Niice!... L201

[dempsey]

Hi all.

I posted this on a pleco forum, but thought this side of the world would be interested also..

Ignore the state of the tank, :hmm:

They seem to be doing ok so far, all are wriggling now, on their own in a corner.

there seems to be a hype of activity in the main tank. Im hoping a couple of the others are trying to "keep up with the Jones' " if you know what I mean

I could only count 10 tonight, found 2 dead white eggs, removed them, Im hoping 7 are hiding well, Im a little worried about the possibility of them being eaten through the mesh, because Im not using a glass or plastic fry saver.

but I'll risk it I think.

Hope you like the pics.. and I hope this can help others to get theirs going as well.

Cheers

Karl.

Eggs: Days 3 of Spawn:

2x Female L201 and Female L333:

2 Female L201 on the left, Female L333, And Male L201 on the right:

Male L201 on the right:

[sandy001]

Thanks for sharing

I found that I didn't have alot of success when I separated dad from the eggs.

Hope all goes well with yours.

Dave

[m0oks]

I like how you painted your background the same colour as the caves and pot.

Looks very nice

[YAL05T]

Hi mate, would you mind adding some more details, like size of the tank, params etc.

Congrats on the spawn and if you are going to move any of the young on in the near future give me a hoy hoy if thats okay

Regards,

Brett

[dempsey]

Thanks all for the comments and well wishes.

I didnt want to take the eggs from him, I wish he would of kept them,

but he booted a few the other day, so I just took the lot.

He also seems to have damaged some, so I felt safer taking them.

the tank is an 18 inch cubic.

there is 5 x L201 - possibly 3 females and 2 males - and atm it has my 4 L333 in there also.

4 x cardinal tetra and 2 x danios. all fish are adult size.

I kept them @ 20 deg celcius with ph of 7.2 (tap water aged) for about 3 months, constant water changes every 2 or so days, feed them every 4th day.

2 weeks ago, I raised the temp to 29 deg celcius, and prepared a drum with water that is 6.0 ph and the temp was 21 deg celcius in the drum.

I was doing less water changes on the 3rd mth with food every 2nd day (instead of 4th) then last week i started water changes with the cold 6.0 ph water from the drum, got to do 3 x water changes every 2nd day, then on Saturday I had a clutch in the males cave.

Hope It helps.

Cheers

Karl.

[YAL05T]

Thanks all for the comments and well wishes.

I didnt want to take the eggs from him, I wish he would of kept them,

but he booted a few the other day, so I just took the lot.

He also seems to have damaged some, so I felt safer taking them.

the tank is an 18 inch cubic.

there is 5 x L201 - possibly 3 females and 2 males - and atm it has my 4 L333 in there also.

4 x cardinal tetra and 2 x danios. all fish are adult size.

I kept them @ 20 deg celcius with ph of 7.2 (tap water aged) for about 3 months, constant water changes every 2 or so days, feed them every 4th day.

2 weeks ago, I raised the temp to 29 deg celcius, and prepared a drum with water that is 6.0 ph and the temp was 21 deg celcius in the drum.

I was doing less water changes on the 3rd mth with food every 2nd day (instead of 4th) then last week i started water changes with the cold 6.0 ph water from the drum, got to do 3 x water changes every 2nd day, then on Saturday I had a clutch in the males cave.

Hope It helps.

Cheers

Karl.

Thanks Karl, some good info there, good luck with the spawn.

Regards,

Brett

[robfishfan]

yeah kool pic , well done !

[dempsey]

thanks all.

no probs Brett.

If I can help, I will, would be great to see more people spawning plecos.

some people make TOO much cash from it.

granted its alot more time, effort and cash outlay, than fish that will spawn easy in a bucket

But Therein is what the "HOBBY" is all about,

update:

I have 10 wrigglers.

they seem active though, so I'm hoping they do well.

I'll update some pics in a few weeks when they're settled...

Cheers

Karl.

[Boots n all]

Well done Karl

[Bedge]

Love the pics. Well done.

[dempsey]

Thanks Boots.

I know your thoughts on the L201 species.

:-)

Thanks also Bedge,

The tank is in a bit of a filth mode atm,

I'll do a pic update soon of the fry,

Theres 8 of them i i think, Im not having alot of contact with them atm,

just leaving them to grow undisturbed

Karl.

[cichzorro]

the caties look so cute.

[dobbin4]

How have they gone ??

any new pic ?? looks good

But 10 down to 8

20deg I'm surprized

Why so low and then raised to 29 dec to spawn

But if it works then must be ok

Just wanting to know why you keep them at 20, Tks

John

[kingtiger]

That because Karl is doing a wet season to stimulate them to spawn (basic requirement for most Plecos)

Cheers

Hilton

[smallfish]

Thanks all for the comments and well wishes.

I didnt want to take the eggs from him, I wish he would of kept them,

but he booted a few the other day, so I just took the lot.

He also seems to have damaged some, so I felt safer taking them.

the tank is an 18 inch cubic.

there is 5 x L201 - possibly 3 females and 2 males - and atm it has my 4 L333 in there also.

4 x cardinal tetra and 2 x danios. all fish are adult size.

