Did a water change on every tank I have today, and did a good cleaning on the two inside tanks. Upstairs is my queen colony, 4 adults, had them for going on about 2 years now. Don't know male to female ratio, everyone has different opinions but my hunch based on caving is 3m/1f. I thought I saw an old egg sack about a month ago on the java moss but never saw any action in the tank (they'd never spawned) so didn't think anything of it.

I walked by the tank a bit after cleaning and saw something on the glass. I did a double take...FRY! I about fainted...L260 fry! Grabbed the camera quick before he took off. Click on each to see a bigger pic. This is the only one I saw, I haven't rooted around in the tank to see if there are more.



One adult caved up in the background, the flash made his white stripes look brownish (they are actually white)

Wow, that is great. Hope he has a lot of brothers and sisters!

Yes, awesome. Dave is a nervous but excited new dad.

Is that a "$$$ca-ching$$$" kind of fish? Great job Dave.

slimbolen99 wrote:


6 month old fry are going for about 50 bucks each, if you can find them. I'd give $200 for an adult female in good shape without blinking.

They are on the banned list (it's a hypan, like the king tigers, zebras, etc) so they aren't being imported. Even when they do get through, mostly only males come. Mikey and I were talking about this and he has a good theory why. When the divers go down to get plecos, they use a wooden stick as a pry tool to get them out of the caves. Mostly male adults will be in caves. They are probably impossible to catch out in the open by free diving.

if you are interested in selling some of the fry i would be interested

I will be once I get a few more spawns, we'll see if they continue or not. I looked around and didn't see any other fry but there might be more in there hiding, who knows. I'm going to keep a better eye on them and watch for more eggs. I'll pull them out into a rearing in-tank holder when more come.

congrats Dave. Awesome job.

Congrats!! very impressive and very cool.

I just commented on the shout box....that's way cool. Mine are about 2+ as well. I would pass out if I found that in their tank!!!!

Congrats Dave. Very cool!!

Way to go Dave! Looks like you are treating them right.
They are a cool pleco. I have always killed any that I had. I found out later that they were carnivores.
Here is a good link about them.
Walter
www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/may08/queenarabesquepleco.htm

Hey Dave did you buy those from me a couple of yrs ago just wondering and your the man Dave Congrats..!!!!

Nice! Put me on the list to buy some as well! Good luck on future breeding too!

loacheman wrote:


No, I got them from somewhere online 2 years back alogn with my King Tigers. The queens were an add-on to the order. I was getting Kings and I think some Leopard Frogs and I saw the L260 and Maggie thought they were really neat, so I got some. They were one of my first 5 plecos I bought I think. Outside ancistrus and a common, they were my first big purchase before I knew bout anything on plecos.