Raising bristlenose pleco fries - Log

[samthefishman]

try get a pic of the fry if possible! i would love to them

 

[yhbae]

Day 4
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Looks like all of them are finding the vegetables and eating well. There's surprizing amount of poo produced by them given their size!

Given how easy it is for them to find food, I am going to reduce the number of slices to 4. I will also put lower rated light as it appears that they don't need algae to survive at all... (No algae in the tank yet)

I am going to stop blanching zuchini as when I tried lifting the shopstick up today (only after 24 hours), all of them crumbled and went straight down the tank! I cleaned all of them during water change. Starting today, I will simply put frozen slices into hot tap water, no more blanching!

So far, so good - all 10 of them are doing great!

(samthefishman, I'll post more fry pictures soon ).

 

[samthefishman]

thats good to hear.

 

[Angry_Platy]

This is great and all very clinical....well done for the detailed instructions of what you have done!!

I however managed to have 3 batches of fry without doing anything....just fed as normal....I left the fry in the 30gall tank with their dad....they are still there (oh except a few rogues who got caught when transferring other fish out at various times). The two I transferred to the 75gal tank are now clearly male. They are just over an inch long and have BIG bristles allready. I am noticing the larer ones in the other tank have bristles as well....perhaps the pH of my wate favours male fish....which is OK by me!!!

OH....and I didn't change the water change routine, which is 20% once a week.

Well done with your fry raising efforts so far and fins d=crossed that they grow up healthy!!

 

[yhbae]

This is great and all very clinical....well done for the detailed instructions of what you have done!!

I however managed to have 3 batches of fry without doing anything....just fed as normal....I left the fry in the 30gall tank with their dad....they are still there (oh except a few rogues who got caught when transferring other fish out at various times). The two I transferred to the 75gal tank are now clearly male. They are just over an inch long and have BIG bristles allready. I am noticing the larer ones in the other tank have bristles as well....perhaps the pH of my wate favours male fish....which is OK by me!!!

OH....and I didn't change the water change routine, which is 20% once a week.

Well done with your fry raising efforts so far and fins d=crossed that they grow up healthy!!

I realize it shouldn't be this difficult to raise these babies...

But I did loose all of the previous babies for some reason so I don't want to take any chances. Once I get my confidence back up, perhaps I can relax a bit and loosen the procedure a little...

Last time I went through this much trouble was when I was breeding and raising Harlequin Rasboras. But at least those are supposed to be not so easy...

 

[Final Dynazty]

Wow bristlenose plecos sound awesome. I so want to get a pair. How do you tell the difference between a male and a female? Would they fit in my 55 When i add A pair of pearls?

 

[yhbae]

What are "perls"?

 

[Final Dynazty]

Pearl gouramis. If I add them will there be too many fish in my tank to add SOme Bristlenose.

 

[yhbae]

Pearl gouramis. If I add them will there be too many fish in my tank to add SOme Bristlenose.

I'm not sure about the requirements for knife fish or pristilla but overall it doesn't look overstocked in your 55g tank...

I'd say go for it!

 

[Final Dynazty]

A pristilla is an X-ray tetra and a BGK Shouldn't be put wit other knives or anything that gives off Electrizity

 

[samthefishman]

This is great and all very clinical....well done for the detailed instructions of what you have done!!

I however managed to have 3 batches of fry without doing anything....just fed as normal....I left the fry in the 30gall tank with their dad....they are still there (oh except a few rogues who got caught when transferring other fish out at various times). The two I transferred to the 75gal tank are now clearly male. They are just over an inch long and have BIG bristles allready. I am noticing the larer ones in the other tank have bristles as well....perhaps the pH of my wate favours male fish....which is OK by me!!!

OH....and I didn't change the water change routine, which is 20% once a week.

Well done with your fry raising efforts so far and fins d=crossed that they grow up healthy!!

If they are 1" with bristles you are raising up some VERY heathly fish. Good on ya mate!

How are the fry going? hope they all live this time!

 

[yhbae]

Day 6
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All 10 are still alive! I've caught 7 more from the main tank now. (I saw at least 4 more in the main tank).

I think I can now relax the water schedule to every two days, 30% each time.

I'm changing vegetables every two days now. I think cutting them into thin slices were a good call - I don't throw away much as fries actually do eat significant portions of it... I only cut two small zuchinis into a zup bag and froze it - I think I only used less than 10% of it... Zuchini is still a mess after two days - I need to make sure I syphon up every little pieces off during the water change.

One thing that seem strange though - the male hasn't come out of that cave again for couple of days now and he seems to be doing the fanning motion again! Could he be looking after the next batch of eggs already???

 

[samthefishman]

hmmm maybe.
When my eggs hatched he stayed in there fanning still... i dont know why. My other male i have CONSTANTLY does it in his cave but he isnt even with females lol. So i dont know. Maybe there is more eggs.

 

[yhbae]

So far, my observation has been that the male comes out quite a bit when he is not looking after the eggs/fries, then dissapears for at least two weeks into the cave. If he stays in there for few more days, there is a good chance that the female has spawned again... Hmm...

 

[samthefishman]

the female can spawn twice?? mine was totally skinny after she spawned... how bout she still have eggs to spawn again?