Bristlenose Pleco Is Guarding Eggs (i Think)

A couple of days ago Elbert started spending all his time up inside of the deco he is hanging onto in my avatar photo and it seems the female got a bit thinner. It actually scared me when it looked like her belly was sunken in a bit. BTW: It is back to normal now. .

I moved him and the deco to another much smaller sterlite container. With so many cory's in my 55 I couldn't allow the pleco fry free reign in there.

I tried to get a look inside the deco to see if there were eggs in there but didn't want to stress him out so right now I am just assuming he is guarding eggs.

My main concern is: How long can he go without eating? I put a slice of his favorite food in the container with him but he hasn't touched it. If it is a choice between keeping him healthy and getting some fry I will choose his heath first.

Another thing. Will the eggs, if there are eggs, hatch if I just put him back in the main tank and leave the piece of deco in the smaller container.

I moved a well seeded sponge filter from my main tank over to this one so the container is basically cycled. The container holds at least 3 gallons of water. It was a spur of the moment decision to move him out of the main tank. If I do in fact end up with pleco fry I can move them to a much bigger tank as they grow.

 

Odds are you will have to raise the fry since you disturbed the nest. They will starve themselves to death guarding their nest so you might want to separate him from it and try it on your own if he isn't eating at any rate. Fortunately pleco fry are easy to rear compared to other species and food is readily available for them.

 

Congrats! Sounds like he is indeed guarding eggs. The thinness of the female after spawning is normal as you might have guessed. My female scared me too after I saw her concave belly, but it filled out again in about a week or less.

My males won't eat much when they are guarding, it's true. I have to be very careful with my breeding pleco dads. If you are worried, I think I'd put him back in the main tank and try to raise the babies artificially. You could add a gentle air stream to blow over the eggs in the decor to keep them aerated. The male fans the eggs with his fins to keep them aerated, so you'll just have to play daddy fish for a bit

 

Odds are you will have to raise the fry since you disturbed the nest. They will starve themselves to death guarding their nest so you might want to separate him from it and try it on your own if he isn't eating at any rate. Fortunately pleco fry are easy to rear compared to other species and food is readily available for them.

Should I do it now or give it a few days? Do you have any idea as to how long he can go without eating before it starts affecting his health?

Right now he is still inside the cave. He came out for a second when I first made the move but instantly went back in.

I moved it by taking a big container. Stuck it in the tank right beside the piece of deco. Lifted it with him in it into the container and then lifted the whole thing and moved it over to the tank they are in now. It was never out of the water.

I have lost cory eggs by exposing them to air so made sure that didn't happen with these eggs. Assuming that I actually do have eggs. I have to think there is a reason for Elbert to be staying in there though.

Congrats! Sounds like he is indeed guarding eggs. The thinness of the female after spawning is normal as you might have guessed. My female scared me too after I saw her concave belly, but it filled out again in about a week or less.

My males won't eat much when they are guarding, it's true. I have to be very careful with my breeding pleco dads. If you are worried, I think I'd put him back in the main tank and try to raise the babies artificially. You could add a gentle air stream to blow over the eggs in the decor to keep them aerated. The male fans the eggs with his fins to keep them aerated, so you'll just have to play daddy fish for a bit

Thank you for this information. I could easily add an airstone turned down very low. I could put it in the bottom of the piece of deco. It is about 7 inches tall. I am assuming that the eggs are stuck right up top. Do you think that would be enough water movement?

I could turn it on its side so the bubbles wouldn't accumulate in the top if you think the bubbles would be to much if they couldn't escape. or... I could situate the sponge filter to where the bubbles would work their way across the eggs.

I want to do whatever is best for Elbert and if you think removing him would be best I will definitely do it.

 

Thank you for this information. I could easily add an airstone turned down very low. I could put it in the bottom of the piece of deco. It is about 7 inches tall. I am assuming that the eggs are stuck right up top. Do you think that would be enough water movement?

I could turn it on its side so the bubbles wouldn't accumulate in the top if you think the bubbles would be to much if they couldn't escape. or... I could situate the sponge filter to where the bubbles would work their way across the eggs.

I want to do whatever is best for Elbert and if you think removing him would be best I will definitely do it.

I think if you put Elbert back, he might breed again. But when he is separated from the eggs, he should go back to normal.....until the next batch. So if you want him to eat, I'd put him back. How old are the parents? They haven't bred before?