I kept them @ 20 deg celcius with ph of 7.2 (tap water aged) for about 3 months, constant water changes every 2 or so days, feed them every 4th day.

2 weeks ago, I raised the temp to 29 deg celcius, and prepared a drum with water that is 6.0 ph and the temp was 21 deg celcius in the drum.

I was doing less water changes on the 3rd mth with food every 2nd day (instead of 4th) then last week i started water changes with the cold 6.0 ph water from the drum, got to do 3 x water changes every 2nd day, then on Saturday I had a clutch in the males cave.

Hope It helps.

Cheers

Karl.

congratulation Karl,

I thought you have 4 females then a male? but to have a back up male is a great idea.

anyway, when they start to breed, you wont able to stop them.

again good work,

cheer,

Lee.

[dempsey]

Thanks Lee,

They have breed again, about 2 weeks ago

its funny that they breed so quick after breeding once,

when you can wait for months for the 1st spawn.

Unfortunately the first batch died,

had 7 or 8 left, did a water change and the lvl went over the breeder net,

so the danios had a feed......

I really should have put them in their own fry tank, like ive done now with the 2nd batch.

I do that usually. with others. a real shame.

The 2nd lot is with the male still in the grow tank, havnt put the torch to them, just left them alone, dont know how many and such.

BTW: thanks for your male. ur right, its good to have a second male, the one that breed, I thought was female, but I guess not,,lol,, not alot odontodes on him.

Karl.

congratulation Karl,

I thought you have 4 females then a male? but to have a back up male is a great idea.

anyway, when they start to breed, you wont able to stop them.

again good work,

cheer,

Lee.

[MikeWs Fish]

Hi Karl,

Hope you are well.

Sorry to hear that you lost the first batch.

You will find that these fish breed very frequently but have high mortality rates and small clutches. In my opinion, you will be doing well getting 10 healthy fry from one spawn.

When I see egss in the cave, I have had success leaning the cave up against something, so there is a slight incline and gravity keeps the eggs at the back of the cave.

I also find that after about 6-7 days the fry are quite stable and 95 percent will end up surviving. Before this period the eggs need a strong current/water flow otherwise the fry that have just hatched will end up dying.

Also, I think that 20 degs is too cold and by dropping the temperature this much you are inviting nasties like whitespot come out. I don't belevie you need to manipulate the water parameters too much for L201 to breed, as they willl breed regardless.

Anyways hope this might help with future spawns

Mike

[dobbin4]

Agree with you Mike,, I dont go down to 20deg, thats what i was asking but got no reply

[dempsey]

Hi John,

sorry, I meant to reply to you when I replied to Lee.

It may sound out of context the way I typed it,

to explain better, the tank was let allowed to get to 20 deg as our weather got colder, I maintained it at 20-21 sometimes 22, and then raised it over a week and a bit, to the 29 deg mark, they stayed in that for at least a week, before I did the cold water changes, and on the 3rd water change, a spawn.

the wild is crueler to them than that, winter is longer and such, they can cope ok, as long as you dont do that all the time,

I really only did this to them, because its the "trigger spawn"

meaning that they havent spawned before, and from experience, you need to "shock them" ("them" - as in other plecos ive breed & friends have breed) at the right time

to initiate spawning, but once thats happened, they spawn fairly easily with the usual cold water changes which arent so extreme.

hope that helps.

thanks for advise too mike, some good tips, I like the idea of the incline to trap, have you tried that in the main tank? so that they dont have to go through the whole moving out of the tank thing?

Karl.

Agree with you Mike,, I dont go down to 20deg, thats what i was asking but got no reply

[smallfish]

Yes Karl, it not too soon to have a second spawn, my fish sometimes has 2 females inside at a time, or sometimes has another one female in while the previous fry still wigglings.

good luck .

Lee.

[dempsey]

yeh, amazing little creatures, the 201,

so active, and watchable (if thats a word)

They seem to come out and play, when I do a water change.

they're the only pleco Ive seen do that.

others are affected by water change, in that they come to the edge of the caves, maybe find a new place to hide, or something like that,

but the 201 seem to wrestle, chase each other around the tank, and seriously, "play" for a little while, then settle back in. Ive had 2 confirm that theirs do that also.

maybe a "thing" with them huh, ?

Karl.

[smallfish]

yes , compare to other L catties, they are not very timid. and not big so good to keep them in any small tank put anywhere in any corner of the house.

I am thinking to swap my L201 breeders for L134 breeders. if you know anyone interested, please let me know.

my ones are guarantee breeders, spawn about every 3 weeks with right water condition.

one male, and 3 females of L201

and I want to swap to one male and 2 females of L134.

[MikeWs Fish]

Lee - I have that pair of Synodontis angelicus still. Would be interested in a swap or for any other adult L's. 134s are not available for swapping though - maybe try fella or LeaLea

[dempsey]

To be honest I dont blame you.

You've a nice 134 colony.

Karl.

Lee - I have that pair of Synodontis angelicus still. Would be interested in a swap or for any other adult L's. 134s are not available for swapping though - maybe try fella or LeaLea

[crossback]

Congratulation Karl,

How are your fry are they ready to be sold