Little Baby Bristles Everywhere :)

well i came out this morning and there were little bristlenoses stuck all over the glass in my tank yay so cute and tiny. i have a few questions to ask about this.

ive had thermostat issues with my heater overnight and the water was 34C when i got up this morning. i was condsidering putting the youngens in the fry tank but that is now 5 degrees cooler than the main. a couple of young have died and i dont know if this is nature or if the heat is killing them.

is it ok for them to not be with their dad anymore? i have started scooping them up and putting them in the net. what do they eat? should i just feed them what their parents eat? can they munch on algae wafers or pellets?

these guys are about 1 1/2cm. is this a good size? how quickly do they grow? im going to take them into work when they are about 1 - 1 1/2 inches. is that a good size or should i keep them here longer. i can keep them in a bigger grow out tank at work.

last one...will the bristlenoses keep breeding as long as there is a male and a female present? just wondering if i should expect them to spawn again. will he keep the same place or find a new one?

anyway that should just about do it. im sure ill think of something else though

sorry about all the questions. i usually do my homework before breeding or buying new fish but i didnt expect these so soon so some things i havent found out yet. someone said they usually take a while to settle in and get prepared etc and ive had the boy bristle for about 3-4 weeks so i wasnt expecting anything yet what a surprise!! yay

Gee isnt that good, 4 weeks and poof! Babies. Try and estimate how many there are and the next spawn may be 50% more.

1.5 is a good length. Im sure you could sell them easily.

Whereabouts in brissy do you live? Im in the Caboolture shire. And my lfs sell baby BN's at 3-4cm for $7

Mystix212 said:

Gee isnt that good, 4 weeks and poof! Babies. Try and estimate how many there are and the next spawn may be 50% more.

1.5 is a good length. Im sure you could sell them easily.

Whereabouts in brissy do you live? Im in the Caboolture shire. And my lfs sell baby BN's at 3-4cm for $7

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i know! i was so excited i expected a long drawn out wait filled with questions like 'will my bristles ever breed?' or 'how the hell do you get bristles to breed'. lol

at work they asked me how much i wanted to sell them for and i said wholesale to them $1.50. still half price of what we pay from bayfish or ranchu.

you interested in some cheap bn's are you? im in holland park

congrats on the fry, they will kep breeding, once they start i found them to be like livebearers, after the 4th lot though i seperated them to give them a break then never got anymore fry although they didn't start till they were at least 8 years old which is quite old for a plec of this size, as for feeding mine fed off algae for the first few days (luckily my rank was full of it ) then they moved onto the same food the adults ate, algae pellets/cucumber etc, i moved my fry to a 3 foot grow out after about 2 weeks and they loved it, then sold most but kept the smallest 2 from the first group, and the groups may get bigger, i'm sure there first lot was around 100 good luck and keep us updated

lilfishie said:

congrats on the fry, they will kep breeding, once they start i found them to be like livebearers, after the 4th lot though i seperated them to give them a break then never got anymore fry although they didn't start till they were at least 8 years old which is quite old for a plec of this size, as for feeding mine fed off algae for the first few days (luckily my rank was full of it ) then they moved onto the same food the adults ate, algae pellets/cucumber etc, i moved my fry to a 3 foot grow out after about 2 weeks and they loved it, then sold most but kept the smallest 2 from the first group, and the groups may get bigger, i'm sure there first lot was around 100 good luck and keep us updated

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tis hard to tell how many there really are. i scooped out 19 and put them in my livebearer tank when i had the dodgy heater screw up yesterday that killed half my community tank. also lost 9 bn fry that i know of but we have seen a few darting around in the main tank. the tank is a 260L and its still a little cloudy from the sand settling so its hard to see them. and theres a lot of wood in there so im guessing that theyre hiding in little tiny places somewhere. will get a better idea i a few days when i do a water change and finish decorating the tank (tis new ) im assuming though there is about 35 at this stage. dont know how many others died in places in there that i cant see. might have to go searching later when i get home from work. anyhoo looking forward to more of them

i havent seen them since i put them in my 3ft. do they usually hide a lot when theyre that little?? havent seen them come out for food or one stuck to the glass here and there. the only one i can see is the one that is in the breeder net so i can have one to watch and see how they grow and monitor how fast etc hes very pale very active though and has been sucking and eating bits of pellets.

soo, some more questions...has he made this boat his territory or will he likely move on and find bigger accommodation? lol theres also a wrecked car and a lantern that have much more room and a better view lol but theres also a bumblebee catfish in the car wreck and i hear they get pretty territorial. how long in between spawns?

quick pic of dad and two babies at the bottom right of the boat

Ooooooh. They might breed every 3-7 weeks. Depends on how you condition them.
They will hide because they are small, and also because all pleco's love being on wood and munching on it. If you go to your local pet store they usually have BN's with a peice of driftwood in there and all the plecs are on it.

About the territory, he may or may not claim it as his own. Seems just big enough to breed in. Perhaps adding another cave of some sort would allow for something?

P.S To get to Holland Park its about a 40 minute drive from my house. And Im 13 anyway so I got pretty slim chances of getting to that lfs you mentioned. It'd cost my mum more in fuel then to buy the plecs.

yes they will hide for a few days, its like adding a new fish, sometimes it takes them a few days to settle in before they'll come out, he might stay put, mine had his first lot in a cave and evey other lot there too, then when he passed on the female took over but she would share it with the two fry i kept luckily both female not both male not sure how long between spawns as i wasn't there for the first lot (was on holiday came back to a tank full on fry) but 3-7 weeks seems about right

Mystix212 said:

Ooooooh. They might breed every 3-7 weeks. Depends on how you condition them.
They will hide because they are small, and also because all pleco's love being on wood and munching on it. If you go to your local pet store they usually have BN's with a peice of driftwood in there and all the plecs are on it.

About the territory, he may or may not claim it as his own. Seems just big enough to breed in. Perhaps adding another cave of some sort would allow for something?

P.S To get to Holland Park its about a 40 minute drive from my house. And Im 13 anyway so I got pretty slim chances of getting to that lfs you mentioned. It'd cost my mum more in fuel then to buy the plecs.

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i know i work at one hehe i have wood in all my tanks

i have multiple caves in there for him to choose from some big some small some medium

lilfishie said:

yes they will hide for a few days, its like adding a new fish, sometimes it takes them a few days to settle in before they'll come out, he might stay put, mine had his first lot in a cave and evey other lot there too, then when he passed on the female took over but she would share it with the two fry i kept luckily both female not both male not sure how long between spawns as i wasn't there for the first lot (was on holiday came back to a tank full on fry) but 3-7 weeks seems about right

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yay! my work gave me two pairs of bristles to bring home today so i now have a pair in each tank. tis good cause it helps out at work a lot having a cheap way of getting our bristles. they are all in large enough tanks with plenty of wood, caves etc i wasnt sure about breeding them at first but im finding that they are easier to breed than i was told fingers crossed it stays that way

Congrats on your babies My main pair breed every few weeks. After the babies leave the cave he will have about 4 days to regain his strength , get lots of food inside him, them hes back in his cave ready to breed again, they usualy have another clutch of eggs in about 3 - 4 days after that. Then its a bout a 14 day hatching and and living off their egg sacks until they are ready to leave the cave. Largest batch I have had so far have been over 75

my female looks quite plump like egg bound but the only eggs i see are corrie ones male just likes his food to much if you ask me