i've got eggs again!

[longhorn13]

My bristlenoses are at it again! they've bred once before and i was only able to save one, i had no idea they were up to anything and one day i just found a fry after a water change, but i guess the others were eaten. before the male had just burrowed under a rock, but since i've put in a piece of pvc tubing and he took right to it. i just got out the flashlight and looked in it, and there are a bunch of eggs in there!

does anyone know how long they take to hatch once laid?

 

[lighter]

They'll take about 5-6 days to hatch. Take a look at this article.

http/www.plecofanatics.com/forum/html.ph...strus%20species

 

[longhorn13]

thanks, great article. they're in a community tank right now, so maybe when the babies are free swimming i'll take the tube out and move them to their own tank. i have a 10G that i had torn down to get rid of and i haven't yet, so i guess i could just set that up again, bare bottom for raising the fry.

 

[smithrc]

the fry will be fine in a normal tank as long as there is nothing that will take a likeing to them as lunch.

We stopped moving ours after the 2nd spawn as is was hard to catch the little buggers

we've since had 5/6 swapns that have been successfully kept in the tank with thte parents.

It also means thet they have gravel to eat the algae from. just make sure the filtration is up to it

 

[longhorn13]

well, the reason i was going to move them was that i only got one out of the last batch. i saw one more, but couldn't get it and then i've never seen it again, so i'm guessing he turned into a snack for someone.

 

[longhorn13]

ok, so i got a tank up and running with an established sponge filter for the bristlenose fry, should i wait until they hatch and are free swimming or move the pvc pipe with the eggs and dad over to the fry tank now?

 

[nightowl1350]

Never had pleco fry, but I would move them as eggs. They should still be stuck on the pipe, once free swimmers as soon as you shift the pipe they will fall out. For any spawns you wish to save you could just start the pair in the 10g and keep them there till the fry come out of the pipe. I have 5 BN pleco and one is a male (just starting his bristles) so I hope I have a few females in the bunch. I am going to try breeding them as well. The fry will eat what the parents do, so when you see them eating you will have to add a bit more grub. Good luck.

 

[longhorn13]

well, a couple of updates...

first, i looked in the pvc pipe today and notice wrigglers!
a couple were getting near the opening and out to the gravel right outside, so i scooped them out and moved them to their growout tank

then, when i came back in the room, i saw another that had come to the edge of the pipe and one of my parrots ate it

so, i made the decision to try to move the whole pipe over to the growout tank with dad in it and i'd move him out when all the eggs had hatched. well, i screwed that up a little and when i was moving them, i tipped the pipe over and dad came out and was acting freaked out in the new tank. he still hasn't gone back to the tube and there are still some eggs that haven't hatched, but i can still see eyes. do they still need dad to fan them or are they ok by this point? i can count about 10-12 wrigglers right now and still another 10-12 unhatched at least. hopefully everyone makes it through the night...

the little guys are so cute right now i hope they all make it

 

[longhorn13]

ok, i feel better now, i woke up this morning and found somewhere around 30 wrigglers on the glass, so it's looking good for a nice batch of bnose fry. dad did find his way back to the pipe and i'll most likely move him back to his original tank tonight...

 

[smithrc]

once the eggs hatch the will be fine on their own in the new tank.

Dad does 2 thing... stops fungus by fanning the eggs and then stops the little ones from coming out too early and being eaten

So in a tank with just them in it - they will be fine without dad.

Remember - they like cucumber as soon as the egg sack is gone

These guys are in a 12x8x8 tank as a new male messed up and dragged the eggs out into the tank - se we moved them.

 

[longhorn13]

i moved them out of the main tank last night because there were a few getting out of the tube and i think a couple got eaten, so i moved them a little earlier than i originally planned.

 

[longhorn13]

one more thing, i don't have to worry about the dad eating any of them do i?

 

[SHANTYMAID]

well done keep up the good work i hope you have a good batch

 

[longhorn13]

well, my fry seem to be doing fine, and there are more than i originally thought. it's hard to count them because there are a couple spots where a bunch group up, but i think it's somewhere around 50.

 

[longhorn13]

update: i only lost one in the past few days, and the rest seem to be doing fine. about half look to still have a little of their egg sack left--do i need to go ahead and put in some zuchini for the others?