Bristlenose Breeding Quesry

[Elaine2]

My bristlenoses have finally decided to breed. The male looked after the eggs and fry perfectly but as soon as they were a couple of days old Mrs Bristlenose decided it was time for the next batch. I found the male sitting with eggs again this morning obviously too tired to aerate them - he's not fed for several days whilst looking after the first batch. In the end I decided to remove the eggs and put them into a breeding trap in one of the hatching tanks that I use for corydoras. There's an air stone in with the eggs so hopefully they should be fine. The baby plecs from the first batch of eggs are now also in another breeding tank. Three questions really:

1. Is it normal that the fish will breed so frequently? I can't see the male lasting too long if things continue at this pace.

2. Would it be advisable to try and remove either him or the female for a while (assuming I can catch either of them)?

3. Advice welcome on looking after the eggs.

I've dropped a couple of algae wafers into the male's 'home' in the hope that he will start eating and getting some strength back. I appreciate that he may be stressed by the removal of the eggs but it was the most sensible option I could come up with.

Thanks,

Elaine

 

[TwoTankAmin]

My normal practice with plecos kept in pairs or trios has been to pull the cave with both almost mature wigglers (not eggs) and dad to a growout tank. I will allow the male to remain in the growout tank for about 10 days after the fry begin emerging. During that time dad can rest up, eat to his heart's content and ready himself for the next go around.

Yes they will spawn about every 30 days in many cases. You should also find over time that the spawns will become larger. I had one pair of lf bn which spawned for me for about 8 years. When they began I would get 20-25 eggs, their final spawn was over 100 fry.

Enjoy them- it really is quite neat being able to watch the whole process. Even after 8 years I was always thrilled to see yet another spawn.

 

[kevinjames]

Very good advice there.

I keep my male in my bn fry tank all time then add the female when I'm ready for another load. That was until my female died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. Having trouble finding a replacement. I have a female but she is my males offspring, would this open up a can of worms if bred?

 

[Elaine2]

Thanks both. There is the possibility of moving one of the fish out. Moving the female in and out of the male's tank, if I do this, on a regular basis might be an issue though as my main tank is 7.5 ft long and contains a lot of plants and hiding places. Moving dad plus cave in this instance wasn't an option as his cave is on the top of a 2 ft long X 2 ft high piece of bog wood! There's ctually 2 females in the tank so maybe trying to catch and shift one of them might be a good idea anyway. Fingers crossed on the eggs. Dad seems to have recovered a bit now.

 

[Elaine2]

Just to update, I now have about 60 baby plecs in the breeding trap and dad is looking a bit better fed in the main tank.