I need bn pleco breeding guidance

[brennae]

I'm making a new thread instead of sending pm to people because I thought maybe others would like to learn along with me.

Right now I have 2 females and 1 male albino bristlenose. The male ditched his first spawning cave/tube after a few days. Nothing hatched our of that one. So he chose a new tube and he spends most of his time there except to eat. It's been over a week since I saw a female go in and I saw both of the females gpn in the tube at different times.

My mother has what appear to be three brown bristle nose females and I just bought her a male. I'm not around those fish to observe them much but the male mostly hangs out in a tube
(Sorry only 2 of the females are in the tank with the male). The brown bn are smaller and I assume younger than the albino which I know for fact are a couple years old now.

How long or how old do they need to be to successfully spawn?

How long will the mister stay in the tube if there are fry?

I thought they hatched 3 to 7 days after spawning. Is this correct?
Both tanks are approximately 78 or a little lower temp wise. I've added IAL and they have tons of plants. The albino females are seriously plump and always have been. The Browns are smaller and not so fat yet but not for lack of food. Everybody have driftwood and flower pot caves as well as the clay breeding tubes.

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[PoppaRyno]

You can see eggs?

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[brennae]

No sir. The tube ended up at an angle which doesn't allow me to see inside. I had to get in the ladder just to put the tube/cave in the tank and I didn't get it quite where I wanted.

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[PoppaRyno]

Im gonna have to get with ya in the mornin, lol. Im on the vergs of zonking out on the couch... Long day. Must find comfy bed before eyes close.... Ungah.

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[brennae]

No problem it's about time I tuck the fish in for the night and do some light reading in my disease textbook.

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[ghyti]

They need to be about 3 inches standard length to spawn. The males are ready when they get bristles on top of their nose.

The male will keep the fry in the cave until he feels they are big enough to make it on their own, usually about 2 weeks.

If there are other fish in the tank the fry won't last long. Everybody likes bristlenose fry for lunch. If this is the case put dad, cave, and fry in a separate tank until the fry come out of the cave.

 

[brennae]

They need to be about 3 inches standard length to spawn. The males are ready when they get bristles on top of their nose.

The male will keep the fry in the cave until he feels they are big enough to make it on their own, usually about 2 weeks.

If there are other fish in the tank the fry won't last long. Everybody likes bristlenose fry for lunch. If this is the case put dad, cave, and fry in a separate tank until the fry come out of the cave.

Thank you. Yea dad has a lot of bristles on his head/nose area. There are rainbow fish in the tank also.

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[PoppaRyno]

I agree with ghyti. Well said. I do exactly that. I use the smallest cichlid rocks instead of tubes. It has a lip. When i see orange eggs i put it & dad in a breeder box and wait for hatch. As soon as all have vacated (that i can tell) the cave goes back in the tank along with dad.

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[PoppaRyno]

Since its a cave i just lift it out of the water opening up. Protective Dad stays put. Easiest transfer youll ever have.

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[PoppaRyno]

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[brennae]

Ok. I do have a refugium I'm that tank so I will try getting the tube out and out them in there.

Thanks to you both.

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[brennae]

I moved the tube with dad in it and he got really angry and stressed and I was afraid he would pop the lid on the refugium and jump out so I put him back and put the tube back too. There weren't any fry in the tube. I did however find fry in the main tank when I disrupted everything to clean.

Any ideas on age of fry? This tank has algae on the plants and I over feed meaty foods like brine shrimp and blood worms and massivore tabs that sink because I am paranoid my L333 aren't eating enough. I also add pleco pellets from New Era which are a big hit with fish. My fish don't like the New Era flake so much though.

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[brennae]

Oh this hatch is from my 55g rainbow and pleco tank. The parents are albino bn.

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[Autumnsky]

Congrats! (no experience here from me). Am waiting to get some babies and will try the rock cave method! Learning along with you.

 

[brennae]

Glad that this thread can benefit others. I really was not expecting to have any success being that the plecos are in a tank with rainbows but I got surprised. The rainbows rarely pick at the substrate though. They like to feed from the very top of the tank and often times I get splashed when I add flakes that float on the water. Maybe they just don't care about going to lower tank levels where the bn fry are?

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[Autumnsky]

Maybe hadn't noticed them yet. Very surprising you had the little ones make it. Lots of hiding places though so some are bound to hide well/be fast. I just know any smallish thing moving around in my tank says "eat me".

I have a big albino bn male giant bushy nose and 2 females I think, so they are likely to get busy with babies but mine are in big community with lots of hungry fish. Boesemani Rainbows and Angels who are always hungry. Will maybe change to another tank with them (thinking over some restocking and tank options atm).

Will get them a couple rock caves and see what might happen. (No caves in there other than behind the big DW, there's a hollow area my big Spotted Raphael Catfish likes to occupy.)

Glad you found some and that you made the thread!

 

[brennae]

I used to have peacock gudgeons in this tank. Long story but lost them all. I had pvc pipe in a small size zip tied together in groups of three. I was told by the peacock gudgeon breeder they prefer these little pvc caves. I never took them out of my tank! I was going to today but then it dawned in me that the fry could have been hiding in there. They are the only fish in the tank small enough to fit. I use IAL and have a lot of flower pot caves and several different clay caves and tubes so maybe they just found secret hiding spots.

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