Bristle Nose?

[Callie84]

Hello everyone,

I bought 2 baby bristle nose plecs yesterday and i have a few questions. They are 3 & 3.5 cm at the moment (so cute!). Im just a little concerned they might not be bristle noses. Mine seem to be browny/green rather than black and their spots are a cream/yellow colour, I thought they only came in black and white. Is this a colour variation or a difference species? Sorry i cant get pics. Does their colour differ depending on what they eat? The water at the LFS was a strong tea colour could this also cause a colour change?

Also how fast will they grow and how big/old are they before they get bristles so you can sex them?

thanks in advance

 

[Rhiannon]

My BN is brown with cream dots.

 

[Callie84]

Thanks, thats a huge relief. I was worried i might have been given something else by mistake.
Do you know how old they are before they get their bristles? How old before they will breed?

 

[Rhiannon]

Dont know anything about breeding, but I think they can show bristles around 2 inches or something. There are some very knowledgeable people on here and they will help you when they come on line.

 

[smithrc]

greeny brown and creamy spots is normal

Here are our original breeding pair... The adult male - he was about 4"

And here is mum - about 3"

and our female when we first got her

As for breeding, its quite easy, once they are mature (they should be sexable at around 2" and can start breeding at 3"),
they just get on with it if they are happy
You'll need to provide a cave or bogwood with a hole in so that the male can entice the female in and get her to lay eggs.

If they are in a community tank, brovide somewhere for the male to call home and then just leave them to it

 

[Callie84]

Thanks for the info guys!

Smithrc your fish are gorgeous Hope mine grow up to be that good looking

One more question: when they do breed how many eggs do they usually have?

 

[smithrc]

Thanks for the info guys!

Smithrc your fish are gorgeous Hope mine grow up to be that good looking

One more question: when they do breed how many eggs do they usually have?

depends on maturity and size... a young female can lay around 20 eggs... a BIG mature female anywhere upto 100

 

[Callie84]

If all goes well with the water quality and no predators etc. how many (%) of the eggs usually make it?

thanks again

 

[smithrc]

If all goes well with the water quality and no predators etc. how many (%) of the eggs usually make it?

thanks again

that depends on Dad - The first few spawns may not make it at all... once he gets the hang of it you can expect say 90% to be fertile and from them nearly all will hatch (if dads doing a good job)

Once they have hatched it all depends on your tank, and their tank mates.... you should be able to raise 50% to a safe sice to sell them on at 1-2"

 

[Callie84]

Thanks i would love for them to be a successful breeding pair.
But knowing my luck i probably have two males

Thank you so much for all your help