Raising bristlenose pleco fries! (3rd time!)

[yhbae]

Ok, I completely lost the first two batch (now I am officially a mass killer! ). Now the male is again in the cave for 4 days in a row. I will have my next batch coming in few days.

1st batch (20 fries): I kept them in the community tank. All but 1 survived after two week.

2nd batch (about 25 fries): I moved them into a mature 5.5g tank (removed the previous fishes to another tank) with a sponge filter and lots of algae. ALL (including 1 survival from the 1st batch) died within 2 weeks. I changed water every 3 days.

This time, I am planning to start from a clean 5.5g tank. I will add 50% water from the parent tank, and fill the rest with fresh tap water (+ conditioner). This time, I plan to add Aqua Clear Mini as the only filter in the tank. NO substrates this time either. This time, I will change water daily, about 15-20%. I will remove all uneaten food every two days as well. I plan to feed blanched cucumber and zuchini.

Is there anything else I can do to increase their survival rate (i.e. greater than 0%?)

 

[samthefishman]

my eggs are hatched, now i got eggs with tails.
cept i only 2 have hatched so far

 

[yhbae]

my eggs are hatched, now i got eggs with tails.
cept i only 2 have hatched so far

Remember, so far, I killed about 45 fries, all of them reached at least 2 weeks of age before I sent them to heaven. B) They are very fragile. I'm still not sure what is the best way raise them, but good luck with yours!

 

[sonota]

I would definitely recommend at least a 10 gallon, if not a 20 gallon tank for growing out the fry, first thing. Second thing, plan on LARGE volume water changes daily, not 15-20%. I've been known to do 75-80% water changes daily on tanks of ancistrus fry. The hardest part about raising them is keeping enough food in front of them without polluting their water. They actually can handle the water changes quite well. Try zuchini, algae wafers, and other foods that can pretty much be left in the tank at all times. 2 filters is also not a bad idea. I raise hundreds of bristlenose fry now, with rarely even a single loss. It will make a big difference for you.

Keep in mind that the fry won't eat until they have completely absorbed the yolk sac. Usually Dad won't release them from his cave until that point though.

 

[Angry_Platy]

All my bnose fry survived (except the ones eaten by a young platy who died shortly after gorging).....so I have approx 95% success rate fom the first batch and 50% success from the second batch...

I didn't do anything special with the little guys....my tank had plenty of algae for them to feed on...coincidentally the cave my male had the fry in was chockers with algae....hence them staying in there for longer....

My adult bnoses had been getting cucumber every second day, algae tablets everyday, brocolli/lettuce on alternate days....

FUNNILY ENOUGH....i moved a few, by accident into my 75gall (the first batch) and compared to their smaller tanked siblings, they are about twice the size at the same age....they do a better job of keeping the tank clean than the adults....my Dyson (male) and Electra (female) tend to be quite lazy unless I deprive them of food which is hard when I have fry in the tanks where they are....

My adults are now separated due to their desire to breed every 4 weeks....i have fry in all tanks except the quarantine tanks....I plan on breeding my adults soon.....he is always keen

 

[yhbae]

I would definitely recommend at least a 10 gallon, if not a 20 gallon tank for growing out the fry, first thing. Second thing, plan on LARGE volume water changes daily, not 15-20%. I've been known to do 75-80% water changes daily on tanks of ancistrus fry. The hardest part about raising them is keeping enough food in front of them without polluting their water. They actually can handle the water changes quite well. Try zuchini, algae wafers, and other foods that can pretty much be left in the tank at all times. 2 filters is also not a bad idea. I raise hundreds of bristlenose fry now, with rarely even a single loss. It will make a big difference for you.

Keep in mind that the fry won't eat until they have completely absorbed the yolk sac. Usually Dad won't release them from his cave until that point though.

If I can keep enough of them alive, I will invest more into larger tanks for sure. For now, I am desperate to get them past 2cm in size...

Are you saying feeding is more important than volume of water change? I suppose I can feed them by adding lots of thin slices of cucumer or zuchini in the tank.

Thanks for th einfo - it is encouraging to hear that others are suceeding in raising them!

 

[yhbae]

All my bnose fry survived (except the ones eaten by a young platy who died shortly after gorging).....so I have approx 95% success rate fom the first batch and 50% success from the second batch...

I didn't do anything special with the little guys....my tank had plenty of algae for them to feed on...coincidentally the cave my male had the fry in was chockers with algae....hence them staying in there for longer....

My adult bnoses had been getting cucumber every second day, algae tablets everyday, brocolli/lettuce on alternate days....

FUNNILY ENOUGH....i moved a few, by accident into my 75gall (the first batch) and compared to their smaller tanked siblings, they are about twice the size at the same age....they do a better job of keeping the tank clean than the adults....my Dyson (male) and Electra (female) tend to be quite lazy unless I deprive them of food which is hard when I have fry in the tanks where they are....

My adults are now separated due to their desire to breed every 4 weeks....i have fry in all tanks except the quarantine tanks....I plan on breeding my adults soon.....he is always keen

Why do you think the second batch had much lower survival rate? Did you do anything different?

As for the growth rate, I believe in that fries producing some hormones that stun growth of other fries. Same thing happened to my platy fries as well - the tank with many fries doesn't grow as quickly despite almost daily water change and good food.

I guess the best way to grow the fries is to distribute them to ALL of my tanks so that they are not densely populated in any one particular tank... That is, if I can get them to grow past 1 inch. (I purchased 4 1 inch fries originally).

Thanks for the info!

 

[smithrc]

we've been raising ours in a 12x8x8 tank with good success really (other than the cucumber incident).

we've got about 20 fry that are growing up nicely - without doing excessive water changes... although we do have a filter from a 12 uk gal tank in it (its only 3 uk gal)

we changed a jug every couple of days along with cleaning the bottom.

I'm hoping that this batch will be tank raised - eg not have to move them.

fingers crossed the male has got his act together
(we'll find out in a few days)

 

[samthefishman]

Smith, Do you only have your breeding pair in the tank you use to breed them in?

 

[smithrc]

they are in the 15 gal in my sig.

they have 4 prestilla tetras and 2 ladder loaches as tank mates.

It looks like this batch has gone wrong... there was about 40 eggs in a big cluster in the tube... lastnight there was 4 left, and now there is just 2

 

[samthefishman]

man that sucks!!!
why is that happening?
Would the other tankmates have a go at them?

 

[yhbae]

That does suck....

 

[samthefishman]

I got 2 females, 1 just layed eggs, the other one is HUGE! its gonna burst soon. I am worried maybe something is going wrong. She is so fat she needs to lay then otherwise shes gonna explode!

 

[smithrc]

well i just checked and there are no eggs left

i doubt if anyone else would have got to them as they were in a sealed tube (only one end!!)

i was wondering if the sealed end meant that there wasn't enough flow and they ended up getting fungus - so mr bristle cleared out the bad ones...

either than or he got peckish and munched them again

 

[yhbae]

well i just checked and there are no eggs left

i doubt if anyone else would have got to them as they were in a sealed tube (only one end!!)

i was wondering if the sealed end meant that there wasn't enough flow and they ended up getting fungus - so mr bristle cleared out the bad ones...

either than or he got peckish and munched them again

The hole where my bristlenose spawns is also only open on one end, so I doubt that causes the problem. Perhaps the parents are still too young? I guess they can still make mistakes...