Woohoo!

[Cavafish]

Hi everyone

I've been away from the forums for a while and I'm really sorry if this is a long repeated topic but I need some sound advice regarding BN eggs/babies/rearing.

I remember reading a log on here a year or so ago going through the stages of a BN hatching - is there any such information available now?

I have searched th forum and google and dont seem to be able to locate information about the stages of development, what to expect when or what the best action o take is.

At the moment we have had eggs for 6 days now and after coming in tonight hac=ve seen that mst of them have developed little tails and are wriggling around at the far end of their tube. 'Dad' is on guard at the entance.

Should I remove them to another tank? (I have one spare that is empty but as it is empty I cannot guaratee it is cycled) should I leave them where they are? I have a mixed community of fish but it does contain 3 angels about 4" across that I do not trust with small fish or fry.

basically - HELP!!!

I dont know if and when to feed them either....................

Many thanks for any help

Cava

 

[fishdawg]

they should take between 1-2 weeks for all of them to hatch.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hi! I'm just raising my first batch of bristle fry (they did have one batch before but the fry did not make it as we were on holiday).
It took somewhere between 10 days and a fortnight for the fry to emerge.
At this stage, we tried to separate the fry from Dad as we wanted to raise them in a tank which was too small to cope with his waste as well. This proved a bit difficult- we tried to raise their amphora cave in a plastic bag when he was out, but he dived straight into it to protect his babies and could not be dislodged. So in the end we moved the cave with him and the fry to the fry tank, to try and net him there- or move the fry out into the tank there. Not much of a success, we managed to dislodge 2 fry but he hung on for dear life. So in the end (I'm no good with these jobs!) we had to move cave, Daddy and most of the fry back to main tank, and try to net the fry from there whenever they emerged. We've ended up with 6 fry in fry tank and at least 7 fry in the main tank- so we'll see who does best. We started by putting down a lettuce leaf, and are now alternating with courgette and cucumber slices, trying to ensure a constant supply of food. We've also out in tiny quantities of baby flakes and bloodworm, as they are sharing with an injured baby guppy. The ones in the main tank have more algae and a bigger volume of water (it's a 63 gallon), but also more competition for food- they are in with greedy livebearers but no predators. The ones in the fry tank get constant access to food and more frequent water changes.

 

[littleme1969]

Ive bred these for years in a large community tank with angels/rainbows etc. They do best if you just leave them too it in my experience. Moving fry will only cause death to a good number of the babies and pi** dad of also Best thing you can do is make sure they have plenty of cover around their cave area. Mine nest under large piles of mopani/bog wood. They are not stupid and if they see anything comming they dash back to their nest and any other hiding place that is available. I have tried moving them when they were about 2 weeks old (dad usually lets them out of the nest at this point to start breeding again) and I only got a 50% rearing out of them. I get about 80% leaving them in the main tank.
Babies love cucummber (blanched to soften it and make it more digestable) I also ground up Plecs waffers, vegi pellets, mixed bloodworm/shrimp/mussell pellets and a bit of fish food. Its ground in a small pessell & morta into a fine powder and they seem to do really well and grow quickly on it. They must have some type of bog wood to really thrive.

 

[Cavafish]

Oh blink!


not sure what to do now.....


I have a 400 litre main tank but it has all sorts of community fish in it but it is the 3 angels I do not trust as they will attack and eat anything small!!

My second tank was packed away in the loft just days before we noticed the ball of BN eggs so we got it back out, filled it with water from the main tank, cut up the main tank filters to fit the small housing and I have ran it using a couple of "Bactozym" tablets to keep the filter fed/alive. I added 2 penguin tetras and a zebra danio to it last night to help keep the filter going and all the readings seem ok.

Should I add the babies, thier home and dad or leave them be in the main tank? I would hate to kill them off by moving them but I would also hate to see those angels get another free meal...arrggggghhh! Dilemma!


dwarfgourami: hope all goes ok with your young ones

littleme1969: many thanks for your experience - I trust tht your angels are not ferocious predators as mine appear to be. Do they go for the fry at all??

 

[littleme1969]

Oh blink!


not sure what to do now.....


I have a 400 litre main tank but it has all sorts of community fish in it but it is the 3 angels I do not trust as they will attack and eat anything small!!

My second tank was packed away in the loft just days before we noticed the ball of BN eggs so we got it back out, filled it with water from the main tank, cut up the main tank filters to fit the small housing and I have ran it using a couple of "Bactozym" tablets to keep the filter fed/alive. I added 2 penguin tetras and a zebra danio to it last night to help keep the filter going and all the readings seem ok.

Should I add the babies, thier home and dad or leave them be in the main tank? I would hate to kill them off by moving them but I would also hate to see those angels get another free meal...arrggggghhh! Dilemma!


dwarfgourami: hope all goes ok with your young ones

littleme1969: many thanks for your experience - I trust tht your angels are not ferocious predators as mine appear to be. Do they go for the fry at all??

