Bristlenosed Spawning Dilemma

[tophat665]

Hail and well met, fellow locariphiles. I've posted a poll above - and here's the impetus and background:

I'd like to take a shot at getting my bristlenoses to breed. Unfortunately, the pair I have in my 55 are both female, and the single I have in my 20 gallon is the male. In the 55, I have an assortment of caves in various sizes ranging from an 8" tall replica of the front gate of Angkor Wat down to one slate propped on another to give a little 2x2 inch hovel that my kuhlis tend to hang out in. In the 20, there is the one cave that the male has taken for his own, under a piece of driftwood. It's pretty small in diameter (about 1 1/2") but it's deeper than my fingers will reach into.

So I'm trying to figure out which would be the best reshuffling of stock (or if it would be better yet to move the pair to yet another 20 or a brand new 5 1/2 and give them some PVC pipe to snuggle in).

So, here's the stocking for the 4 possible tanks:
1) 55 gallon: 2x female bristlenosed plecos, 5x botia striata, 3x kuhli loaches, 12x harlequin rasbora, 8x cherry barb - substrate is medium/fine black gravel
2) 20 gallon (high): 1x male bristlenose, 1x clown pleco, 5x black neon, 6x glowlight tetra, 4x sterbas cory, 1x three lined cory - substrate is medium/fine black gravel
3) 20 gallon (high): a dozen young female fancy guppies - substrate is 1/2 to 3/4" pebbles.
All are planted, and all but the last heavily planted. The last doesn't have any driftwood in it either, but that could be easily remedied.
4) 5 1/2 gallon - completely empty - not even set up

Moving the male may involve a high order of difficulty, as he loves him that cave, and hangs out farther back in it than my fingers will reach. Moving the clown may or may not be any easier. Catching one of the females to move is probably not too hard (they tend to zip into the temple gate when startled).

What do you figure is my best option?

 

[smithrc]

The cave he has sounds like its a good fit - Ours use slate caves that are about 40mm wide and quite deep.

I said other - Move the male and his cave to the 55

How big are they? 3-4" and you should be good to go.

Good luck

 

[Darkstar]

I'd certainly agree with smithrc and whatever you do keep the male and his cave together.
I myself would probably arrange it that the male, his cave and both females where in a 20gal by themselves.

 

[tophat665]

I should explain that moving the cave is not an option. It's an integral part of the layout and substrate of the community tank it's a part of. It's a good call, but it's just not possible to do without completely screwing up the tank.

 

[Darkstar]

In which case I'd remove all the other fish from the males tank and then put the females in with him..that way he still stays with his cave.

 

[tophat665]

Were I to remove all other fish (which is looking like the way to go so far), would it be absolutely necessary to also removve the three amano shrimp I have in there? They are almost impossible to see, let alone catch.

 

[Darkstar]

Were I to remove all other fish (which is looking like the way to go so far), would it be absolutely necessary to also removve the three amano shrimp I have in there? They are almost impossible to see, let alone catch.

It's up to you mate. Personally I'm a firm believer in if your intending to try and breed something to make it a species only tank.
However if they're that difficult to catch try breeding them with the amano's in there. If they cause a problem then you'll have to remove them, if they don't cause an issue then great leave them there. Basically try it and see....

 

[smithrc]

If the male is in the 20gal add the females.

Bristle noses are 'easy' to breed - I bred a trio in a 15gal with loaches and tetras, as long as Mr bristle does his job properly they will be fine until they get released from his cave. at which point as long as there is nothing too agressive / preditary, they should be ok

 

[littleme1969]

Fellow bristle breeder ... went for other also
Yes as said above, keep the male with his cave and move both females in with him. Remove any other plec species from that tank and any large fish that could snack on the babies. Mine breed well in a large 100g community tank, so having other fish in there is not an issue as long as they wont bother the plecs or eat the babies.
I would always go for the minimum disruption for all your fish, would be a bit of a disaster if you lost fish just for too mush shuffling.
I have found mine seem happier to breed where there is good current, the breeding pods that I have at the filter outlet end of the tank are always ocupied, while the others are at the far end just seem to be used if the fish are desperate. I guess it mimicks the natural stream enviorment where they would breed. Mine also seem to prefer a slighlty higher teperature betweem 78 - 80 degress