On the side might be a good idea. You just need subtle water movement over the eggs to prevent fungus.

 

They have never bred before. Elbert is about 4 years old. I have only had Evelyn a few months but she had been bred before I got her. She is at least 2 years old.

I am thinking I am going to remove her. She is a super red (a tiny little thing compared to Elbert). I have a male super red but he is even smaller than she is. He has some growing to do before he is ready for the ladies. I think I will move Evelyn over to the molly tank for now. At least that way I won't find myself in this position again any time soon.

Elbert is back in the 55. Evelyn is in the molly tank. There is now no doubt that Elbert was guarding eggs. No way to count them but it looked like a big pile of them. They are in the very top of the deco.

The sponge filter is laying on the bottom of the tank and the bubbles from it are gently going into the deco. I turned it way down so the eggs should just be gently fanned.

I expected a big job moving Evelyn but she happened to be hanging out on the front glass of the 55 so it was simple to net and move her. It was harder getting Elbert to let go of the inside of the deco

Hopefully all this moving around and depriving Elbert of his job won't cause him too much stress. I was hoping for fry when I got Evelyn but when it came right down to it I don't want to chance his health.

I am also hoping I haven't caused Evelyn too much stress moving her from her original home.

Elbert has settled back down and ate a lot of his zucchinI over night. I am happy to see he looks to have suffered no ill effects from his adventure.

Evelyn has settled right down in her new home. She stayed hidden yesterday after the big move but is back to her normal self this morning.

It was pretty neat finally touching Elbert's bristles. I didn't expect them to feel so soft since they look so spiky. I had to touch them to get him to let go of the deco.

Now it is just a waiting game to see if the eggs will actually hatch. I woke up during the night thinking about the fact that I found 2 fairly big ramshorn snails that had been in the deco. I was hoping there were no more and if there were was wondering if they were going to eat all the eggs before I could check this morning.

Thankfully I didn't find anymore when I checked this morning. It seems like my assassin snails are slacking off on their job and allowing baby snails to grow into big ones.

 

They can go a while not eating while fanning/guarding. New males are more likely to come out to eat when they first spawn, mature males won't leave until the fry are out.
Evelyn should enjoy the new tank and get more mature with eggs as she waits for little red male to grow up.
They all brown?

 

They can go a while not eating while fanning/guarding. New males are more likely to come out to eat when they first spawn, mature males won't leave until the fry are out.
Evelyn should enjoy the new tank and get more mature with eggs as she waits for little red male to grow up.

I know Elbert had been guarding the eggs for a solid 2 days. By the time I took him out it had been 3 days. It actually could have been longer but not by much. I keep a pretty close eye on him. Hopefully now that he is no longer with the eggs he will get his strength back and the eggs will still hatch.

Little Red is finally getting more used to me. Up until just the past couple of days he would zip into hiding the second he saw me. Now he spends a bit more time out in the open. I think it is going to be a while before he is big enough to be a daddy

They all brown?

If you mean the eggs they are orange or did you mean the snails. Yes, they are kinda brown.

 

I know Elbert had been guarding the eggs for a solid 2 days. By the time I took him out it had been 3 days. It actually could have been longer but not by much. I keep a pretty close eye on him. Hopefully now that he is no longer with the eggs he will get his strength back and the eggs will still hatch.

Little Red is finally getting more used to me. Up until just the past couple of days he would zip into hiding the second he saw me. Now he spends a bit more time out in the open. I think it is going to be a while before he is big enough to be a daddy


If you mean the eggs they are orange or did you mean the snails. Yes, they are kinda brown.

The babies in the eggs, I hadn't realized they hadn't hatched yet lol.

 

The babies in the eggs, I hadn't realized they hadn't hatched yet lol.

Hopefully I can answer that question soon. From all I have been reading it can take from 4 to 10 days for them to hatch and then a few more days before they come out and start exploring their world. That sure is a big spread of time.

Male is an albino and female is a super red so only time will tell what the fry will be. I am anxious to find out.

We have lift off




I didn't count them but I see itty bitty plecos this morning

 

Yay!!!!! Congrats! What colour are they?

 

Yay!!!!! Congrats! What colour are they?

They are still all orange. Since they just started hatching last night it is possible I am still seeing egg sacks. Some of them are getting brave already and are hanging on the sides of the container they are in. They are about 1/4 inch long. So super tiny and adorable

I am sure it is too soon but I went ahead and put a little piece of zucchinI in there just in case some of them get hungry.

