fishbites Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) Well I was being a voyeur and looking up this boy's log and guess what! He's guarding a decent size batch of eggs! He has only two very short bristles forming on his nose so I didn't expect him to be able to breed yet but apparently so! He's been hanging round in this log for weeks and I put it down just to practicing... looks like he's got it right and the girl has thought him attractive enough to visit his log! I've got an albino male and two common males fanning eggs at the moment too... must be the right time for them or I've managed to get their conditions right again. I haven't had a spawn of bristlenoses since I moved all of them out into the shed. I also shone a torch up the longfin albino's log and discovered two fish in there so fingers crossed they are spawning and not just trying to see how many fish fit in a ceramic log! Edited November 3, 2009 by fishbites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 All the best Wayne, I really like these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninoid12 Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 very nice!!! Fingers crossed :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted September 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 THanks! I'm pretty stoked about this... They are great colours and getting a pair out of the last 2 fish the breeder had was pretty good luck. I checked the longfin albinos and go eggs - one fish keeps hanging round when the male is in the log so am still hopeful there. Now just have to wait for the peppermints - the largest has claimed the log in his tank but has a few others hanging round it - I think they are a bit small to breed yet but the calico's proved me wrong about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 All eggs hatched and now well over 12 babies wriggling around at the far end of the log .... all look orange at this stage... must get their black/brown blotches as they grow ... wonder if their blotches change patterns / shapes like marbled bettas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Keep us updated! Look foward to hearing their progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I so need to get me a ceramic log....my brislenose don't like breeding in my tank at all. And I know I have a breeding pair as I bought them with some of their fry! where did you get yours wayne? I can't seem to find any logs that don't have holes all down the lengths Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Will do Julia.... Cassi the logs I have are just from the LFS - the first lot I got were about $7.50 each but they have gone up to about $9.50 now. There are several guys on another website who sells BN caves (not sure if I can mention it so PM me for details). They look quite a good construction and have good feedback too. Alternatively... you could just cut up a piece of pvc pipe and cap the end or put it up against the tank wall.... or use an old coffee mug with a few rocks around the entrance to make the entrance a bit smaller... etc. BN's need a cave of some kind they can call their own - no back doors just a front door the male can guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Well the babies have left the cave on schedule.... they are about 1cm long and a real orange yellow colour (much darker than albinos) but no real signs of their trademark dark splotches yet. Perhaps this comes with age. The fry have attached themselves to the tank walls and who knows where else since escaping the cave - will not be able to count them now but from the pile of eggs and numbers of tails I saw in the cave I'd guess about 15-20 perhaps (fingers crossed). Will try to get pics when I see one of them on the front glass of their tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninoid12 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 gorgeous!!!!! Hope they get that sexy blotchy look :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Nina, looks like they do have the beginnings of their markings already - found about 8 that slipped past a divider and into the albino longfin's half of the tank - all eight have distinct dark patches on them - so looks like it develops from very early on and continues into adulthood with them. (needed two pairs of glasses on to see the markings!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Checked up the calico bn's log today with a torch and there is another batch of eggs! The number of eggs looks a lot less than last time but will just have to wait for them to hatch and come out to play! All the babies from the last batch have managed to squeeze past a glass partition and are all now happily eating with the longfin albinos (no sign of eggs yet but looks like 2 males and 1 female definitely out of the 5 so far). I counted 26 baby calico bn's at feeding time - a lot more than I expected from a first spawn. All are about 1.25cm long and seem to pounce on food as soon as it hits the gravel. Their markings are much more prominent too and just like fingerprints - not one the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Wayne you make me want to set up a breeding tank for bristlenose! What do you feed them when they hatch? Are they hard to care for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninoid12 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 i am breeding cbn atm, and feed zucchini weighted down with a fork jabbed into it. And algae wafers. I used to blanche the zucchini to soften it for the newbies, but it fouls up the water too fast so i gave up on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Go for it Lyarlla... bn's are easy to care for - give them a bit of wood to chew - greens or algae wafers to eat (plus the occasional treat of blood worms) and