How to Spawn Sucker Fish

Mastering the art of raising and maintaining healthy fish can be a bit of a trial and error sport. However, once you have successfully accomplished this, you may find yourself entertaining the thought of breeding fish. There are many types of sucker fish species. Some of them are easier to breed than others. The Bristlenose Plecostomus is one of the easier types of sucker fish to successfully breed, though the same basic techniques are applied while breeding most other types.

Things You'll Need

1 male fish
1 female fish
Aquarium
Tank thermometer
Tank ornaments
Fork
Vegetables

Instructions

- 1
  Sex your fish to ensure you have at least one male and one female in your tank. The male Bristlenose has many whisker-like bristles on his face and in front of his mouth. The female has few or none at all. These bristles become more pronounced when the fish reaches sexual maturity.
- 2
  
  An old coffee cup can become a breeding cave.
  
  Create a place in the tank for a successful spawn to happen. The male chooses the tank ornament to use for the breeding grounds. A small flower pot laying on its side, an old piece of driftwood, PVC pipe, or and old coffee mug can often work.
- 3
  Perform a 75 percent water change in the aquarium and drop the normal 75 to 80 degrees water temperature to a more comfortable 65 to 70 degrees. This mimics the autumn temperatures when they usually spawn.
- 4
  Look for eggs on the ceiling of the pot, or whatever the male fish chose for his cave, within a few days of the male allowing the female to enter. If you can't see inside, a good indication that eggs were laid is when the male becomes protective of the cave. It is now his duty to protect the eggs for the next 10 days or so until they hatch.
- 5
  Use a fork to sink vegetables to the bottom of the tank for both the adult fish and the maturing fry. Broccoli, peas, green beans, squash, romaine lettuce, spinach and cucumbers are all acceptable.