 

Oh ok, I never saw them that small! Guess they are normally hiding out in the cave at this point still. Lol, probably too early for zucchini, just make sure to remove it after a couple of hours so it doesn't foul the container. They'll eat after the egg sack is fully consumed.

 

Every thing I've read it says it will take about 3 days before they are ready for food so I guess I really should just go ahead and remove it for now.

 

Yup, wait 24 hours after you see the belly go from orange to not (dark on both albino and brown most often).
They will show color before they completely lose the sack.

 

Yup, wait 24 hours after you see the belly go from orange to not (dark on both albino and brown most often).
They will show color before they completely lose the sack.

Thank you. I removed the zucchini. Some of the eggs are still hatching so it will be a few days before I need to start feeding them. I can see what looks like little strings sticking out of some of the eggs. Others are moving around like a tiny orange fish. Some are suctioned to the sides of the sterlite tote I have them in for now.

I have a microworm culture producing lots of worms. Would they eat or benefit at all from them if I offer them once the eggs sack is gone?

 

They can have some, but it wouldn't do as much for them because they vacuum them up.

 

They can have some, but it wouldn't do as much for them because they vacuum them up.

Thank you. Once they are big enough to start needing food I have several different things for them. If I understand correctly I can pretty much feed them the same things I feed my adults.

They will get a variety of food, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, hikarI sinking bottom feeder minI wafers, veggie rounds and of course their fresh veggies. Will they also need a bit of wood to rasp on?

I seldom ever see my bigger ones rasping on the wood I have in the tanks for them but it is there in case they decide they need it.

 

Nice just found this thread !
Congrats on spawn .
The male can stay however long he wants in tube no problem .
I feed sinking pellets [kens grow crumbles] and he always comes out to eat at night !
The fry will eat crushed powder food right away also so make sure to feed them ...
I get spawns every month around the 15rh like clockwork ..Get ready !

 

Nice just found this thread !
Congrats on spawn .
The male can stay however long he wants in tube no problem .
I feed sinking pellets [kens grow crumbles] and he always comes out to eat at night !
The fry will eat crushed powder food right away also so make sure to feed them ...
I get spawns every month around the 15rh like clockwork ..Get ready !

Once may be all I will ever do.

I moved Evelyn to a different tank after she laid these eggs. When Little Red (my newest male super red) grows up I may put him and Evelyn together but I don't think I will allow Elbert and her to breed again.

I guess I am too attached to Elbert. I was so worried about him after 3 days of him apparently not eating. It took at least 6 days for the eggs to start hatching. It seems the airstone did his job well and thankfully he was no worse off but I am glad I removed him. I would have worried the whole time.

It really scared me when I saw Evelyn's sunken stomach. I will admit I had no idea that would happen. At least if I ever let her breed again I will expect it. I can't imagine how she could have held this many eggs in her tiny body. She had to have been miserable and was probably relieved to finally get them all out of there.

We have color this morning.

It is hard to see the color but they are no longer orange. I will offer them some food today and hopefully they will come out to eat.

I can't tell yet how many I have but it looks like a bunch. I did siphon out some unhatched fungus-ed over eggs yesterday. That probably wouldn't have happened if I had been brave enough to leave Elbert in there to tend to them but thankfully some of them hatched. Probably more than I will know what to do with

I offered food yesterday but It doesn't look like they touched it. They are all still hanging out in 2 groups up inside the home they were born in.

I will put a fresh piece of zucchinI in there in a few minutes. I also offered some of the powdered fry food I feed whenever I have fry of any kind. I can't tell if they came down during the night to eat any of it.

It is a mixture of all the different foods I have on hand that has been ground into a pretty fine powder and then has algae powder mixed in with it.

BTW: All the fry are black or close to black as far as I can tell. Do albino plecos start out black or if I have any albinos would they have stayed orange?

 

I offered food yesterday but It doesn't look like they touched it. They are all still hanging out in 2 groups up inside the home they were born in.

I will put a fresh piece of zucchinI in there in a few minutes. I also offered some of the powdered fry food I feed whenever I have fry of any kind. I can't tell if they came down during the night to eat any of it.

It is a mixture of all the different foods I have on hand that has been ground into a pretty fine powder and then has algae powder mixed in with it.

