Djenn666 Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 hey all, ive been away for ages. after moving to toowoomba from brisbane about a week and a half ago i was rearranging a couple things in my tank and have discovered that my albino bristlenoses have spawned (yay!). The thing is that they share a tank with 1 male betta and 5 females. I want the baby bristlenoses to survive when they hatch so i'm wondering what i should do with the bettas? are they okay to stay loose in the tank (i'm thinking a lot of babies will get eaten) or should i move them elsewhere (another tank/a couple of those hang on isolation tanks)? and what should i feed the baby BN? Is throwing in the algae tablets their parents get okay? many thanks Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I find those hang on things far too small. My suggestion is that you set up a separate tank. They'll definitely eat the babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djenn666 Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 thought that'd be the case. i lack 'spare' tanks at the moment though xD if it wasn't so stupidly cold i'd just jar the bettas. shall have to fix my second hang on seperation thing for the last 3 of the bettas or go buy a new one tomorrow. lets hope they dont hatch until then. I wish i knew when exactly the bristlenoses had spawned. ohwell... any thought on food for the little guys? and will my hang on filter be a problem? should i cover/mesh the intakes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I haven't bred bristlenose before so I should probably leave the feeding question to someone else. But I'm fairly confident they'll eat bbs, blanched lettuce leaves, algae wafers etc. Generally when fry are around I would either use a sponge filter or if you're using a hang on, then definitely cover the intake. Nylon stockings and a rubber band is what I'd suggest. In the back of my mind is some information that I may have imagined, but I think you need to remove the female after the spawning. It's filed away in the recesses of my brain that there was a similarity to bettas in that regard. If a bn breeder doesn't pipe to confirm this, at least observe the pair to see if any aggression is occuring due to the male defending the spawning site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Hey Susan.. Bettarazzi's advice is pretty good re getting the betta's away from new BN fry although they do seem to be able to hide well. Also his advice on the filter - stocking or a bit of sponge over the intake will stop BN fry from exploring places they should not go. My fry stay inside the breeding cave/log for at least a week after hatching so no rush to get your betta's housed. For feeding - the baby BN's will eat anything the adults eat - I throw in a hand full of food and soon there is a swarm of babies all over it. They soon make way if an adult wants to have a feed though. I've never removed the females - the female usually gets chased away after laying the eggs and the male will guard the fry in the cave until they manage to sneak past him into the main tank. For feeding my BN's I alternate between a variety of sinking foods - algae wafers, shrimp disks, normal protein pellets and HBH's soft algae pellets (a bit exe but good for a treat). My albino's also love the occasional zuchinni and baby cucumbers get eaten quickly too. The fry get no really special treatment and they seem to be growing quite well and don't seem to be picked on by the older fry or adults in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djenn666 Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 thanks for all of the great advice seems my bn need a few extras in their diet. i never did any further research into it because they seemed to be doing fine. xD i isolated the bettas anyway because if they were really determined they could get into where the male is guarding his eggs. thankfully noone's having a hissy fit and stopped eating (or started tail chewing). i'll post pictures when/if i can get them xD my bristlenoses i'm fairly sure actually are bristlenoses, they're just lacking their bristles. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terribletegs Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 IME bristlenose fry become stunted easily! (Learned that one the hard way...) You need to keep the food availability up. The fry are cryptic in behaviour (they hide) and thus you may have more fry than you think. They will not be okay with any 'greedy' fish. I can house them with male guppies but not female guppies - because female guppies are fat little pigs! They will monopolise the food and the BNs starve. I have had the best luck raising my BN fry in a small dedicated fry tank. An 18inch of 2foot would be ideal. Heavily planted, strong water flow, make sure there is bogwood in the tank with them (same as adults). I feed mine daily or twice daily on sinking pellets, algae wafers, spirulina wafers, cucumber, peas.... You will need to move the fry to a larger growout tank when they are big enough. And change water regularly. I do about 25% every second day while they are in the fry tank. Regular waterchanges are crucial to fast growth and vitality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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