Raising bristlenose pleco fries - Log

[samthefishman]

i wanna see more close ups of them if possible, i have never seen an albino one b4. If it is possible could u get some close ups if not dw

 

[yhbae]

This one is the full-sized version:

 

[yhbae]

Some females:

 

[yhbae]

Fry, when she was about 2 weeks old:

 

[samthefishman]

wow they look awsome!!!!!
how did u get good qualtity photos like that!
i try so hard and it just goes blury

 

[samthefishman]

also what female is the one that lays the eggs? cos i got 1 that doesnt do anything and another that does.... my larger one is soooo fat shes gonna burst!! i dont know why nothing is happening!

 

[yhbae]

wow they look awsome!!!!!
how did u get good qualtity photos like that!
i try so hard and it just goes blury

Thanks, but I'm not really an expert in taking photos - there are plenty of others in this forum who consitantly takes excellent pictures.

For me, there was no secret - lots of trial and error (I delete about 95% of all pictures taken). In most cases though, I had to add extra light, use macro setting, and not use the built-in flash...

 

[yhbae]

also what female is the one that lays the eggs? cos i got 1 that doesnt do anything and another that does.... my larger one is soooo fat shes gonna burst!! i dont know why nothing is happening!

I have no idea...

In fact, I purchased 4 of them when they were about 1 inch long, and one of them turned out to be a male. I took one of the female out of this tank into my 30g (took a chance, since she could have been the first one who spawned). The larger one is now over 3 inches, while the smaller female is still around 2 inches long.

 

[samthefishman]

oh
do you have 2 males 2gether?
i have a small male about 3 inches. Then a bigger male at bout 6" lol hes huge but the thing is the small male is the one that looks after the eggs, the other big male is useless when it comes to breeding! all he does it trys to eat the eggs!

 

[yhbae]

No, I have only 1 male against 3 females....

 

[samthefishman]

Do you think i should take my other male out?

 

[yhbae]

If you know which are the right pair, I would think the best is to keep the pair only and take out the other plecos...

 

[babyfish]

You'd be better off adding amazon swords in pots,baby bristles spend all day grazing, and most of the night lol
I'd also add a light to encourage algae, I raised 50 + in a bright tank

Thanks for the suggestions. How often do you do water change?

My pair of Bristlenoses was set up in a 4ft bare bottomed tank with plants in pots and bogwood with java moss and fern attached.
The fish were fed on lots of cucumber, courgette, brussels sprout, peas and lettuce as well as well as a feeding of bloodworm three times a week.
After several weeks of this the female became noticeably fatter and the male showed far more interest in her, finally driving her into his cave to spawn.
The spawning site
This is quite important, the female needs a roughened surface to lay the eggs on otherwise the vigorous fanning of the male will dislodge them and the male will lose interest in the eggs. I used a piece of roofing slate with an upside down plant pot on it.
Cut a v-shaped nick out of the rim big enough for the male to enter and then file down the edges to remove any sharp bits.
After spawning the male will stay in the plant pot, fanning and mouthing the eggs to keep them clean, only venturing out to chase away the female or other fish. It takes about a week for the eggs to hatch at 24-26 temp, then suddenly lots of little fish will appear out of the pot and attach themselves to the sides of the tank.
Feeding
Bristlenose fry are easy to feed, just feed them the same diet as the adults.
Water changes
As you are feeding mainly fresh food like cucumber it will pollute the water quite quickly so plenty of water changes are in order, at least 30% daily with treated warmed tapwater
Filtration
I use a fluval 304 on the tank with a sponge pre-filter to stop the fry being sucked into the filter

 

[samthefishman]

its cool to hear bout other peoples exsperiences in breeding these fellas.
I moved my eggs to much so only bout 7 of them hatched, and every day one disapeared! i now have none left. My female is getting fat again so they should be doing it in to time
I have 2 females in there, and 1 of them is just outa control! shes gonna pop! shes soooo fat! and i got another male to suit her, both of these are alot bigger then the other 2.
I am gonna take them both out when my 4 ft tank has stop cycling and put them in there.

Could you possibly take pics of your bnose and fry?

 

[yhbae]

Day 3
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All 4 fries have survived so far. They are eating well. I've been doing 30% water change every day, and vegetables are being changed every day or two depending on their condition.

The water has become more clear now as well.

I've added 6 more fries now. (Totalling 10 in this tank.)

I've observed at least another 5 fries, possibly more in the main tank...