BTW: All the fry are black or close to black as far as I can tell. Do albino plecos start out black or if I have any albinos would they have stayed orange?

Albinos will be pale and have hard to see eyes, sounds like red is just a red then. Dad is two genes of albino. So you have red/albino gened fry with the dominant color (brown). They will all be brown with hidden genes.

 

They will come out and look for food when ready ..
Make sure food is on bottom at night ..

 

Albinos will be pale and have hard to see eyes, sounds like red is just a red then. Dad is two genes of albino. So you have red/albino gened fry with the dominant color (brown). They will all be brown with hidden genes.

Thank you. I suppose it is possible that there are some albino in there then but where they are it is very difficult to see them. I don't really care what color they are but was just curious.

I started out with 3 albino and 3 bronze corys. My most prolific female was an albino. The other 2 albino are males. All of the fry (and there have been a lot of them) are bronze. One time I got an albino fry but sadly the little guy didn't make it. That one broke my heart.

Is there anything different I should be doing to make sure these little guy start eating? How soon should I actually start worrying about it?

this time I didn't par-boil the zucchini. I just coated it on one side with some of the fry food and let it float up inside their home. I will remove it before bed time and replace it with fresh.

They will come out and look for food when ready ..
Make sure food is on bottom at night ..

I left it on the bottom last night but I really don't think they came down for a bite.

I guess I am an impatient fish mom

 

As soon as they come out they will start eating, I normally have them not eating until their yolk sacks are completely gone for 24 hours.

 

As soon as they come out they will start eating, I normally have them not eating until their yolk sacks are completely gone for 24 hours.

They hatched out Thursday night. I started seeing color other than orange Sunday morning. Hopefully they will start eating by tomorrow or the next day.

coralbandit I have the TDS in their tank up to 134. Should I go higher? I don't have a heater in there. The temp stays about 76/77. I am thinking that temp is good. What do y'all think?

The container holds 3 gallons. I did a 1 gallon water change yesterday. Thankfully I had a well seeded sponge filter so the little tank should be cycled unless there isn't enough ammonia to feed it. If I see an ammonia spike I can replace the sponges with more well seeded ones.

 

You're all good with water .
I have raised them in my tap 350+TDS and with young rams 100 TDS .
They seem bullet proof !
I get new fry every month ! They are piling up to where they are in almost every tank [60] and some are starting to show whiskers so I'll guess I will have pairs soon..
With 1 or 2 spawns a month since December I have only screwed up one !

 

You're all good with water .
I have raised them in my tap 350+TDS and with young rams 100 TDS .
They seem bullet proof !
I get new fry every month ! They are piling up to where they are in almost every tank [60] and some are starting to show whiskers so I'll guess I will have pairs soon..
With 1 or 2 spawns a month since December I have only screwed up one !

Thank you. I would be a nervous wreck if not for y'all

I don't think I will ever find myself with as many as you have. I will only do this one more time. I want to put Little Red and Evelyn together long enough to breed one time. It will still be a while though. Evelyn is at least twice as big as Little Red and you know how small she is. He has a bit of growing to do before I put them together.

I can't imagine you screwing up a spawn of any kind

One little guy came out yesterday and hung out on the airline going to the sponge filter. This morning more of them came out and others had come down to the bottom of the deco they were born in. I set the deco over a small terra cotta pot hoping they will decide it is a better place to hang out.

I can't remember if I said it or not but the piece of deco is that one Elbert is attached to in my avatar.

So far I don't think they are eating. I put in a fresh slice of par-boiled zucchinI with an algae wafer stuck in it for them this morning. Hopefully they will start eating sometime today. I will remove and replace it later today.

It is hard to guesstimate but just guessing I think I see at least 25 little guys in there. Could be a LOT more than that though.

I am thinking I should do 50% or more water changes daily. Do y'all think that will be enough or is it too much?

 

One little guy came out yesterday and hung out on the airline going to the sponge filter. This morning more of them came out and others had come down to the bottom of the deco they were born in. I set the deco over a small terra cotta pot hoping they will decide it is a better place to hang out.

I can't remember if I said it or not but the piece of deco is that one Elbert is attached to in my avatar.

So far I don't think they are eating. I put in a fresh slice of par-boiled zucchinI with an algae wafer stuck in it for them this morning. Hopefully they will start eating sometime today. I will remove and replace it later today.

