Bristlenose Catfish Question

[iouver]

Is the female alot smaller than the male? i know about the whiskers that if there is alot of whiskers on one and not the other its a female but i have 2 and the big one is male and the female is really small. Is this the normal case that females are alot smaller than the male?

Thanx.

 

[Davo86]

Is the female alot smaller than the male? i know about the whiskers that if there is alot of whiskers on one and not the other its a female but i have 2 and the big one is male and the female is really small. Is this the normal case that females are alot smaller than the male?

Thanx.

How long have you had them? were they the same size when you brought them?
I have 1 big male and a pair, i have had the pair about 6 months and they have grown at around the same speed, the male maybe about a cm or so bigger but nothing more,
Are you sure the female is getting her share of the food in the tank? Also what are you feeding them?

 

[iouver]

Is the female alot smaller than the male? i know about the whiskers that if there is alot of whiskers on one and not the other its a female but i have 2 and the big one is male and the female is really small. Is this the normal case that females are alot smaller than the male?

Thanx.

How long have you had them? were they the same size when you brought them?
I have 1 big male and a pair, i have had the pair about 6 months and they have grown at around the same speed, the male maybe about a cm or so bigger but nothing more,
Are you sure the female is getting her share of the food in the tank? Also what are you feeding them?

Hi thnx for your reply. At closer inspection the smaller one is lighter than the big one so the female maybe a diffrent kind of bristlenose but they have been trying to mate so if they do i might get a cross breed if the female is a diffrent kind of BN She has the same markings and looks the same just alittle lighter. I feed them pellets and blood worms mainly but i have not tried anything else which they can eat yet. had them both about 6 months.

 

[PaulEbs]

Hi Iouver,

Catfish tend to go a little lighter in colour when they are startled. There are about 50 different species of ancistrus and I'm pretty sure they will all inter-breed although you may want to double check that.

You could try feeding corgette [zuchinni] by cutting a large chunk off then cutting that in half again so that the middle is showing, then stick a tea spoon through it so it's weighted to the substrate.

BN's love veg and this should go down a treat. Have you provided plenty of 'caves' for the male to create a nest in?

Regards,
Paul

 

[dwarfgourami]

To add to Paul's post- it would probably be a good idea to divide your piece of veg in two and put them down at different ends of the tank if you suspect your female is not getting enough. Bristlies can be very possessive about their food.

 

[iouver]

To add to Paul's post- it would probably be a good idea to divide your piece of veg in two and put them down at different ends of the tank if you suspect your female is not getting enough. Bristlies can be very possessive about their food.

Hi thnx for you comments. yes i have done this. I have 2 pieces of food either side and they have produced eggs once so i hope it can happen again.