musicman4567

So, I've been breeding BN plecos for awhile now, and am wondering if anyone else out there has experience with them. If so, what is the best way to move the babies from the parent tank? I dunno if it is to just move them when they are in the wiggler phase (maybe too stressful and may kill them) or more the eggs and put them in methylene blue? It's just a pain to move them once they are free swimming and freaking fast... Anyone have hints? My grow out tank and parent tank have exactly the same parameters, so moving them shouldn't be too much of a problem and the fish breed in a water tight cave, so I wouldn't remove the wigglers from the cave, I would just move the cave. But then they wouldn't be getting aeration by the daddy... I dunno. Help!

Shawnie

why move them? ive read that most leave them be as long as there are plenty of hiding spaces ....I so want some!! our LFS dont carry them and they say about 30 a fish to buy them grrr

got any pics? I just adore them

musicman4567

I'll post some. The reason to move them is because I'm selling them to LFS and so, I need to have room for more to breed. The parents are hesitant to breed more because they are covered in babies right now, ya know? Plus, the bioload of 3 full grown BN's and around 200 babies is HUGE! Once they get big enough, I'll gladly ship you some for the cost of shipping. It's just too cold right now to ship though...

Shawnie

why not move mom and dad which would be way easier is that possible? ...or maybe get another tank for mom n dad...never nothing wrong with that is there?

Edit...what a nice offer and ill gladly take you up on it sometime when its warm..but I wouldnt mind a discount but I wont take them for free...you work hard on raising and caring for them...unless you wanna trade something LOL

musicman4567

Ya know, I thought about moving the parents (it's a duo of females and a very fertile male), but I just thought, I would rather risk stressing the babies a bit and losing a few of them then risk stressing the big fish that would cost upwards of $100 to replace (a mated pair is pretty expensive, I dunno what a mated trio would run). I'm debating on making a baby trap similar to the snail traps. Then I could just put that in a bag, acclimate the babies, and release them... thoughts?

Butterfly

When I was breeding BNs as soon as the eggs were laid I moved dad,cave and eggs to a bare bottom tank for just them. Just cover the cave door with your hand and pick it up full of water and move it. This way Dad can concentrate on caring for his eggs/wigglers/free swimmers without stress from other tank mates. The daily water changes can be carried out easier this way also. Then when they go free swimming Dad and the cave can go back in to the main tank.
Carol

musicman4567

That's a great idea! The only question I have about it is: is it ok to move the eggs/dad into a tank with the other growing babies? Or do they need their own tank?

Butterfly

I usually keep a barebottom tank just for dad/eggs. That way I can keep it super clean. Then the fry stay in that tank for at least a month to make sure they have benefit of plentiful food with out too much competition from bigger fry.
I usually do a three stage tank system. Breeding tank- egg/wiggler/free swimming tank- then a larger grow out tank. Actually the 30-45 gallon clear plastic storage tubs you can get at the dollar store(about $10) make excellent grow out tanks I put a heater and sponge filter in mine and it was great .
Carol

Shawnie

carol you are so intelligent! I so appreciate your knowledge!

now musicman...are you going to show us some pics ?

Butterfly

Shawnie thanks so much. You make me blush. So very much of what I know is be cause I did dumb things and then figured out why they didn't work Or I didn't have money to do things the"correct" way. This is how the plastic tub from the dollar store came into being

Musicman- when you have eggs you can start growing algae on rocks to feed your BN when they go free swimming and musicman we N-E-E-D pics
carol

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1 week old long-finned albino gene BN.jpg (72.2 KB, 7 views)

musicman4567

Here ya go. My camera has horrid macro abilities, so they aren't great. At any rate, I caught them in a feeding frenzy acting like they had never seen food.

Question for Butterfly: What size of batches did you get? I've moved 109 so far, and barely made a dent. I still have at least that many.

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Shawnie

awwwwwwwwww wow!! those are saweeeeet!! 109 dear lordy!! and here Id only like a pair HAHA

your camera did well ty for sharing and goodluck with those cute as heck babies!

musicman4567

Here's some of the parents too. Daddy is being camera shy though... The first is the long-finned mommy, second is the pale skinned mom trying to get in with daddy, third is daddy poking his head out.

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Butterfly

Great pics! It seems like the number per batch depended on the age of the bn parents. and how well they were conditioned before hand.
Mine started out right at 100 and the last batch before we moved were 150 or better.
Carol

Shawnie

omg they are truely unique amazing fish...someday!!! ty for sharing both of you!!

Butterfly

They are truly amazing fish as you say. What I Love about BN breeding is watching th dad take care of the eggs and wigglers. Mom lays the eggs and leaves without a care in the world. Most males will not even come out to eat until seperated from his fry. They can get really rough in the protection of their babies. Never had one hurt me(don't know if they can) but had one scare the uh-huh out of me when i was cleaning the tank. He wanted me outta there!
Carol

Shawnie

wow I need a man in the real world like that!!!!!!!! LOL

although my babies are just about grown ....amazing how some of the male species of fish are so loving to their fry...ive only had angels, convicts, and oscars breed..and dads n moms both take care of them....