My bristlenose plecos bred

[bigstick120]

The light turned on in the tank and I look over and wonder, what the heck is that yellow thing in the corner? I then look and see the male guarding a large clutch of eggs! The female laid them in the corner of the glass behind the output of the spary bar. Any advice on the success of these soon to be fry. I have read that it takes 10 day to be free swimming. I will have to skip a W/C for a week do to the fact that the eggs would be out of the water.

[danepatrick]

congradulations!!!!

[bigstick120]

I am starting to see something developing its pretty cool! Any help/advice with this

[SammyP]

put a prefilter sponge on the intake of the canister filter. you dont want the fry to get sucked into it. remove any predatory fish. this is just general stuff you probably already know though.

[TAF CAF]

Wow... I was wondering what they did for having babies... how big is the yellow thing? I think I might have the same thing, but just thought it was some dead plant material and havn't looked too close at it.

[will5]

Originally Posted by bigstick120

I am starting to see something developing its pretty cool! Any help/advice with this

First let me say congrats.

OK daddy will keeps the eggs safe and then will keep the fry safe for about a week if I remember right. Adult bristle noses pose no threat to the fry. But dad will guard them any way until they are ready to leave his care.

Here is two where you can find more info on this. All thought these reefer to the albinos this applies to all bristle noses. Oh and all bristle noses need drift wood in the tank for them to munch on to keep there stomach working correctly.

PlanetCatfish.com :: Shane's World :: Reproduction :: Maintaining and Spawning Albino <em>Ancistrus</em>

Breeding Bristlenose Catfish [Archive] - PlecoFanatics.com

[cbennett]

i have some BN's (and about a bajillion babies) and they're not too hard to care for. The first several days the babies will have their yolk sack and dad will be watching out for them. Then your biggest worry will be keeping them fed enough. It's easy if you put them into a smallish tank by themselves where you can give them plenty of food, but if you keep them in the main tank you have to get a little creative. The babies tend to congregate at the surface by the glass, especially by the nest, so I put chunks of sweet potato in a suction-cup clippy so the food stays by the surface. I just freeze raw sweet potato with the skin on and put it in the clip. You either want to blanch the sweet potato and immediately feed the babies or put the sweet potato in a day or two before they're going to need it - otherwise it will be too hard for the babies (older BNs will eat it fine though). I use sweet potato rather than zucchini for two reasons; SP has more nutrients and it won't foul the water even if it stays in the tank for several days. The skin helps to keep it together too. Usually I'll put a couple chunks in parts of the tank and babies will just cluster all over it, constantly eating. As they get older, I'll also add some algae wafers to the tank for some protein.

To keep the water clean, don't overfeed the rest of the fish and skim the surface of the water every day (about 1 quart minimum). It will be small waterchanges that won't disturb the babies too much.

[bigstick120]

Interesting Cbennett! Thanks for the links and help everyone

[GreenerSideofLIfe]

Id love to see pictures!

[epicfish]

Awesome. Congrats on the babies, and ditto, I'd like to see some pictures too!

[Raul-7]

Congrats! You've just bred the 'guppy of the pleco world'.

Listen to cbennet's advice, and remember don't feed them when they still have their yolk sacks and keep them with the father. Most breeders have figured out a male pleco is a much at caring for his fry than any of us ever can; he will gaurd, mouth them (like bouncing a basketball) and he helps them hatch out of the shell. Don't be surprised if he eats some, he knows which ones will not make it or one's that are attacked by fungus.

And remember, don't startle him or you risk him rejecting the eggs. BTW, you might want to get him a cave for future spawns, it will increase your success rate.

[bigstick120]

Here are some photos, I save a few and have them seperated for now, one of them is even albino!


And a full shot to see where his territory is, Wierd!!!

[bigstick120]

They are at it again, I got to see the 'courting' the other day and knew something was up! Now the problem is I need to do a water change and the eggs are in the same place as the photo above. I havent done one for a few weeks b/c I was out of town and didnt have time. Can I just put the eggs in a floating breeder? Will I stress dad out if I remove the eggs? Will the fry be ok in the breeder

[Raul-7]

Originally Posted by bigstick120

They are at it again, I got to see the 'courting' the other day and knew something was up! Now the problem is I need to do a water change and the eggs are in the same place as the photo above. I havent done one for a few weeks b/c I was out of town and didnt have time. Can I just put the eggs in a floating breeder? Will I stress dad out if I remove the eggs? Will the fry be ok in the breeder

Most pleco breeders have found out that the father is much better at taking care of the eggs than any airstone in a breeder. If you noticed, he constantly mouths them, aerartes them with his fins and makes sure that no fungus gets a foothold. I once made my L236 male kicked out his clutch of 17 eggs, only 5 made it to the wriggler stage.

But you should really consider a cave for the male.