Baby Bristlenose

[eliza_faery]

Hi, my bristlenose pleco's have recently had babies. This is the first time any of my fish have ever bred in the tank and I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing everything correctly.

Currently I have 13 babies and they are about 10 -11 mm long. Unfortunately I don't have room for these little babies, but I'm determined to look after them to the best of my ability for now, and ultimately give them to my local fish shop when they get a bit bigger.

The thing is at what age/ size can they be sold at? I don't want to take them in there too early and risk them dying.

Also at the moment I have them in a fish breeder net thing with a piece of bogwood in it. I put them in there to save them becoming lunch to my angelfish. Is there any point where they would be safe to be in my tank or am I doing the best thing by keeping them in there? I'm not entirely sure if the parents would appreciate another 13 little mouths competing for food.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[nmonks]

Realistically, most stores won't want them below about 2.5 cm. Smaller than that and they won't travel well, and while they could doubtless sell them, the odds of them settling into another aquarium are low, so they'd have to deal with angry customers.

I'd have thought they'd be okay in a planted community tank or one with lots of other hiding places, such as rocks. If all else fails, get a big hollow ornament, and they'll use that. Angels are pretty inept predators, and tend to go for things that make easy mouthfuls, like guppy fry or sleepy neons. Something spiny like a baby Ancistrus should have reasonable odds. As for competition for food: there won't be any, so don't worry about that.

At the end of the day, fish breeding is meant to be fun. If you're finding it a chore, they either let Nature take its course, or else invest in a 5-15 gallon tank suitable for rearing fry.

Cheers, Neale