Hello, I've been wanting to breed an interesting fish that is easy and will make me some profit and my research had led me to the Bristlenose. I have a 48 gallon community tank with some fish and I am wondering, can I breed the plecos in there and also raise the fry in the same tank? Also, just to make sure, are bristlenoses profitable?
Considering Breeding
- Thread starter Rex740
- Start date
fishfinderdave
Fish Fanatic
the bristlenose is the easiest pleco to breed in any commuinity tank.
48 litre's is....ok-ish...could be a little bigger.
how ever bristlenose pleco's are not overlly expensive to buy in aquatic shops...so making yourself a profit off them will not be easy.
...you can keep them in the same tank with the parents....what other fish do you have in the tank at the momment?
48 litre's is....ok-ish...could be a little bigger.
how ever bristlenose pleco's are not overlly expensive to buy in aquatic shops...so making yourself a profit off them will not be easy.
...you can keep them in the same tank with the parents....what other fish do you have in the tank at the momment?
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
48 gallon which was stated is fine and alot do breed them within a community tank and have fry survive, dependant on cover and what actual community fish you have will determine what sort of survival rate you have.
48 LITRES stated above is to small for a pair a bristlenose, 60l (2 foot) is considered bare minimum but for me 90 litres really is bare minimum and then you will need a tank of equal or bigger size to grow the fry on.
Dependant on how the availability is around your area and if LFS will take fry off you will depend on how profitable they are, after buying the group, keeping either one big tank or 2 smaller tanks and then the food to grow the fry on and feed the adults the profit margin isn't going to be huge tbh and the fact that these fish are so easy to breed they tend to be 10 a penny fish with every man and his dog breeding them.
I don't have to make a lot of profit and I would like to grow the fry out first before selling them, at least to an inch or two. I am assuming the albino bristlenoses are worth more money (Answer this too please)? The fish in the tank right now include 2 american flagfish, 4 black skirt tetras, 2 cherry barbs, a molly, 4 golden top minnows (Fundulus Chrysotus), a mosquito fish, and what I am most worried about, a Marsh Killifish (Fundulus Confluentus). The marsh killie is an inch and a half long but hunts ghost shrimp. It can swallow a one inch ghost shrimp and will attack and kill ghost shrimp at two inches. You think he will be the fry vacuum?
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
Sorry im not to good on the agression or possible eating habits of the fish mentioned
.The albino's are usually the same price as the browns at a young age and very little difference as adults tbh unless it happens to be L144 which arnt albinos but are pretty much the same apart from the eyes, then these do sell for more money but IMO dont seem as easy to get breeding.
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
It used to be browns but now they are both probably just as common as each other, they breed so readily and often and produce so many fry that people are offloading them everywhere nowadays. Ebay sellers often sell a group of both colours in one auction for the equivalent of less than a £1 each, just to give you an idea of selling price. I think the average price is around £1 each from private sellers becasue once they have flooded the market they get harder and harder to sell off and they get over run.
I am assuming it is the same around here in the U.S. These fish seem uncommon in pet stores last time I checked. I'm thinking maybe I'll get a pair, one albino and one common, to get a half and half portion of fry? Also, how big are the fry when they start to explore the tank as my fish have instantly eaten tiny half inch fish before.
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
Sorry didn't realise you were in the US, i wouldn't know the actual demand for them there then sorry but going by other US members on the forum they seem to go crazy for them
Yes if you had an albino and brown they throw out both colours but 50/50 i guess would depend on which gene would be dominant (genetics isn't my strong point lol).
The fry when leaving the tank are actually still tiny, if i remember correctly they are around 1 cm ish?, been a while since i bred them lol.
Anything that can munch on them will probably do so, if they peck at them they will probably also kill them even if they don't actually eat them. They are extremely fragile still just after leaving the cave.
