fishbites Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 First I have successfully raised some Betta's up to a reasonable size and now I just discovered I have a batch of albino bristlenose babies. About a month ago I bought one of those ceramic logs in the hope it would tempt the pair I had and looks like it did the trick! I have no idea how old they are or how many but the father is firmly planted in the opening of the log not letting them out or anything in! I shone a torch in the opening and could see a lot of small tails waving so there are a few but not a lot I think. The parents are only about 7cm long so I would imagine only a dozen or so babies but still am happy to see them. The question is... do I leave them alone or try to take them off of the father so I can raise them further? I'm a bit worried about 2 angel fish that patrol the tank - although they are only about 3-4cm (body size) will they treat the baby BN as food once they emerge from the log? Or will the father BN protect them? Do they have the ability to gnaw on algae wafers the same as their parents or do they need other types of food? There are also a pair of common BN in the tank (2ft x 15 x 18) - will they be ok to leave there too or is it a one pair per tank situation? So many questions - so little knowledge - thanks to anyone with some advice on my first BN litter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleisha18 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yes leave them in there with the dad he will take care of them until they come out of the log, angels shouldnt give them much grief so they should be right in the tank, keep an eye on them just to be sure. They will eat what ever the parent are feeding on. Give them some zuchini as well for faster grow th rates, as for the size of the tank you should probably move all the other fish out as it is going to be really over stocked as there will be heaps of fry, i think you will be suprised by just how many come out of the log. Good luck with everything!!!! Aleisha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 That is a lovely surprise! What a nice follow on from your betta spawn. You probably already know this, but the zucchini seems to float unless you blanch it first. (I had some unhappy CAE trying to feed of the floating discs ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpiasente Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I tie it to a rock with a rubber band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleisha18 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 or you could use weed weights too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Looks like the other common bristlenose male is hanging round so I picked up the log - dad and babies all inside and transferred to a small tank. As I put the log in the babies swam out and scattered but dad stayed put. I counted them and there are 25 or 26 of them. Dad refuses to come out of the log. I've sunk a bit of lettuce in the tank to encourage infusoria and give them something green to check out. They look like perfect miniatures of dad and mum with about 8 of them stuck on the side walls of the tank already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_man_3241 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 hay thats awesome i have been breeding common BN for about a year now. thay spawn about once a month. I dont feed my BN fyr anything special just algie waffers twice a day and thay love em if you got any questions send me an email and ill help out with any question you have. one thing is becare full with the angles thay can get agressive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 G'day "The Man 3241", You're just down the road from here a bit by the looks.... I have a pair of common BN's but they haven't seemed to get round to making babies yet. Thanks for the offer of answering questions re the BN's - might take you up on that at some stage. Baby photos - all seem quite active at the moment. (apologies for the poor photos) Dad is still hiding in his log wondering where his babies are... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleisha18 Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Yes matt the angels get aggressive when you put your hand into the tank when they have a spawn.. when they are juveniles they arent so territorial. Do you atually have any bn fry left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Yes Aleisha I took the fry out yesterday to a separate tank just incase the Angels weren't such angels afterall. I have 25 of the little twerps in a small tank at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangyplant Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 what do you guys do with teh fry? give them away? sell them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 G'day CookieJar, I'm pretty new to having lots of fishy babies around the place so haven't got any real plans yet. I'll definitely keep a few as tank cleaners - at least one will go next door to the neighbours. I know 2 LFS's that are always after bristlenose catfish especially the albinos. One of them will probably do a trade with me for some longfin albino bristlenoses I hope. Otherwise I'll just keep them and grow them up to breeding size and see if anyone wants them then perhaps. Not sure how else to 'get rid of' excess babies up here though. Might ask at some shops in Bundy when I'm up there next week. I think the key is having something that they can sell easily though and I think the albino bristlenoses should be ok on that score around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RarePets Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Well done with the Albino Bristlenose. I breed the ordinary BristleNose. I have two colony tanks set for breeding them, plus a extra tank to grow fry to market size. The grow out tank is an odd size 44" Fulval 4 plus filter Slate, Rock, Driftwood, Java Fern and a number of the small pond snails. I have had as many as 250 fry in the tank at one point. This way I can wholesale the fish in a number of sizes. An old photo of fry in the fry tank. The algae on the rocks seem to be a good feed at any time of day for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 