Bristlenose Fry...

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

 

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

 

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.

This is dad going into the cave.

 

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

 

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 definitely a male lol

well congrats on ur fry

 

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!

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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"?

 

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

 

I cannot get over how much those bristlenose plecos eat! They are def pigs w/ fins! I get hulls of whatever veggies I put in the tanks w/ mine within a few hours.

 

I cannot get over how much those bristlenose plecos eat! They are def pigs w/ fins! I get hulls of whatever veggies I put in the tanks w/ mine within a few hours.

Yep and poo pots too ;D As long as the veggies are available almost all the time and the water is kept exceptionally clean you will be amazed at how fast they will grow. You can tell when their growth spurts are slowing down - they will start leaving a little food and be stuck somewhere on the glass instead of devouring everything in sight.
Carol

 

Yep and poo pots too ;D As long as the veggies are available almost all the time and the water is kept exceptionally clean you will be amazed at how fast they will grow. You can tell when their growth spurts are slowing down - they will start leaving a little food and be stuck somewhere on the glass instead of devouring everything in sight.
Carol

I am a ocd water person! I hope they do have growth spurts! I have found myself looking for a tank just for plecos now? That one really shocked me!
I am just so amazed w/ them now after finding the fry Last night I had to turn the tank light on and play peekaboo w/ them my husband was even amazed when he saw the little guys. I got a kick out of one of them, where they are the albinos you can see the green algae in their bellies I could tell that they had ate good all day!
I have noticed that there are days on end when you don't see them? Then you will see them even in the daytime for days.

 

Yep their prety cool. Do you know where they laid their eggs? Mine usually laid in a ceramic cave then I would move eggs and Dad to a separate barebottom tank. Dinos and CWC were laying in a crack in a piece of driftwood. They seem to pick a favorite place and keep using it.
About a week after they go freeswimming and Dad isn't caring for them anymore start watching for him to be guarding more eggs.
carol

 

Thanks Angela! Now we can talk Bristlenose all we want to
How are they doing today? Still Pigs ?
Carol

 

Def still piggies, I changed the water out in my tanks, they were very active! I think I scared them a little they all went from the side of the tank to in the fake log cave pretty fast lol. At least they are active and healthy.

 

lol.. yea, they can strip those cucumber slices so fast.. and our BNs will even track down pieces that float off from the clip.

 

I am going to have to stop at the store on the way home from work, I am completly out of veggies for my BN, and they have my tanks sparkling w/ no algae for the first time in forever! Those little guys are constanly eating!

 

LOL Glad to know you like your "cleaning crew"
Ccarol

 

ahem!! how come we haven't seen any pics yet? or did I have a brunette moment and miss it?

 

I was going to ask the same question!

Are there any pics put up of the little baybeeees?

 

I will post some this weekend, I have worked pretty much nonstop this week, literally I did 3 nightshifts in a row, then got off this morning at 8, and had to be back at 3 to pull a few hours again... but I am off for a few days now...
I have been posting from work. When I had breaks...

 

Put some zucchinI in for them and you see load of green pooh all over. Like xmas garland lol

 

I just found 3 Bristlenose pleco fry in the tank pics to come when they grow bigger!!

 

that's awesome!
cant wait for the hoto:'s

 

Hello I would really appreciate your advice,

I found some pleco fry in one of my ornaments today, My male BN wasn't moving and as the m+f BN are new to the tank I didnt even think they would lay eggs yet, I thought they were too young!

So I lifted out the cave he was in and I saw some small orange spots around 0.5cm big wriggling around inside!! (I kept water in the cave while I held it upside down) they were definitly not snails and when I put the cave back in the male BN went straight back to the cave and resumed his postion.

Could I have done anything to endanger them? they were out for about 1 minute if that, when should I look to add in cucumber for them? I already add in algae wafers and cucumbers for my plecos anyway.

I am so shocked and excited by this!!

well they are about 1cm big atm! I found them by accident when I moved a cave and saw them! I am so shocked the pair have only been in the tank about 2 weeks - its my new 120g.

edit: pics will be up here as soon as they are free swimming along with the new fish I am picking up this weekend!

 

That is just too cool!! Congrats!!!

 

How exciting for you!!!. That is awesome!. Since you are feeding mom and dad anyway it will be easy to feed the babies. It doesn't sound like they are very old at all, you probably didn't cause any damage and its a good sign that dad went back in. Dad is primary care giver for the babies and when they get old enough he'll let them out of the cave. Just be sure to always have some veggie available for them to munch on. Pleco fry need food available to them at all times just keep rotating veggies out. Does the tank have algae at all??.

 

Yes the tank has algae, it was matured when I got it and it is heavily planted and by a window (I have 6 plecos in there lol so I try and keep my algae up!) I am of course open to algae growing suggestions .

I really wasn't expecting this!!

I am worried though that the first thing I did was run up the stairs to share with you guys lol!

 

yayyyyy congrats on the BN babies!!!!
you do know u can feed other things to ur BN apart from cucumber?
mine just love mellon and mango.. they go crazy over them

 

Yeah!!!!!!!! Congrats on the fry! Will be looking forward to seeing you photos. Keep us updated on their progress.
Ken

 

hm actually me looking into the cave has had a small effect, the father is even more protective of them now!

I will try feeding melon and mango, I eat lots of it anyway will otos eat that aswell?

 

Wow, baby bristlenose plecos! Aren't they supposed to be hard to breed?

 

Well from what I previously read they aren't the easiest which is why I thought the male wasn't feeling well. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the babies lol.

I did an 80% water change last week, maybe that triggered it.

 

Dad most like;y won't come out to eat until the fry are ready to come out. When the fry do come out keeping food in the tank 24/7 is very important. BUT... because you are keeping food in there 24/7 you could have water quality issues. So doing frequent water changes and keeping a check on water parameters is very important.
CONGRATS!!!!
carol

 

I drop algae wafers next to the cave which he nibbles on and goes back in.

I am testing the water every day and the ammonia has creeped up slightly today (it was fine until like 5 mins ago) and its somewhere in between 0 an 0.25 so I am doing a 20% change after dinner. Nitrite has also creeped up to between 0 and 0.25. I can't get prime over here so what is the best thing to do? just 20% water changes twice daily?

 

diggly you can buy prime from ebay.. its what I did and its not that expensive

 

yes but that would take the weekend to arrive and I don't really want to wait until Tuesday.

 

Yep water changes will take care of the problem and make sure your oxygen supply is adequate.
Carol