Butterfly

Well dad finally let them out of the cave!!! Every time I leave them in the tank to grow they seem to disappear, so this time I managed to net 19 out over several days. There are still two in the tank I can't catch.
As of today they are ten days out of the cave and getting so fat. They have zucchini slices, algaed rocks and a mature sponge filter to munch on.Tried veggie wafers and they weren't too thrilled. Will post some pics soon Just had to share!!!
Carol

Isabella

They must be so cute Congrats! And I see bristlenoses are good parents as well?

Butterfly

Thanks Isabella. The female lays her eggs in a hidden place( a cave, under a rock etc and just goes off and leaves them. The male fertilizes them and then stays with them until they hatch 4-8 days later. I understand he has to help them break out of the egg. Then he sits in the cave and fans his fins until their egg sac is gone and they are free swimming, can be as long as 8 days. he does all this with out coming out to eat. My mature male usually stays in the cave with his babies about two weeks. He's usually a little slimmer when he comes out and I feed him all the zucchini and veggie wafers he can eat. Their are other Bristlenose in the tank with him and the Mrs. but they are not mature yet. Here are some pics
the zucchini is 1-1/4 inches across.

Attached Images

	BN fry on zucchini 3.jpg (43.2 KB, 78 views)
	BNfry on rock.jpg (64.7 KB, 74 views)
	2 BN on bubbler.jpg (63.0 KB, 74 views)

Butterfly

This is dad going into the cave.

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BN going back in the cave.jpg (63.7 KB, 74 views)

Mike

Great photos Butterfly and congrats on the fry!

Isabella

Haha ... they're so funny, tiny, and CUTE!

s2reii

hehe Hey, omgosh glad to see fotos... they are so so tiny but they are cute as... but I must admit I love them when they grow fatter haha
So how "old" are they meant to be when they start to mate? I was told that even when they are at a decent size they may not be matured enough to mate yet?

Actually my boyfriend just told me that his two larger bristlenoses turned out to be males... we always end up with males =p *fingers crossed* that one of mine turn out to be a female.. coz i know one is definately a male lol

well congrats on ur fry

kerryve

wow! they are so cute! and well done! i heard it was almost impossible to breed them in captivity! app they need a really huge tank, i heard about 1200gallons! cos theyre used to breeding in lakes in the wild... all i can say is well done!

fish_r_friend

Bristlenose are a dwaf type of pleco that only get to about 5.5in so the tank the they were breed in could range any were from 20 on up

kerryve

oh ok, its alway nice to learn something new! but it must still have been difficult to breed them!

Butterfly

Mom and Dad are in a 30 gallon long with three immature bristlenose. Heavily planted, with wood.They get mostly veggies. Their diet is suppose to be 90% vegetable matter and 10% protein. My male and female are about 5 and 6 inches, they are mature enough to breed at about 1 year of age. glad you enjoyed the pictures.
Carol

Butterfly

Sixteen of the babies moved to a bigger grow out tank today. They sure didn't like beging caught but are liking the bigger tank. Three of the smaller ones remained in the smaller tank to grow a little before they have to search for food in a bigger tank. both tanks get heavy feedings of zucchini and algaed rocks with daily water changes. Heres a pic of them in a bowl before I put them in the bigger tank
Carol

Attached Images

Mvc-001s.jpg (36.5 KB, 56 views)

Isabella

Ahhh .... they're too cute

Butterfly

0morrokh

They're so cute and tiny!!
I assume by "algaed rock" you mean a rock that has algae growing on it, right? What do you do to get it nice and "algaed"?

Butterfly

Thanks everyone!!
0morrokh: Mostly from other tanks. I don't object to a little algae it makes the tanks look more natural. also from my tubs outside(yes I even have fish outside )
Carol

0morrokh

Oh ok.