Flower Horn part 2?

My original post" http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...





Im going to give some additional information on my tank for anyone who thinks they can help me.





my tank is 4 feet verticly. about 18 feet across something like that im not sure the exact measurements. i have no ruler in my hole god darn house. dont ask why.. anyway my tank is pretty big and my plecos have a lot of space. my flower horns and other fish are pretty happy. i had recently introduced a female pleco. before that the rest of my plecos were males.. maybe thats why lol

Flower Horn part 2?
Ah hah! You forgot that most important little tidbit!!!! A female?! Of course I'm sure this is why they're all going nuts! Just think about it.... you're stuck in Afghanistan playing soldier with a bunch of guys for about two years and all of a sudden a chick comes strollin' in? It doesn't even matter if she's all that ugly! You guys are gonna be killin' yourselves over her! lol! Do a test. Take her out if you can, see what happens.....
Reply:My guess would be that the plecos are feeling crowded despite the large tank volume and size of the bottom. I have never heard of that many plecos being housed together and them being over 3-4" long. I would assume that the plecos are fighting for territory now that the female is in the mix.





When I bred plecos I did so in a 18' round by 36" deep holding tank and with only 1 pair of plecos in the tank, so I'm not sure from that experience what would happen with more.





I got my pair as adults from a breeder in southern Florida that uses 1/4 acre 3" deep ponds and breeds with 6 fish (3 pairs) in the pond. He claims any more than that and they will fight but with that few all of them will spawn in a single season.





I don't know what conclusions you can draw from all of that, but I would assume they need a significant amount of space to call their territory.





I would try removing about 1/2 the plecos and providing breeding structures at vairous places around the tank.





Hope this helps some





MM

nanny job