# 40g breeder tank plans. Input needed.



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Well I plan on using my tank for what it was named after, breeding. 

Tank will be pretty heavily planted with pleanty of driftwood and "caves". My plan for the fish are:

Trio of BN plecos (I can't remember if the m:f ratio is 1:2 or 2:1)
Pair of German Blue Rams
Maybe a pair of Clown Plecos (already have a male)

The only other creatures in the tank might be a few male Guppies and RCS/Amano shrimp.

Any problems with this setup? Tank will be filtered via a Rena XP2 and of course will have a gravel vac used on it weekly.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

In a 40 gallon breeder, for your Rams, if you don't already have a proven pair, and unless you are planning on buying a proven pair, I would suggest purchasing 6 juvies. If you can get a 3 to 3 ratio, and let them pair naturally, that would be the way to go.

I think you should go with tha Amano shrimp with Rams, I think they would be able to eat the Cherries

I have a 29 gallon right now stocked with a pair of Apisto Cacatoides orange flash (proven, there are 5 baby fry right now that I can count swimming around ) 3 pair of German blue Rams, 2 albino bristlenose plecos, 6 cardinal tetra, and 5 red minor tetra.
I have had many clutches of Ram eggs, but they were all laid in the substrate and eaten by the parents, so I moved that pair into a 10 gallon by them selves, another pair is laying eggs now, so I have another 10 gallon in the works.
Since I know the Apistos will produce, I am going to set them up in their own quarters as well.
I will just grow out some more Rams and Apistos in that tank once all the pairs are out.

for apistos, go to AquaBid.com - Sell or buy aquarium related equipment and fish in an auction format! and buy from seller APISTODAVE
for Rams, go to same site and buy from seller GEORGEGARCIA.
That is where I got all mine, and George actually lives about 15 min from me, so I go buy all the time, he always has Rams, he sells the 6 juvies for like $24 or $30 plus shipping, and he will try to get you 3 and 3

Hope this helps

Also, my plants are Java Fern, Cabomba, Jungle Vals, Dwarf Sag, Anubias Nana and Brazilian Swords planted in Eco complete and I keep the tank at 82 deg. I run pressurized Co2 at 2 to 3 BPS and have 65watts of PC lighting and everything is happy as can be.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

The same seller I'm planning on buying my juvie BN from also has German Blues. Will try to see if I can't get a proven pair. Really don't have a place for four other GBR's if a pair does form.

Thanks for your input!


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Burks, 3 Bristles in addition to your Clown may be a bit much for a 40, and you have to keep in mind that if they breed, they really breed, so you would need to have a grow-out tank for your juvies. I personally wouldn't keep any more than 2 of one or the other in a tank that size, but not both.

You may or may not have luck with your shrimp in a tank with Rams, but it's hard to tell, since everyone seems to have mixed results. If you don't want to drop the bucks for the shrimp to risk having them disappear, I'd leave them out of the equation.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

JanS: I actually have a breeding population of RCS that are doing quite well now. So there wouldn't be any real loss there. Probably have 25+ shrimplets and another female ready to drop any day now.

I see your point on the Plecos though. Decision time I guess. It wouldn't be hard for me to slap together a 10-20 tank for the juvies though. 

Would really love to breed the Clown's but from what I've read they aren't the easiest to do.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

if looking for good apistos, check out alloddball aquatics in pitt. He ships, and he has an OUTSTANDING line of red caucs- the whole body is red on his better males! He also has gold orange flash and others. Nice nice nice fish, also a wonderful form of smiling acara- "red"


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Burks said:


> Would really love to breed the Clown's but from what I've read they aren't the easiest to do.


I've decided on this route. My LFS just got a new shipment of Clown's in and I'll be going there tomorrow to pick out a female (hopefully). Kind of hard to sex them but it is possible.

Although if this doesn't work out I have room in my many other tanks to place them.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

You can't go wrong with Clowns. 

As you said, they probably are much harder to breed, but then you won't have to worry as much about what to do with the fry as often either.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

That's pretty true. Although I'm sure my LFS would buy or give me store credit for the BN's if I did breed them. Strangly enough, no stores in my area carry BN's. 

Plus the aquarium club members would want some. I already have requests for RCS and Clowns


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Burks said:


> Strangly enough, no stores in my area carry BN's.


You know, that is odd. I just sold a young male to a local gal and she said that our store has been trying to get them in forever and it's been virtually impossible. :-s

Man, I sure don't have a shortage of them...


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Yeah it is. Rarely does the one shop I frequent get one. They mainly deal in Clowns, commons, and the mid-range expensive plecos like Gold Nuggets/Snowballs. There is a breeder maybe 20 minutes from my parents who has lots of BN's. Always has a bunch for sale really cheap.

I picked up what I "think" to be a female Clown today. Compared to all the other Clown's of similar size this one had very little odontodes growth and was a tad lighter in color (although I can't find any kind of sexing by color information).

What alarmed me was after I got her home and acclimated I came back to check and she had a red area under the skin toward the front right side of her head. Reason to be alarmed? Is this a bruise or something? I'm holding off any kind of medication until I can confirm the cause. Photos may come soon if I can catch her in the open or catch her in a bottle trap.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

She probably did get the red area from being handled and netted, so you're probably best off to wait a while to see what happens, like you said.

If it doesn't start improving soon, then you may need to investigate a little further.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I haven't seen her since I put her in the tank. The male as come out but she hasn't. If she doesn't come out before I go to bed then I'll search to see if she's still alive.

You're right though. Could be from many different things. Probably just a bump on the old head.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Well I posted over on Pleco Fanatics and they think it's either a heater burn or a bacterial infection (possibly both). So I'll start treatment with Melafix today and hope my shrimp aren't harmed. Shouldn't be but you never know.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes, heater burns can be common too.

If she seems to keep wanting to hang out by the heater, you can buy guards to put around them so they don't keep burning themselves.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I moved a lot of my stem plants over by the heater. Not sure if she got the burn at the LFS or when I brought her home. Maybe the redness just hadn't shown up yet kind of like human burns?

Good thing is she is eating, so that's a positive sign.


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