Bristlenose Pleco Breeding

[Magicmarymac]

My BNP just laid eggs and the male is fanning them as he is supposed to.

Are the eggs and/or fry in danger from his tankmates. If so, how on earth do I catch them without taking the tank apart and disturbing his nest?






36g planted & cycled
1 Albino female
1 Normal male
5 Rummies
8 Pygmy Cory
1 Betta
Ghost and RCS
Assassin snails

Thank you.

 

[Koikeeper99]

Lucky! I've been trying to get mine to breed for a while now. But the male should keep the other fish away.

 

[bob mccoy]

daily cool pwc is the secret to getting them to breed. 1 male and 2 female per tank. good caves and drift wood for them

 

[Magicmarymac]

daily cool pwc is the secret to getting them to breed. 1 male and 2 female per tank. good caves and drift wood for them

Lol

I was doing that because of a mini cycle, not for them specifically, but whatever works.

 

[bob mccoy]

with mine i breed them in 10 gallon tanks an as soon as i see a black dot forming in the eggs i pull them out and transfer them to an empty 10 gallon tank with sponge filter -heater 78* small amount of methalain blue to keep the fungus off the eggs. i usualy suck them up with a turkey baster from walmart $2.

 

[Magicmarymac]

Hatching Eggs

with mine i breed them in 10 gallon tanks an as soon as i see a black dot forming in the eggs i pull them out and transfer them to an empty 10 gallon tank with sponge filter -heater 78* small amount of methalain blue to keep the fungus off the eggs. i usualy suck them up with a turkey baster from walmart $2.

Thanks, Bob!

I did something similar to what you suggested when my Cory laid eggs in this same tank. I had several survive my efforts.

This time I will let Dad handle it, he is working at it so furiously.

I do wish they had had their "nest" in one of the tubes, instead of in between them. Sigh.

Also, I was shocked to see how much weight and color the female lost after laying those eggs. She was a pale wraith compared to her plump beauty before!

 

[Magicmarymac]

Oh no!

I found a cluster of eggs outside of the nest. I got them with my "turkey baster" and put them in the Evolve 4, which only has a bunch of Anacharis and Riccia. Some were white and some orange.

 

[bob mccoy]

cool hope they hatch

 

[Magicmarymac]

Hatchling!

I rehomed the parents, but one of the eggs I rescued hatched!

 

[bob mccoy]

thats awsome they are so cute when they are little

 

[Magicmarymac]

thats awsome they are so cute when they are little

At least one made it through the gross Anacharis and Riccia melt. I had to completely empty the Evolve 4, about a 90% PWC, to get out the sludge. It had to be super toxic in there and it literally happened overnight.

Now the scary part is when to get him out of there. It has to be big enough to not be eaten by a Gourami in my 46 or my Betta in the 36. On the other hand an evolve 4 is really only about a 2-3 gallon tank--so he can't stay there very long, he is already about a half inch long.

 

[bob mccoy]

he will be ok for a while and will help clean that tank. in my opinion i would leave him there till 1 inch long unlesss theres a lot of hiding places for him in the other tank. as a rule plecos don't get eaten to often because of there spines but some fish are nippers and will pick them to death. i got lucky with a pair in my 55 angel tank that had a big batch of babies. it was cute because as we no angels can be onry pickers but these would just go down and stare at them for a while then go on about there business. so in saying this all fish will react differently to them bu to air on the side of safety i would leave him there obviously hes a survivor and will be ok

 

[Magicmarymac]

Thank you.

Both tanks are heavily planted, but since he spends so much time hanging out in the open on leaves or on the glass I will wait.