It is hard to guesstimate but just guessing I think I see at least 25 little guys in there. Could be a LOT more than that though.

I am thinking I should do 50% or more water changes daily. Do y'all think that will be enough or is it too much?

When they start eating that will increase growth rates.

 

When they start eating that will increase growth rates.

I have a strong feeling that today will be the day I finally see them start eating. They are starting to get a lot more active. I do expect to see them growing quickly once they start eating good nutritious food.

On a side note. I have a little cave I made out of rocks in Little Reds tank. I glanced over there a few minutes ago and saw sand flying out from under it. Before long I saw him peeking out of it. That would have been one of the cutest photos ever had I been able to get it

 

I have a strong feeling that today will be the day I finally see them start eating. They are starting to get a lot more active. I do expect to see them growing quickly once they start eating good nutritious food.

On a side note. I have a little cave I made out of rocks in Little Reds tank. I glanced over there a few minutes ago and saw sand flying out from under it. Before long I saw him peeking out of it. That would have been one of the cutest photos ever had I been able to get it

That's little red's way of saying "i'm here ladies, come in".

 

That's little red's way of saying "i'm here ladies, come in".

Poor little guy is gonna get frustrated since there are no ladies in there At least he knows what to do

Little guys are a week old today. They still haven't come out to eat One was out on the terracotta pot this morning but soon went back home.

I would love to give Elberts favorite hang out back to him but these little guys seem to have claimed it so it will be a while. He does have other places to hang out in so he should be fine.

Yay!!!! I can now quit worrying. They are all out of the cave and have found the zucchini.

 

When they start eating that will increase growth rates.

You are so right. Now that they are eating they are growing fast. I think I am starting to see a hint of red on them now.

Just guesstimating I am guessing there are close to 50 little guys in there. Amazing that there were that many eggs in Evelyns itty bitty belly

They are pigging out on zucchinI and Omega One veggie rounds. They don't seem to care for shrimp pellets.

 

I feed tiny fry food like hikarI first bites ..You can watch them suck each bit up !
NICE !

 

I feed tiny fry food like hikarI first bites ..You can watch them suck each bit up !
NICE !

I probably should have been more prepared with fry food but these little guys don't seem to be having a problem. I just hope what I am giving them will be good for them. They went after the HikarI sinking wafers I put in there yesterday. there was just a tiny bit of it left when I did the water change and removed what was left.

 

I probably should have been more prepared with fry food but these little guys don't seem to be having a problem. I just hope what I am giving them will be good for them. They went after the HikarI sinking wafers I put in there yesterday. there was just a tiny bit of it left when I did the water change and removed what was left.

Ime, baby BNs eat the same things as the parents. Just smaller bites. In my tank, the babies eat the pieces the adults leave behind.

 

A big pile of Plecos




By the time I got the camera some had moved but this gives you an idea as to how many are in there.

 

Yay! Success!! A pile of baby brown BNs! I thought they'd be brown without two genes of super red or albino, but each baby has one super red or albino gene or I guess one of each (I think). So breeding the babies together would likely produce some ineresting morph combos

 

When I zoom way in I can see all kinds of speckles on them. I am so anxious to see what they are going to look like when grown.

 

When I zoom way in I can see all kinds of speckles on them. I am so anxious to see what they are going to look like when grown.

Browns have spots when young. But you never know. I was curious as well....
A pic of a young brown BN



They do have diffent patterning though too as they grow. Mine are brown (I think) and albino. 1 albino gene for most. Then I get some full albino too. But they'll need two genes in the color locus to express fully. Each parent gives each baby one gene in each locus. So for colour, they should have 1 super red and one albino gene since mom and dad are expressing those phenotypes.

 

Browns have spots when young. But you never know. I was curious as well....
A pic of a young brown BN
View attachment 587227

They do have diffent patterning though too as they grow. Mine are brown (I think) and albino. 1 albino gene for most. Then I get some full albino too. But they'll need two genes in the color locus to express fully. Each parent gives each baby one gene in each locus. So for colour, they should have 1 super red and one albino gene since mom and dad are expressing those phenotypes.

That is one adorable little pleco. I will have to re-home most of these little guys eventually but it is going to be sooooo hard to choose which ones I will keep because I know I will want to keep 'em all

I have put building a pond on my hubby's todo list so maybe I will get to keep a lot of them. Instead of goldfish I can have a pleco pond.