From my experiance you should have a few female in the tank with the male so he can pick his partner. Once you see two of them "dancing" return the others to your lfs. They are very particular about their partners choosing a strong female. Am not sure at what age they normally start breeding, mine were a 1 1/2 before they first spawned.
Rust9000, it's weird, none of my fish will lay on clay pots. I have to use flat slate....picky fish