Hi.. My tank has so many places to hide The angels are too big to get anywhere near the babies. Mine nest under Bogwood and the babies tend to stay hidden until dad kicks them out of the nest at about 2 - 3 weeks. Thats when you first see them. They always hang around the nest area and keep well out of sight.
What are your BNs nesting in/under? Rather than move them, if they dont have alot of cover, I would suggest getting some bog/mopani wood to place over the cave area. If you look at the vids in my sig (shrimp vids) you will see my set up. With so many places to hide the babies have an excellent chance
PLus my angels and rainbows are too big to get to them when they are in the nooks of the bogwood. Thats how I get aroung having both. My rainbows are worst for eating anything small. Even though they are a very peacfull fish , if its small they will try and eat it. When I had a plec explosion in my tank 2 years ago and they were everywhere, I saw my rainbows picking them off the bog wood like a kid eating smarties
But they did me a favour. I had to sell 100 last year to get the numbers down, I would hate to think how many there would have been if the rainbows had not eaten them.
Like I said above, buy them so cover!! Lots of bog wood and plants and they will do OK. If you dont want to do that, then you will have to risk moving them. But expect some deaths, and It wont do dad any good either.
Its only my opinion, from what I have learnt of breeding them for 3 years. I'm sure others may tell you different. Most people who breed them do it in plec only tanks, so its not an issue.
Let us know how you get on

 

[dwarfgourami]

Thanks for good wishes. So far, I have not lost any of the ones I transferred to fry tank- and it's hard to count the ones still in the tank. The ones in the fry tank seem to be growing slightly faster, but both are doing well. The problem in big tank is not predation as much as competition for food; whatever time of night and day they try to feed, they get pushed off the food by big greedy platies. Still, they're not going to starve- there's bits and bobs.

 

[Cavafish]

Ok. Cheers. I have some cover in the tank - I will get more. I can move the 2" pipe they are in and relocate it nearer the back of the tank and then get a load more plants in. I think I'll keep the fry tank running just in case.

It seems that it is a case of 'whatever works for you' - hopefully this will be the first of many spawns so I will get to know.

Next job = water change and seeing if I can dad to eat.

Thanks for your advice guys.

Cava

 

[dylema]

Hi,

Heres a link to a thread I started a few months back when I had some eggs. They are still going well in the separate tank and most are close to sale size of 3-4cm.

Just a note though, the tank I put them in was well matured and the amount of waste these little guys produce is crazy. If you do move them try and keep everything nice and stable and do daily or every second day small water changes to help stop the build up of nasty nitrate and general waste.

Good luck.

Dylan

 

[littleme1969]

Hi,

Heres a link to a thread I started a few months back when I had some eggs. They are still going well in the separate tank and most are close to sale size of 3-4cm.

Just a note though, the tank I put them in was well matured and the amount of waste these little guys produce is crazy. If you do move them try and keep everything nice and stable and do daily or every second day small water changes to help stop the build up of nasty nitrate and general waste.

Good luck.

Dylan

Good advise
You can only watch and see what happens, if you hide them well out of the way, they will do just fine. Dont worry about dad, he will eat when hes good and ready, Ive never had a male starve himself to death yet
Put some cucumber infront of his pipe if you are worried, that will keep him going
Good luck and I hope they do well

 

[Cavafish]

Thanks so so much everyone

I'm gonna read your link in a mo Dylan - thanks, I found the search thingy not too helpful (which i found really odd...)

Will let you know the survival rate. From looking in the tank with my magic torch tonight though it looks like most of the egg sacks are gone and they are looking so much like little diddy mini plecs thats its too exciting

Think numbers are reduced already though....


xxx

cava

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Pleco fry in most community tanks, regardless of cover provided, will mostly end up as lunch.

I always pull my caves. with and without dad inside, once the yolk sacs have been absorbed and before they are booted/let out of the cave by dad. if dad comes along, i usually give him about a week in with the fry before returning him since plecos paractice rough sex and this gives them both a chance to recover and for dad to bulk back up.

 

[dwarfgourami]

if dad comes along, i usually give him about a week in with the fry before returning him since plecos paractice rough sex and this gives them both a chance to recover and for dad to bulk back up.

This is what I wish I'd done, if only my fry tank had been a little bigger. The last batch only lef tthe cave a couple of weeks ago- and he is already stuck in a new tank fanning desperately with his tail!!! I thought they were supposed to wait 4-6 weeks. Honestly, don't these creatures know the meaning of the word restraint? Has he never heard of sublimating his desires? Feckless, that's what I call it. Can I get the government on to him?

No, but seriously, I think after the next batch I will give him a holiday from the missus and send him to clean the cory tank out. He could do with a few good meals. And there is a limit to how many bristlenose babies we really want to raise.

 

[littleme1969]

if dad comes along, i usually give him about a week in with the fry before returning him since plecos paractice rough sex and this gives them both a chance to recover and for dad to bulk back up.

This is what I wish I'd done, if only my fry tank had been a little bigger. The last batch only lef tthe cave a couple of weeks ago- and he is already stuck in a new tank fanning desperately with his tail!!! I thought they were supposed to wait 4-6 weeks. Honestly, don't these creatures know the meaning of the word restraint? Has he never heard of sublimating his desires? Feckless, that's what I call it. Can I get the government on to him?

No, but seriously, I think after the next batch I will give him a holiday from the missus and send him to clean the cory tank out. He could do with a few good meals. And there is a limit to how many bristlenose babies we really want to raise.

Lol..
My First male was like that, no sooner got one lot out of his bogwood cave, then he was at it again. I eventually moved him into another tank to slow the population problem. I have found however now with about 5 breeding pairs in a 95g tank they only seem to have a few batches a year each. It seems they are controlling their own population to co inside with the availability of food. So I just leave them to it
As I have so many breeding, loosing some babies as lunch for my few larger fish is not an issue. I feel its natures way of thinning out the *not so bright or sickly ones*. Mine seem to do really well as a larger group, but not too well that I need to control them.
Its down to personal preferance I guess, If you want to move them and have a well matured tank into which to put them, then go for it. As long as you have a way of homing the offspring that you raise, otherwise you can quickly become over run with the little darlings.