G'day Robert, Looks like you have a great setup for the BN's - I might try the slate idea - I've got a box of it somewhere in the shed and it would look more natural with small caves made from it I think. I have a hollow log in the tank but it seems that it's just a hiding place or a way to get from one end of the tank to the other without being seen. The ceramic log worked perfectly this time but the idea of making slate type caves could be better. As the parents get larger I assume they will have more eggs / more babies each spawn - am I right or is it usually a couple of dozen per spawn? The albinos seem slower to grow than the normal BN's so getting bigger for now might not be an issue anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangyplant Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 best of luck with them fishbites xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RarePets Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Yeah, the first pair that bred for us had lived in several comunity tanks for 4 years before we saw fry when there was just an old anglefish co-habiting with them From tow spawns we had been able to removed some 170 fry, the first female died and it took maybe a month before the second female spawned. At the moment there is just young fish spawning in the shed and the size of each spawn is noteably smaller than what the old females has been able to produce. Initially one shop around here wanted them at 3cm at a dolllar each, because I had some history with them I gave them about 20 discounted fish. Then I started dealing with a shop that I have a long history with, and they pay a minimum of the current wholesale catalogues prices, for graded 5cm, 6cm and 7cm sizes that I supply to them at upto 50 fish at a time. Growth of bristlenose comes down to feeding and competition in the tank for the available food. I think we got lucky the night my wife saw the first 3mm fry. The Anglefish was blind in one eye and he exited the tank so fast Until people see the changed behavior in bristlenose when they are in a large colony without predation from other fish that like to nip and chase they are a greatly over looked fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_man_3241 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 hay just droppin in to see how ur albinos bn fry are going are they spawing raugualry?? mine have litterly run over my tank lol got to start getting rid of some soon LOL hay if u ever want to sell some albino fry send us an email and ill happily buy a heap off u ok hope to hear from u soon cheers matty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 G'day Matty, The little albinos are going fine - almost 2cm (nose to tip of tail). The parents have laid eggs again but not yet hatched so not sure how many I'll get this time - the male is firmly wedged up the far end of the log fanning the eggs still - hopefully I'll get another 25. I'm amazed at the LFS prices of these fish at the moment - One place I saw the other day were selling 5cm albinos for $25 each and about 7cm were $50!!!! I have a number of albino longfins now that are about 5cm long - hopefully will get them to grow up to adult size and start to spawn as well. I'm really hooked on the bristlenoses - I want to try and get some peppermints and orange spots next. When the little ones get up bigger (around 5cm) I'll be looking for new homes for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 :D I want mine to breed but they won't!!!! I know they have before too because when I bought them I got a bunch of their fry with them (but all the fry mysteriously disappeared once I got them in my tank at home) I think I really do need something more decent for them to spawn in...no idea what though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hey Cassie, Sorry yours aren't co-operating... I think it was Jo mentioned in another thread to increase the water current for mine and it seems they like that idea although it doesn't swirl round their breeding log that much. Mine are just in a normal 2ft tank and they have fairly soft water and I must admit quite irregular water changes. The temp is around the 26/27 C mark most of the time and they don't get that much light - just natural light from the window near the tank. They appear fairly skittish so I don't annoy them that much apart from feeding and the times for water changes. They do have 3 other commons in with them (2M and 1F) which aren't breeding at all despite a great hollow log covered in java moss and another ceramic log being available so not sure what is up there - maybe the female doesn't care for the attention of 2 males - who knows! I have plans for a bristlenose tank build that is only about 10" high and about 3ft long - hopefully will pick up some glass this week. This will house the commons and the longfin albinos for the moment and leave the 2ft tank for the albinos. Maybe you just have to put them in a corner like mine and they will surprise you when you aren't expecting it like mine did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yeah, well I don need to get a new filter for that tank, the one that's in there has almost carked it. The temp is always about 28-30 in that tank. They get light ( I have a 4ft fluoro over it) but when the duckweed is thick not much gets through into the actual tank lol. I've got 2 lava rocks in there as well as a fake log ornament and kind of fake cave but they don't seem much interested in them. All 3 of them, as well as the clown loach, share the small space created under one of the lava rocks! I think I might get a piece of poly pipe this week and see how they goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Just another thought Cassie.... Mine did nothing till that ceramic log was put in with them - the only real difference between it and the wooden hollow log is that the ceramic one has a closed off end - they seem to lay the eggs on the roof of it at the closed end (how she gets in there and upside down and then turns to get out I have no idea!) Maybe with your poly pipes have some that are closed off one end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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