If you could get hold of a small say 1.5-2 foot tank for a few weeks of growing them on to be big enough to move back over to the main tank then i would say your survival rate would be considerably higher
Are you sure about the genetics? My brother breeds reptiles and he says that albinos and normals can't breed, but I think fish are different. I called up some shops and one of them has normal black ones along with some long-finned albinos which they say they never had before. Is it possible to breed these together? Also, due to my parents I can not have another tank. Can I use a breeding net or something like that to grow them out in until they are big enough for the other tank mates?
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
Havent a clue with reptiles and genetics but albino 'common' BN's are basically just a colour/genetic morph of normal brown 'common' BN's and they breed very readily.
The longfins (man made
) are also just another morph of the standard fin variety and also can be cross bred, they will also have both longfin and common fin fry of both albino and brown if you have 1 of each.The breading net i guess would work but ive never tried it, the sheer volume of fry that BN's can produce may well be to many for a breeding net and not to mention the produce huge amounts of waste so keeping it clean may be much harder to do than it been practical and worth it.
Interesting. Is there anything else other than a breeding net that can be in my tank with the fry? Also, how long would it take for them to grow to a non munchable size? Also, are long fins looked down upon or something, I just figured they would be more valuable.
Hi Rex740
BNs are easy to breed and raise in a community setting. There will not be enough algae to feed them but they can be raised on zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, kale, butternut squash, and other vegetables. Aside from any aggressive fish you might have, I would be most concerned about the additional bioload that would be added to your tank as they start getting bigger and eating more. You would need to do extra water changes to compensate for this.
Albinos will mate easily enough with the brown ones and I have had this happen. To my surprise I got all brown fry. I've also had two brown ones give me albino fry.
Here in New York I'm sure I could easily sell as many of them as I care to raise, but like most such deals with the lfs, while they do not bring a lot of money, you can do better if you take store credit. While the long finned ones bring more money online, it probably won't make much difference if you sell them locally. They are fun to watch grow and if that's part of your interest in raising them, you won't be disappointed.
I was not aware that there were eggs in this tank or that they hatched, but these fry can't be much more than a week or two old.
BNs are easy to breed and raise in a community setting. There will not be enough algae to feed them but they can be raised on zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, kale, butternut squash, and other vegetables. Aside from any aggressive fish you might have, I would be most concerned about the additional bioload that would be added to your tank as they start getting bigger and eating more. You would need to do extra water changes to compensate for this.
Albinos will mate easily enough with the brown ones and I have had this happen. To my surprise I got all brown fry. I've also had two brown ones give me albino fry.
Here in New York I'm sure I could easily sell as many of them as I care to raise, but like most such deals with the lfs, while they do not bring a lot of money, you can do better if you take store credit. While the long finned ones bring more money online, it probably won't make much difference if you sell them locally. They are fun to watch grow and if that's part of your interest in raising them, you won't be disappointed.
I was not aware that there were eggs in this tank or that they hatched, but these fry can't be much more than a week or two old.
toddnbecka
Fish Crazy
As for the price your lfs will pay, you'll need to ask them, but $1/each for 1" or larger would be the minimum I'd sell them for. I swap extras off for store credit, just took 80 ~2" browns there a couple weeks ago. Longfins do sell for a bit more than regular BN,and they'll all breed together. There are also calico and red color morphs, though there aren't any red longfins (yet) as far as I know.
You'd be better off setting up a separate breeding tank for the BN, and possibly moving some of the fry into the 48 as they grow large enough. BN fry are about 1/2" when they leave the cave, and fair game for anything large enough to swallow them. IME having a good amount of live, floating plants in the breeding tank is very helpful. I have Najas indica or hornwort in all my breeding and growout tanks. It helps maintain water quality between changes, and supports a larger number of fry while they grow out a bit.
You'd be better off setting up a separate breeding tank for the BN, and possibly moving some of the fry into the 48 as they grow large enough. BN fry are about 1/2" when they leave the cave, and fair game for anything large enough to swallow them. IME having a good amount of live, floating plants in the breeding tank is very helpful. I have Najas indica or hornwort in all my breeding and growout tanks. It helps maintain water quality between changes, and supports a larger number of fry while they grow out a bit.
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