I Got Me Three New

[Angel Lady]

I will post pictures soon,. I ordered three in the three the are two females and One male. Did I do that right for breeding or not.. Someone help me out here, They are about six inches in length, Not for sure on how big they are until full grown. I do want me some babies I have a 55 gallon tank of thier own. they will be housed in, Nothing else will be going in with them Or could I add something else in and still get them to breed???I have a lot of questions that is awaiting answers......

 

[Angel Lady]

Come on people someone here surley has kept bn'S BEFORE I have seen some fry in the picture section before...

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

Since you have a male and 2 females you should heve no problems breeding, just provide plenty of caves and things and the male will pick out his spot. I have a big lump of mopani wood with a hole in it, leaning against the front of the tank, when they lay eggs i can shine a torch in the hole and see them, the male sits and fans them until they hatch he doesn't eat during this time, then he keeps them in the hole until the egg sack is used up them lets them out, they usually wait a couple of weeks for the babies to move out then they have a new batch. Unfortunately due to the size of the wood, i can't move it to another tank so once the babies leave the hole they are usually eaten by the loaches.

I have a few babies in another tank now which i have fished out when i have seen them near the top, they tend to sit in the floating plants. My parent fish are 3.5-4 inch female and 4-4.5 inch male, i got them in april this year and they have had 5 batches so far, i saved 2 babies from the first batch and they are 2 inches long now.

You could keep other fish in the tank with them but i would pick something like hatchet fish which will stay out of the way. If you have loads of plants and hiding places in the tank you should be able to raise them. I have at least 6 babies loose in the tank from a couple of batches ago, and a few which came out last week. My plecs are both the natural brown colour but they seem to have 25% albino babies in each batch, i have only managed to save 3 so far as they are usually the first to be eaten.

Emma

 

[Bloo]

Congrats ! I haven't bred them myself yet, though I've kept many over the years. Six " is just about the max they will get - so you have fully grown adults there. 55 Gallons "should" also be fine - with loads of caves etc. for them and a lovely varied diet.
I recently did some reading into their breeding too and there are just loads of articles on the net.
AquaArticles.com
The Bristlenose Catfish by Carole Blake
More breeding tips and personal experience info
And more on how to breed BN's

I know it's often best to get first hand info that's personalised, but seeing as you really have no specific questions at the moment, I think the above will be very useful as they are of other people's personal experience breeding these fish

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Angel Lady

Congratulations! They are very cute fish.

I think you might have to keep your tank very well covered. I had one that someone gave me and it disappeared. I never found it until I moved and found him behind the tank. I never knew they would do that.

 

[Angel Lady]

Ok one more question. Do they normally hide???I havent seen them but once since I put them in the tank. I cant stand a fish to do that. I like looking at them I will take out everything in the tank just so I can see them for a while to make sure they are ok...

 

[Bloo]

Unfortunately some of them do hide an awful lot. I had one that I hardly ever saw and she was always very skittish.
But I know have 2 Albino's and they can flaunt themselves enough ! They are always out and about and showing off. So it can be an individual thing.

 

[Angel Lady]

I see the male all the time and I still havent seen the ladies yet. I will start taking things out if I dont see them soon. I have my tank well covered so jumping out is not going to happen...But they do have plenty stuff they can hide in...

 

[Bloo]

You should find that the more hiding places you provide, the more secure they will feel. So by taking stuff out, you are potentialy going to start making them feel less secure - which means you will see even less of them

 

[Angel Lady]

I just want to make sure they are still there.