Breeding/Raising Bristlenose Plecos

[Demeter32]

Finally got eggs from my bristlenose pleco pair.

Dad's a long finned normal colored young adult. Bought him at the pet store when he was tiny, only 6$.

Mom's a full grown albino short finned female I received from the pet store owner.

They've been flirting and digging pits near the caves like crazy the last few days. The pits were annoying, dirted tanks and digging fish equals a mess, so I put their caves on a ceramic plate, no more digging. I noticed the females belly getting yellow and upon closer inspection I could see individual eggs inside close to the vent.

No guarantee that any will be fertile and/or survive. First time dad and so far I've seen quite a few eggs scattered around and a number of the bettas are extremely plump. There's a pile of eggs in the cave, which I will not be disturbing till the eggs are close to hatching, at which point I will move the cave and dad to a separate tank. No pictures of the cave yet. Poor dad's fins are all tore up between digging and going in and out of the cave. He'll be getting some TLC when all is said and done, I plan on moving the female to another tank as well to prevent more breeding.

A tried collecting some of the stray eggs, I think 16 or 17, and put them in my African cichlid tumbler. Of course it's set on low, only enough to get water moving around them. Had to fend off the bettas as I was netting these out, a few made it into their mouths but I suppose they're pretty tough and seem intact after being spat back out.

Now it's time to do some brushing up on my pleco research, specifically the incubation period and when to move the cave.

 

[Colin_T]

we used 1-2 inch diameter pvc pipe cut to 6inch lengths and the males use to look after the eggs in them. The fry need the biofilm on rotting plants and wood as a first food. As they grow they can eat the same food as the adults. If I recall correctly, the eggs take about a week to hatch and stay in the nest for another week before coming out and being eaten by everyone

 

[NickAu]

When my Bn's started breeding I had no idea what to do,

Heres what I was told

What to do depends on their tank. If it is a dedicated breeding tank, then you need to do nothing. When the fry have consumed their yolk sacs and go free swimming, dad will push them out and get ready to spawn again. The fry will eat the same thing as adults, just less.

I this is a community tank, then most, if not all, of the fry would be on the menu. You will need to pull the cave with dad and almost free swimmers to a grow tank. My normal procedure here is to allow the dad to remain there for about a week after the fry emerge. During this time feed him well and get him back in shape for the next go around. After a week return him and the cave to the main tank in about the same piistion it was before.

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/my-bnplecos-are-breeding.438940/

My male looking after his eggs.

 

[NickAu]

Forget plastic tubes they spoil the look of the tank.
A log like this is about $10

 

[Demeter32]

Those logs look nice, I'll have to find something similar in the near future. Took a flash light to the cave and saw zero eggs even though the male was still guarding it. Perhaps he kicked out the eggs or the cave was raided by the upside down catfish, either way I'm glad I collected all the eggs I could yesterday. There's 20ish and they're still a healthy orange, let's hope they are viable. 3 of the adult female bettas are extremely fat after feasting on eggs, hopefully they slim down fast. They're pretty lethargic, must be the legendary "food coma".

I took the caves out so the male will start eating and healing his fins. I'll be moving the tank to a proper stand in a couple days/weeks as my lovely older sister is coming back for 2-3 months along with 2 daughters (3 and under 1), a dog and her husband. The tanks must be moved from the spare bedroom, which will be a hassle. Might do a bit of re-scaping and planting more crypts during the process as all the fish and water will need to be removed.

 

[Demeter32]

Was beginning to wonder if the eggs were fertilized or not as a few were getting fuzzy and white. I kept removing all the fungused eggs and it's safe to say they are alive. I can see the little fry developing inside. They were moved from the tumbler to a specimen container with a bit of Meth. blue for better viewing. The yellow part is the yolk, the lighter part is the developing fry.

 

[Demeter32]

Just checked them again, and saw the first little fry had already hatched! I thought it would take a little longer but I guess 4-5 days is fine too.

 

[NickAu]

Cool.

 

[Demeter32]

Starting to look like plecos now. I think dad has a recessive albino gene, some are looking very albino to me.

3 of the fry died while trying to hatch and one that did hatch has an odd looking yolk sac. I'm not too sure that one will survive. So right now there are 16 good looking fry and then the 1 weird one.

 

[Demeter32]

Move them all to the pair of planted 10gals. Only placed 2 in Otabek's tank as I feared he'd eat them and the rest went in the other planted 10gal, where I also moved Vitya to.

Natural colored fry with Otabek, apparently he hasn't noticed it as this was taken today. I figured albino fry would stick out like a sore thumb so only added natural colored.

The fry with Vitya are much harder to spot. I see a single albino fry nearly every day but no more than 2 or 3 fry at one time. I'm assuming they're in there but might have to wait till they're bigger before I do another head count.

 

[Demeter32]

The female has been egg laiden for a while but my long finned boy didn't seem too interested. I placed her with my albino male a couple days ago and while feeding the cichlid fry I found a mass of eggs in the cave. I think this male is better suited to parent hood than the other boy. Now I just need to time it right so the fry and father are moved before the cichlids can get to them. I think they'll go in a 20gal when the time's right.

 

[NickAu]

Remove the male and eggs before the fry become free swimming, also when feeding pop a bit of food in or near the cave for him.

 

[Demeter32]

I think I'll wait a day after they hatch and then move everyone over to the tank beside them. I've got some frozen green beans and broccoli at the ready, along with my fancy, and probably a bit dry, frozen fish jello I think the fry and father will appreciate a soft food.

 

[NickAu]

He sure will

 

[Demeter32]

Eggs hatched about 2 days ago and I just moved the cave and everyone over to the 20gal. Threw in a bunch of oak leaves and a piece of Malaysian wood. Ran out of stockings to put around the intake so I'll need to figure something else out before they're free swimming. I think I've got some window screening that could work. The fry are all at the top of the cave and that makes picture taking impossible, all you'd see in a seemingly empty cave with dad in it.