Bristlenose Under Attack

[pawly15]

I have had 2 bristlenoses in my tank for about 2 months now... one male and one female, and looking at breeding them, i have prently of wood, with hiding places, and also some up turned pots they like hiding in, however there has still been no action. my male is the dark brown type, and the female is the lighter brown with the white patches... recently i added another female to give my male more options, however it wasn't greeted very nicely by the other female, it was sucking it to death so i isolated it, but sad to report it died the very next day! Can anyone let me know as to what could be going on, any tips on breeding, can the two different color types breed?? etc. thanks

 

[dylema]

First things first. Be patient, 2 months is not a long time.

How big are they? what is the water quality like? how big is the tank? what is your feeding, cleaning etc schedule?

There is always a chance they are different species but this is hard to tell. When you say they are different colours are they just different shades? Are their patterns quite different?

Now to the tips. Keep the tank super clean with lots of water changes and gravel vacuuming. Feed them a good diet with lots of different vegetables and some algae wafers. Be patient, IMO, don't expect them to breed and you will have better success.

Good luck

Dylan

 

[pawly15]

First things first. Be patient, 2 months is not a long time.

How big are they? what is the water quality like? how big is the tank? what is your feeding, cleaning etc schedule?

There is always a chance they are different species but this is hard to tell. When you say they are different colours are they just different shades? Are their patterns quite different?

Now to the tips. Keep the tank super clean with lots of water changes and gravel vacuuming. Feed them a good diet with lots of different vegetables and some algae wafers. Be patient, IMO, don't expect them to breed and you will have better success.

Good luck

Dylan

Thanks for the reply ... my male is about 8cm and the female is about 6 maybe 7 cm.... water ph is jus below neutral maybe 6.8, with a temp of 25 degrees C, its just over a 100L tank ~26Gallon. Feed them algae wafers, and also zucchini, brocoli and things like that maybe once a week to a fortnight.... Clean and gravel vacuum once to twice a fortnight.

Now to the color, my male is a dark brown... with lots of white spots, and my female is a lighter brown, with white spots, but she also has like lighter brown patches aswell...

do the conditions sound right for breeding??

thanks

 

[dylema]

Yes the conditions do sound about right to the best of my knowledge.

Does the female always have the lighter brown patches? This could be her stressed colour. My girl goes patchy when she is not too happy (and sometimes for no reason at all).

I would suggest that you feed them more on vegetables i.e. 4-5 times a week and algae wafers 2-3 times a week. Try and do more water changes and gradually increase the volume of the water change. If you are doing say 25% a week start doing a 25% and a 10% change a week and then try go to 2x25% changes and then try a 40-50% change and see if that gets them going. I wouldn't do the 40-50% change very often though, depending on the stocking rate of the tank 25% a week might be enough to keep it clean but the bigger change can kick them into gear.

Dylan

 

[devil]

I have had 2 bristlenoses in my tank for about 2 months now... one male and one female, and looking at breeding them, i have prently of wood, with hiding places, and also some up turned pots they like hiding in, however there has still been no action. my male is the dark brown type, and the female is the lighter brown with the white patches... recently i added another female to give my male more options, however it wasn't greeted very nicely by the other female, it was sucking it to death so i isolated it, but sad to report it died the very next day! Can anyone let me know as to what could be going on, any tips on breeding, can the two different color types breed?? etc. thanks

there cool fish i a,m after one 8)