Bristle Nose Fry! Totally Unexpected! Please Help!

[FishTankCrazy]

Evening all!

So came home from work and was greated with about 6 bristlenose plec fry! Never had fry so i'm panicking now about everything! They are currently hanging around the Eheim spray bar and look like they are feeding off the glass and surrounding area and look quite happy but i'm worried about them getting eaten by the other fish in the 250ltr community tank. Current stock is Congo tetras, Harlequins, Redline torpedo barbs, five banded barbs, cory's and a big catfish. There is an abundance of driftwood and plenty of places to hide.

My intial thought was to grab my computer and search everywhere for tips on keeping these tiny fry (5mm) but there isn't that much information out there tbh.

My questions are...

What do they eat?
How can they eat? Do I balance something on the spray bar???
Do i need to do daily water changes? (currently a well matured tank with no nasties)
Should i move them? Have another tank but its not mature and is waiting for a new project.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Rob

 

[XFiSh_CichildX]

well this is very exciting for the first time isnt it eh ? i find it exciting every-time my bristlenose spawn !

i fed mine of fresh vegetable like courgette they enjoyed that and if you are feeding vegetable i would recommend daily water changes


im sure there should be more than five if you turn your lights of and wait like an hour you should see them out on the glass and what not

i dont think it would be necessary to move them to another tank the tankmates look fine to me not familiar with a few tho

 

[FishTankCrazy]

well this is very exciting for the first time isnt it eh ? i find it exciting every-time my bristlenose spawn !

i fed mine of fresh vegetable like courgette they enjoyed that and if you are feeding vegetable i would recommend daily water changes


im sure there should be more than five if you turn your lights of and wait like an hour you should see them out on the glass and what not

i dont think it would be necessary to move them to another tank the tankmates look fine to me not familiar with a few tho

Thanks for the advice. So i've wedged a yummy piece of courgette so its on top of the spray bar and another piece for the other tank mates so they don't go exploring around the spray bar and find the extra snacks available!

So daily water changes! Currently do a weekly change of 25% water only and a monthly gravel vac and filter clean which changes around 50% of the water. So what % do you recommend changing daily?

Hope they survive as they are my favourite fish!

Thanks again

 

[Termato]

I would only recommend moving them if you want to 100% ensure that all of them survive. That way you can keep an eye on all of them.

They should be fine in the tank you have now though especially with all the cover.

i would recommend daily water changes

Why daily if it is a mature tank? I am assuming this is a planted tank?
I would think daily water changes will just bring stress on the fish at this point? I wouldn't expect 5-10 5mm BNP to produce too much bio waste to overstock the tank.

I honestly don't know so I am really curious to hear why you suggest that. Thank you!

 

[FishTankCrazy]

I would only recommend moving them if you want to 100% ensure that all of them survive. That way you can keep an eye on all of them.

They should be fine in the tank you have now though especially with all the cover.

i would recommend daily water changes

Why daily if it is a mature tank? I am assuming this is a planted tank?
I would think daily water changes will just bring stress on the fish at this point? I wouldn't expect 5-10 5mm BNP to produce too much bio waste to overstock the tank.

I honestly don't know so I am really curious to hear why you suggest that. Thank you!

Think he recommended doing daily changes because of the constant food that needs to be in the tank now??? Not sure...

 

[XFiSh_CichildX]

yea the fresh food could foul the water easily...


i have bred bristlenose a few times and this is what worked for me so just talking from my experience

 

[TwoTankAmin]

1. The odds are good almost all of them will be lunch for the other fish regardless of cover.

2. They can and will eat pretty much anything the parents will.

3. You do not need to up your water change regimen in tank. However, I would suggest your regular weekly change be more like 1/3, and 1/2 would not be bad.

 

[FishTankCrazy]

Thank you for the replies. So a few weeks have past and we think there are only a few remaining HOWEVER there are now fresh eggs in the same cave!

So not wanting the same feeding frenzie I think I have some time to do it right this time!

What course of action should I take?

Submersable hatching tank?

Move them before they hatch?

Thanks