Discus Versus Bristlenose Pleco Fry

I have a 100 gallon tank which houses 8 discus and 4 bristlenose plecos along with a couple of mystery snails.
My substrate is Fluval Stratum, the tank is planted with crypys and S Repens. I have numerous large rocks and a few pieces of driftwood. It is a fairly new set-up, about 2 months old. I believe my plecos have decided to breed but as I have no caves or hides they have dug out under some of the rocks to produce their own cave. I didn't see any spawning but I'm assuming they have because my male pleco has been hunkered down in the space between the rocks for the last 4 days, all I can see of him is his tail. Assuming I am correct and he is sitting on eggs which should be hatching any day now, how likely is it that the fry will survive with 8 discus, are the discus likely to try to eat them? There are plenty of places for the fry to hide, discus are not very good at getting between the rocks or under the foliage of the crypts so maybe I'll be lucky. Are the discus likely to try to eat those who venture out into open ground or hang on the side of the glass?

 

I lean towards yes, pleco fry are bigger than some fry, but still small enough to fit in a discus mouth. I would set up a seperate grow-out tank if you want some survivors.

 

I speak from experience because I breed both Discus and BN. There is no tastier treat to a Discus than a baby BN. If you want more than a couple of lucky ones to survive net them out before the Discus spot them and give them a home of their own. It won't be easy since once the Discus know there are baby BN in the tank they will be on high alert.

 

Unless you want fifty or more BN Plecos, be a good idea to leave the hatchlings in the display tank. Maybe add a few more rocks & driftwood for added concealment. A few of the baby Plecos are likely to survive.

 

Unless you want fifty or more BN Plecos, be a good idea to leave the hatchlings in the display tank. Maybe add a few more rocks & driftwood for added concealment. A few of the baby Plecos are likely to survive.

Thank you for the comment, this was obviously not a planned breeding event and I certainly do not want an additional 50 BN Plecos. Having said that it would be a shame if they all got eaten. I think I will attempt to net out half a dozen and put them in a grow-out tank and leave the rest to nature, maybe a few will survive.

 

I ran into the same situation with African Cichlids. Unbridled & constant breeding. Had I tried to save the fry, I would have had to buy thirty new aquariums. Lol.

 

Yes you’ll lose most but I doubt all. Or the discus not knowing what they are may not go after them this first time. The plecos will continue to bred so this will happen again. I’ve got rainbow fish fry swimming with mine. Thing is you don’t want all the bn to survive you’ll be over run. Enjoy.