey holes, and only worry about actual pleco caves when it comes time to try breeding?
Sorry for the essay of questions! I've been reading around of course, just also like to hear tips and thoughts from people who've kept plecos before!
)
