What To Do With Baby Bristlenoses

[Jimbo1984]

Hi all,

My Bristlenoses have spawned 3 times recently. I've recently removed the female to stop this happening again as I estimate I have 120-150 babies in there. They're impossible to count until I take everything out of the tank, including them! Batch 1 are getting to a decent size, between 2.5-3cm and I'm wondering what to do with them. There's 40-50 at that size.

I phoned my LFS and they said they'd be happy to take them off me but won't be able to give me much for them as they've got quite a few in stock. They always say that, but annoyingly to them it's £160-200 worth of fish!

So my next idea was to sell them myself but logistically it could become a bit of a nightmare. Do any of you guys want any? I'm thinking £2 each is a fair price, 3 for £5.

Otherwise I think I'll just take the knock with them even though they're taking up a lot of time and effort!

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Post an ad in the classified section.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/113-classified-section/

 

[Jimbo1984]

Yes thanks, that was my next move. Just not sure if they're big enough yet. What do you think?

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

maybe give them a little longer to bulk up.

 

[minnnt]

Alot of people sell them at 50p - £1 on Aquarist Classifieds so £2 might mean you're stuck with them for a while.

Good luck in finding them new homes.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

My advice would be to start advertising early with attractive prices, there is not a lot worse in the fishkeeping world than having the pleasure of youngsters and being constantly stressed about what you are going to do with them in the long term. One of my LFS is prepared to give me 50p per fish for my 48 Steatocranus casuarius (Lionhead Cichlids) once they reach 5cm, another shop I recently bought some other Africans (Microsynodontis sp.1; Steatocranus tinanti duo; Phenacogrammus cf. nigropterus) from are happy to take some Steatocranus and some of my 29 Ilyodon xantusi youngsters for credit, albeit that is a bit of a car drive away.

The return is not great going the LFS route, but at least it gives me some piece of mind as to what will happen with these youngsters and a little bit of cash, should there be little private sale intrest. This time last year, in a desperate attempt to find good homes for my first batch of Lionhead youngsters, I ended up travelling from Southampton to Redditch to pass them over to the BCA secretary and attend their meeting for the day.

 

[Jimbo1984]

Thanks for the replies guys. To be honest I wouldn't mind giving them away if I knew they were going to a good home. I've become quite attached to the little guys and I'm putting a lot of effort into raising them in a tank that's big enough for 1 or 2 full size adults! But then I did give away my Glowlight Danios recently which was a thankless task to say the least. I guess all you can do is give them a good start in life and hope for the best! I'll start with a thread on here I think and on Aquarist Classifieds to see if there's any interest then if not I'll phone round some more shops.