What is Needed For Breeding Green Phantom Plecos

[Circus]

So I recently acquired a pair of 4 foot 55 gallon aquariums. I want to use one to breed L200 Green Phantom Plecos. What all do I need? I am going to be using a standard filter (with a prefilter sponge) and led light. A power head (also with prefilter sponge) and an air powered sponge filter. A rounded gravel bottom, will add lots of driftwood and round rocks as well as some ceramic and pvc pipe caves.
I will be letting the tank run with a school of neon/cardinal tetra in there before switching it into a breeding tank.

First off, how do I sex my plecos? How many can I put in a 55 without aggression from the males?
Do I need any other equipment?
Has anyone here successfully bred these guys?
Will they breed in my water (110ppm hardness, ph 7.4), or should I mix with RO/DI water?

 

[Colin_T]

What is Needed For Breeding Green Phantom Plecos?​

Well first you need a boy fishy and a girl fishy. The boy fishy usually has 2 dangly bits hanging below his tail. The girl fishy has 2 lumpy bits up higher.

When the boy fishy plucks up enough courage, he asks the girl fishy on a date to see the treasure chest by the bubbly thing. If the boy fishy is smart, he will ask the aquarium owner to play some Perry White to help set the scene. He might even get the tank owner to dim the lights and add some algae wafers.

Then if all goes well, the girl fishy will invite the boy fishy home to meet the parents. The boy fishy will get all stressed and embarrassed and won't know how to act.

Then the girl fishy leads the boy fishy up to her bedroom and they do the horizontal shuffle.

But seriously, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I couldn't resist using the title.

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Most plecos breed in caves that the male has dug. The male guards the eggs and fry for the first few weeks.

Most male plecos have hairs on the face and or pectoral fins. Females don't normally have hairs but some species the females might have a few, just not as many hairs as the males.

Eggs take about a week to hatch. Fry use up the nutrients from their yolk sac and then feed on biofilm (slime on rocks, wood, ornaments and glass), driftwood and algae.

Have the lights on for 12-16 hours a day to maximise algae growth and encourage biofilm for the babies.

 

[itiwhetu]

This group of fish need to have clay caves they can burrow in to lay their eggs. I am not sure that they have ever been bred in an aquarium situation. Usually in large ponds. I am happy to be corrected, but that is my understanding. (I have done no googling on the subject)

 

[Circus]

Most plecos breed in caves that the male has dug. The male guards the eggs and fry for the first few weeks.

Most male plecos have hairs on the face and or pectoral fins. Females don't normally have hairs but some species the females might have a few, just not as many hairs as the males.

Eggs take about a week to hatch. Fry use up the nutrients from their yolk sac and then feed on biofilm (slime on rocks, wood, ornaments and glass), driftwood and algae.

Have the lights on for 12-16 hours a day to maximise algae growth and encourage biofilm for the babies.

That is about what I was expecting, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I figured it couldn't be too off from breeding other kinds of pleco.

 

[Circus]

I am not sure that they have ever been bred in an aquarium situation.

I look forward to.giving it a shot, at least.

 

[Colin_T]

Good luck

Try to get a group of them so you have more chance of getting males and females.

A lot of female plecos will breed with more than one male. They lay a batch of eggs with one male and while he is looking after them, she goes off to breed with another male.

 

[DoubleDutch]

PlanetCatfish.com - Hemiancistrus subviridis (Loricariidae) Cat-eLog

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com

Think you'll need a bit of patience.
Planet Catfish only mentions 5 successtrories

 

[Circus]

PlanetCatfish.com - Hemiancistrus subviridis (Loricariidae) Cat-eLog

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com

Think you'll need a bit of patience.
Planet Catfish only mentions 5 successtrories

I can manage patience, especially with such beautiful fish.

 

[DoubleDutch]

I can manage patience, especially with such beautiful fish.

true

 

[Circus]

true

Honestly, even if it doesn't pan out I totally pan on keeping the set up. I really love the singleton one I have now, and can always add other fish to the tank if I get no action in a year or two.

 

[itiwhetu]

Honestly, even if it doesn't pan out I totally pan on keeping the set up. I really love the singleton one I have now, and can always add other fish to the tank if I get no action in a year or two.

I have always wanted to try and breed these guys, what I would do is have like a clay base and sides, heavily planted and then just half a dozen plecos. Cross your fingers and hope!.

 

[Colin_T]

They only grow to 6 inches so should be sexually mature within 1-2 years. Get a group, grow them up and feed them a variety of foods. Have lots of caves for them. See what happens.

Most fish can be encouraged to spawn by doing huge daily water changes with slightly cooler water. You normally only need to do this for 3 or 4 days before getting eggs. It simulates rainfall, which is when lots of fish species breed.

 

[Circus]

I have always wanted to try and breed these guys, what I would do is have like a clay base and sides, heavily planted and then just half a dozen plecos. Cross your fingers and hope!.

I will hopefully be able to get them around April. We'll see how my financials look after tax season. The car payments are killing me too.

 

[Circus]

They only grow to 6 inches so should be sexually mature within 1-2 years.

The ones at my lfs are usually full grown or close to it. $50 each as well.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm assuming they are wild caught. If you could get smaller fish, they would settle into the aquarium better than adult wild caught fish. But if you can't, then buy a group of adults and see what happens.