Possible Plec breeding setup idea? Interested in your thoughts on this idea...

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dan8310x

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 30, 2008
21
0
0
Cheshire, England
Hi,

A new breeding idea came to me today, so I had a quick search on the net. and thought id share and see if any other members could see any further advantages or disadvantages to this kind of setup.

The bones of the setup would be one of those childrens plastic tray storage units. (I remember them from my primary school days). Link: http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=storage+Tray+unit&btnG=Search+Products&hl=en&show=dd

Thinking along the lines of having a larger tray/box in the bottom similar to how this model on the above link looks.
Monarch MEQ1116 Tray Storage Unit

The tray underneath must be large enough to hold the volume of the trays above. So if 3 trays above @ 30l each. the large bottom one must be 3 x 30l = 90l or greater
Im thinking this, so that if the pump fails the water will not spill out over the floor. (kinda like how a sump works)

The pump would be a small fountain pump (the kind without large inlets that trap fish fry), connected via tubing to the top tray.

Each tray would have lines or holes (not figured that bit out yet) to let the water fall from the top tray to middle trays to bottom large tray..where the pump returns to top tray.

Since im looking at breeding plecs, bristlenose in this instance. but i guess it could be used for others such as L044 Zebra. the height of the water doesnt need to be 'that' high.
Pipes, slate caves, and other low caves could be provide to hide and breed in.


This kind of setup would allow breeding pairs/trio or groups to be kept seperate. espically keeping the males from each other.

Hopefully the baby plec would fall down each tray to the bottom...where they can be collected and grown out in a tank. (or left in the large tray to grow out).

Ive not forgot, thou almost did. Filtration!
Thinking 1 of the tray, say the very top tray would be the filter sponge/media etc. By filtering the water first in the gravity chain. I can prevent the fry falling into the filter (if it was placed below the breeding)

Well thats the idea. Feel free to comment and any suggestions for improvement are welcome and reccomended.

Danny
 
Try taking a look over at Plecofanatics.com. It's a site dedicated to pleco's. I am a member over there.
 
yeah sorry. is working here too. poor net connection on my part. F5'd and it was fine.

I didnt explain myself very well. so here are the reasons for such a bizzar setup.
I have limited space to work with. looks like a 1.5 x 1.5m 'room' or cloak cupboard will have to be my fish room. I already have my 6ft aquarium and a koi grow out vat in my living room. the garden has my 6,000l pond.. and my house isnt the larger really.
So therefore im looking to seperate my plec dads (have 5 mature seperate blood lines) into there own space to breed. but also want to give them as much space as possible.

If i used a spare tank (which i do have 3 of in diff volumes) the egg crate or tank divers used would only give the dad pleco a small foot print of tank space each. plus the volume of water above them, due to the height of the tank (say 1ft) most goes wasted as they tend to stay near the bottom anyway.

Therefore i was thinking, and looking for a solution that would allow a low height and large surface area. The stackable tray storage units provide this.. and the ability to slide a tray in and out is good to keep checks on how the dads are doing.

i was thinking, but correct me if im wrong. being able to stack the volumes of water on top of each other enables me to have a large surface area of water(that is utilised) than if i used my spare tanks.

Suppose im thinking outside of the box really.
 
i really like the idea, the sa to space ratio etc
what species of plec?

dont know much about breeding plecs tho...
will it be easy to get to each tray for feeding, gravel vacs?

will u have substrate?
dont know about the fry falling tho, may be collect and hatch eggs elsewhere?

how will u do w/c's ????
 
Ancristrus (Bristlenose)
Ive been breeding them for about 6-8 month now. Have 6 males with seperate blood lines. and about 10 or so (maybe more) females of breeding ages. mixed blood lines. All unrelated to each other.
some are very dark almost black, whilst others are still 'browns' but lighter in colour, esp. on the belly and markings on the back.
All baby fry are browns/blacks there is no albino gene to be found (which is good, because Im not soo keen on breeding the albino strain)
For feeding and cleaning, i am hopign the design/idea would allow the trays to slide out as normal. (Whilst still being fed water thru the cascade waterfall effect as it drops each tray in level).
No gravel, just the plastic base - gravel will just collect dirt

About the eggs, the dads look after the eggs until the point where the baby fry are able to look after themselves. roaming the tank looking for algae(on the glass) and food pellets/waffers
Ive found cucumber to be the best food to feed the fry. (*tip)
Which mean I will not be harvesting the eggs from the caves.

Fry could be harvested from each tray or, IF they swim/fall from one tray to the next and end up int he bottom tray. They can be collected there.

1 problem I can think of;
Is that if the fry are collected as a collective in the very bottom tray. I will be unable to determine the blood line of the baby and determine its parents.
but then again, if I am not keeping the fry...I may not need to know the bloodline?


Water changes, Would simply be changing the water in the bottom tray.
 
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