Breeding Albino BN Pleco's

[black hills tj]

Hey Everyone,

I've been looking at Aquabid quite a bit this evening and it seems you can get a small group of young BN Pleco's for a decent price with live arrival guarentee. My thoughts are...what about breeding them and selling them myself? How hard is it? What size tank do I need? How do you sex BN plecos? Is it worth the time to breed them and sell them? I saw some on aquabid tonight and was tempted to buy them but didn't want it to be an impulse purchase. It seems that their are plenty of auctions for Albino BN's so I think I don't have much to worry about when it comes to missing out on them.

Thanks,

Mike

[Jchillin]

You could start here. Most of the information in the article was supplied by BrianNY, who is one of the best BN breeder's on the East Coast.

That being said, there is a market for these tiny workaholics. I currently have 9 (both albino and regular) in my 75g tank and it takes a lot of will power not to get more. Your mileage may vary depending on your anticipated market.

[BrianNY]

Thanks for the kind words JC. I'm far from the best however.

Once a pair start spawning they tend to become prolific. The answer to whether it's worth breeding and selling them has to do with how much time and space you have to grow them out. It takes almost a year to raise them to a saleable size. You also need to consider the expense of packaging. Oxygen, heat packs, sturdy boxes, etc.

[black hills tj]

Brian...looks like you know your stuff, and as a result I may bombard you with questions. I hope you don't mind

How much room do these little guys need? Could I put a few in my 20g tank until they pair off? MY 20g has 6 rummynoses and 3 von rios right now, and it has a ph reaching to the upper 7's and low 8's. Would they spawn with these fish in there? It is a low light planted tank as well and I have driftwood on the way. Most of the sales on aquabid appear to be for 5-10, however they may be from the same spawn. In order to breed I'd have to get some from different people or confirm that they are from different spawns right? Would a 10g tank suffice for raising these fry since they have relatively low spawn numbers? Are you still in the breeding scene Brian? If so, what are the chances that you might be looking at selling a few. Like I mentioned, Aquabid has auctions of 5-10 and I really don't think I'd want that many from the same spawn to avoid inbreeding.

Thanks,

Mike

[BrianNY]

Although I've got plenty Mike, I'm not really geared for shipping. I wouldn't worry so much about inbreeding. You can breed them in a 20g community tank. I use barebottom 55gs to grow them out.

My suggestion would be to pay the price for an adult pair. In this way you'll be sure you won't get stunted fish or runts. That's the way i started. Purchased a mated pair on aquabid for $35.00

[black hills tj]

Hey Brian,

Will the pleco's defend their fry in a 20g community tank to the point of damaging other fish? I think I'll setup a 10g tank with a sponge filter, plants, driftwood, and pfs to raise the fry. Would that work alright you think? So you suggest getting a mating pair instead of chancing it with a bunch of fry? I'll see what kind of prices I can come up with.

Thanks for the advice so far and in the future.

Mike

Checking on aquabid it appears that all mating pairs of ABN are 50 dollars and up. A little more than I'd like to spend. However, I'm going to attempt to win some smaller sets of juvenile ABN's and hopefully get a breeding group to form. The only auctions I'm bidding on are 100% live arrival guarentee so things look good.

[BrianNY]

Males will guard eggs and fry until free swimming. There's very little aggression and your fish will not bother the fry. These fish are poop machines and a 10g may be on the small side. Bare bottom tanks work best for growing them out because it makes it easy to siphon the bottom.

[black hills tj]

Well...I just purchased 12 ABN's on aquabid for 25 bucks+shipping. Hopefully we'll see what happens. Btw..setting up a 10g this week and starting to seed a spongefilter as we speak. Also..driftwood is in the mail right now :P