CHoffman

Hey guys,
I'm in the process of setting up my fishroom and was going to try my hand at breeding. I love bristlenose plecos. especially the albino's. There is a trio for sale on aquabid they are young and have breed six times already. Would this be a good fish to start off my breeding ventures or should I pass it up. I would do all the necessary research and get proper caves and whatever else I needed to do. Thanks for lending your knowledge to me.

Butterfly

They are fairly easy to breed once you set up the tank and condition them.
Ccarol

CHoffman

Thanks Carol...I appreciate it..I don't want to get in over my head so I figured I better check first. How big of a tank do you think the 3 of them would need. Is there a good website that details breeding them and raising the fry??

Butterfly

My first ones I put six in a 20g long let them pair and then moved two to another tank and left my four breeders in the 20g long.
I like the 20g long over a standard 20g because the footprint(bottom) is much larger giving them more room for hiding/sleeping places. Caves can be made out by turning two terracotta plates together(put a rubberband around them) and a hole drilled out of it just big enough for dad BN to get into. They prefer one entrance. Or you can buy ceramic caves.
Here are some pics I wanted to share with you
Bristlenose wigglers
The prospective parents need to be conditioned on 80% veggies and 20% protein as opposed to the usual 90/20 percentages. Zucchini, shrimp pellets, and thawed frozen blood worms are good conditioners. because your feeding much heavier water changes will need to be stepped up.
I usually moved my male cave wigglers and all to a grow out tank so dad wouldn't be harassed by the other tank mates while he was tending to the babies
Carol

agabr123

if you breed them i'd gladly buy one from you cesch they're so cute and i think i'm finally going to be able to set up my 29 this summer!

Shawnie

.ive wanted bn's forever...but never avail around here...sooooooooo awesome!

CHoffman

Thanks Carol!!...That pic was adorable..Such little guys. I appreciate all the info it's priceless to get knowledge from someone you trust
Good to know that people want them!!!...If I decide to get them I'll certainly let you guys know..I'm really excited about the little guys. I'll keep you all posted.

CHoffman

Ok...Guy's I need some help here..lol...I just bid on these guys..http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/aucti...shp&1237143666

It's a breeding trio 1m/ 2 females..They've breed 6 times now and spawn every 2 weeks. THe seller says if the bidding goes beyond 100.00 (Which it has) then he'll throw in 2 female long fin albino bristlenose plecos. I bid 110.00 and was out bid by a auto bid...How high should I go on this auction??

mathas

I have no idea what a fair price would be. Personally, I'd be more likely to have my LFS order 5-6 juveniles for me and let them do their thing.

But if you're still looking for articles, PlanetCatfish has the following:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesw...article_id=251
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesw...article_id=314
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesw...article_id=328

CHoffman

Thanks for the links Mathas. I thought about ordering some juvies also but I'm kinda impatient and I'd have to rehome the ones that didn't pair off...Also I didn't know if the long fins made it worth the money. I still haven't decided what I should do....Guess I better figure it out..lol..The auction ends soon.

Butterfly

I personally wouldn't go any higher. You could buy a larger group of juvies cheaper watch for pairs and sell the extras to your LFS for a good price.
Carol

CHoffman

Thanks Carol, I appreciate it.

Butterfly

np
Not to say those aren't gorgeous but you can get comparable Bn for less. I just hate to see you get taken
Carol

CHoffman

I would hate to see me get taken too..lol..I really do appreciate your help. They ended up going for 160.00 some odd dollars..I've been looking at the Juveniles for sale..you can't get them around here anywhere so I've been looking on ebay and aquabid..Juvies are ALLOT less. I really only want 1 breeding pair so if I end up with more I can always sell them..I've seen lots of Longfins..what are your thoughts on them??

Butterfly

There is nothing like watching juvies grow and pair up. If their not available around there I bet you wouldn't have any trouble selling them to your LFS. Ask and see if they might be interested in the future Most stores will trade store credit for supplies(comes in handy) but because they couldn't get them the LFS I was selling to was willing to pay me cash
Carol

CHoffman

THe LFS are very good about giving fair trade for store credit but I would rather sell for cash so I can buy what I want with it. ...Do you think Long fins are more popular or regular??

Butterfly

Longfin albinos will bring more money.
Carol

CHoffman

Thanks again Carol. I'm going to shop around to see what I'm going to do. They really are just too cute. The long fins are beautiful for sure...I have a 20 long cycled and sitting empty now..but so is my 125..lol...I really need to start stocking.

CHoffman

Well,,,,
Because I must be slow I don't get it..lol.......Do I put two terra cotta pots together?? or plates??...Is that what you did in the pic you provided??..Hubby said he could make them but I don't know how to tell him to do it..lol..Sorry, I guess I'm just off today..well...and every other day.

Butterfly

Terracotta plates. The ones that go under the pots
1) The plates
2) the plates turned together with a rubber band on them to hold them together. Now a hole needs to be knocked in the side for an entrance.
These I'm using for an example are kind of small. Need to use 5 or 6 inch ones
Carol

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CHoffman

Gottcha!!!..Thanks. That helps allot. I appreciate the pics!!..lol..Clear as a bell now. It must be all the cold meds I'm on.lol.

Butterfly

Glad the pics helped
Hope your feeling better, cold meds make me go to sleep

There are some cute caves here.
http://www.kensfish.com/breedingsupplies.html
I'm going to order this one and put Java Moss on it's head for hair
http://www.kensfish.com/ceramicsupplies/javaman.JPG
Carol

CHoffman

Thanks Carol..Those are cute caves!!..I'm going to have to do something to spruce up the tank..Barebottom will be hard for me to look at..lol...Gonna get some weighted plants, driftwood and caves.

You will have a little aquatic chia pet...lol..ROFL

COBettaCouple

That would be a happy home for a little pleco family to start.

CHoffman

Would there be any drawbacks to using silicone to glue the two plates together instead of using the rubberbands??

agabr123

if anyone got stuck in there...

Butterfly

Most caves you buy are solid with one opening and I haven't had any problems with those that I have that are solid so no I can't see any potential problems. One of the reasons I like the rubber band is that when they are finished with them for one batch of babies I can easily take them apart for cleaning, pop another rubber band on and give it back to them.
Carol

CHoffman

Reason enough....I can see how that would come in handy. I bought the rubberbands tonight and Jeff's is making the holes in them at work tomorrow. The only plates they had at Walmart weren't very deep. I got the 6inch ones but when put together just don't look deep enough. I'm going to go ahead and use them while they are still young as caves but I don't know if they will work when they get bigger. I'll just watch.

COBettaCouple

As long as it's the right kind of silicone, it wouldn't be a problem but that is a really good point about the advantage of the rubber bands. Also, you could slide slices of zucchini or cucumber under the rubber band.

CHoffman

Another great reason to stick with the rubberbands.. ..