ABN Breeding

[black hills tj]

Alright guys, my 3 ABN's are finally old enough to sex. I have 1 male and 2 females(perfect!). Not its time for some questions.

Conditioning:

-Diet: Feed wafers, zuchini, and cucumber. What would you suggest for a meat?

-Water Changes: Weekly water change(50-75%) using cool water. Leave heater off for a few hours.

-Water Parameters: What should I look for as far as Nitrates and PH go?

Tank

-Size: Would a trio of ABN's prefer a 20g tall or would a 10g be fine?

-Structure: Caves(several) and driftwood.

-Substrate: What substrate would ABN's prefer, sand or small black gravel?

-Tankmates: I know dither fish(tetras, rasboras) are fine, and I'm pretty sure my striata loaches are a no-no if I'm going to be breeding pleco's in the tank. What about 2 non-spawning German Blue Rams though?

-Plants: Do live/fake plants make a difference to plecos? The two tanks the ABN's may be spawning in are both lightly planted with low light.

-Lighting: Would it be better to give the pleco's less light(fewer hours) during the conditioning period?

Thanks,

Mike

[mitcore]

Originally Posted by black hills tj

Alright guys, my 3 ABN's are finally old enough to sex. I have 1 male and 2 females(perfect!). Not its time for some questions.

Conditioning:

-Diet: Feed wafers, zuchini, and cucumber. What would you suggest for a meat?
i never feed my bn meat they eat the algae of the glass and i feed them shrimp pellets and algae waffers

-Water Changes: Weekly water change(50-75%) using cool water. Leave heater off for a few hours.
i do a 50% weekly water change and replace the clean water warm
i never turn off my heater

-Water Parameters: What should I look for as far as Nitrates and PH go?
ph should be 7.0 and as little nitrates as possible

Tank

-Size: Would a trio of ABN's prefer a 20g tall or would a 10g be fine?
i currently have my pair breeding in a 3ft community tank

-Structure: Caves(several) and driftwood.
i have my BN breeders in a coconut cave with a terracotta pot over the top of it
the coconut cave has a small hole and the terracotta pot also has a small hole, make sure there is no way for any fish to get in the BN wont breed if they can

-Substrate: What substrate would ABN's prefer, sand or small black gravel?
i have gravel, the medium sized in my tank they really dont care to much

-Tankmates: I know dither fish(tetras, rasboras) are fine, and I'm pretty sure my striata loaches are a no-no if I'm going to be breeding pleco's in the tank. What about 2 non-spawning German Blue Rams though?
as long as the fish arent meat eaters they will be fine with any sort of fish
my are in with tetras, bettas, platties,sword tails, paradise fish, cory dorys

-Plants: Do live/fake plants make a difference to plecos? The two tanks the ABN's may be spawning in are both lightly planted with low light.
my tank currently has no plants my stupid fish keep eating them

-Lighting: Would it be better to give the pleco's less light(fewer hours) during the conditioning period?
they dont care too much about lighting, just remeber to leave your light on for about 8hrs a day,

Thanks,

Mike

your BN need to be a yr old to breed and the male will sit out front of the cave to convince them to go in
the males care for the eggs and fry and they continue to breed even if they have just had a batch of eggs hatch LOL thats why i have heaps,
the male will disappear for a few days this is one indictaion he has eggs
and another indication is that he will sit outside the cave fanning the water

hope this helps

good luck and have fun

[black hills tj]

Thanks for the help Mitcore.

PS-Shrimp pellets=meat

[mitcore]

nope, they are a vegie in a pellet they are given to cory dory's the BN's love them, they sit on the top and suck away,
your welcome by the way,
i am here to help you all the way through if you need it
cheers

[black hills tj]

Out of curiosity, why would they be shrimp pellets if they aren't made of shrimp? Does that mean they are designed FOR shrimp?

Don't be surprised if you get pm's up the wazoo as I progress along

[mitcore]

LOL i have no idea why, no worries pm whenever you need help