they are usually pretty happy. If you want to breed them give them a gentle flow of water and a hollow log / cave to nest in (no open ended pipes - close off one end always). And yes... zucchini and lettuce and some even feed pumpkin and other vegies to their bn's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 These calico's are on their second batch of fry now - about 50 fry in just under 6 weeks isn't too bad for a pair of teenage bn's! To add to their batch I just noticed 30 albino fry all stuck to the glass of another tank! Didn't even realise they were that far advance - all about 1cm long so far. Seems like the mass extinction from last week is being replaced - 50 marbled, 30 albino and about 40 common fry all within the last 6 weeks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Good to hear after your columnaris dramas, Wayne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 waaaaaa why won't my darn commons breed!?!? I have them a cave and everything . Congrats on all your babies though Wayne! Albino's creep me out but the calico's seem cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Yes Lisa - gone from alarmed back to alert status here now! All my affected tanks are now going to be planted tanks and try to encourage some corys to breed in them and will probably house some bn's in each - hopefully planted tanks will have less troubles than before. Cassi - The albinos are devil fish - red eyes!!! LOL! The calico's are pretty nice fish - love their different patterns and they are breeding like rabbits from the first batch to second in only a few weeks - will have to watch out the male doesn't spend too much time on the nest though and wear himself out not eating as much. Still no breeding from your commons??? What sort of cave did you give them? What size tank are they in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Yay! Fantastic news!! What sort of tank size, temp, water change schedule do you have? How big are your bns when they breed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks Lyarlla - after last week's efforts - this is certainly better news! The commons I have in a 6ft long tank that is only about 28cm wide and 25cm high (picked it up for $20). It is divided but easy enough for the fish to go under the dividers. One breeding log in each section - usually only one male in each section and females tend to roam a bit. Got an 800l/hr otto in one end pumping water into the far end compartment and this then flows back to the first section giving a nice gentle water flow. The albinos are in a 75cm x 38cm x 38cm tank with sponge filter and a lot of plants on logs and a couple of floating plants - not a lot of water flow in there but plenty of oxygen and room. Longfin Albinos and the Calico's are in 15" cubes - sponge filters with a strong bubble rate to give a gentle water flow. A planted log in each. Waterchange once a week about 20%-25%. Temps are whatever the weather gives them - usually between 22C (night) and 28C (day) during summer - in winter I put on heaters at about 25C. All tanks have a female or male betta patrolling for mozzie wrigglers - left a tank with only bn's once and got a swarm of mozzies laying in it! Each male has a ceramic log available which sometimes ends up with a fight if one male likes another male's log better than his own! Quite funny seeing them both try to fit in the same log at the same time! I'm looking at some other ideas including a more voluminous 'cave' type thing - either will make it out of some slate or get some clay and try it out - want to give them more room to do their thing. Breeding size is only about 5cm body length for the calico's - they started even before the male had a real bristle on his nose! Most of the others - commons and albinos that have bred for me have been around the 5-6cm mark. The longfin albinos haven't bred yet and look deceptively large due to the 4-5cm length tails but really they are only just coming up to about 5cm body length so am hoping they will start breeding soon. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninoid12 Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 So bn breed with another fish in there? and how does the fighter cope with the heavy current needed to breed bn? Exciting news about all the bubs. Congrats I as well am on the umpteenth spawn of common bn. Very exciting. Have two pairs in 18in tanks both breeding well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Yeah that does Am wanting to get more fish but am currently unable to decide what I want. I will be taking a break from breeding betta after the other week and dont plan to buy betta any more soon - I think I get too attached to them as individuals. Just waiting for my hundred or so guppy babies to grow up (and get traded away!) and then I will be free to think about what I want next. Breeding bn's is definately high on the list. May get a ceramic log and see how my current bn reacts to it - she/he's about 6 cms now, but no bristles. At what age/size can you tell the males apart from the females? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Bn's will breed with other fish around as long as they don't try to hijack the log / cave for their own use so things like african cichlids or other fish who like logs/caves are not good to have with bn's. Also make sure if you have snails they aren't small enough to get in the log or the bn will pout and stay away. Small snails like ramshorns could even eat the eggs so make sure you don't have many of them - get some clown loaches to do clean up of snails. The betta's don't have to worry about 'heavy' current - in the 6ft tank the 800l/hr otto has 6ft of 12mm pipe attached to it and at the far end the water goes straight up towards the surface filling that compartment (but not at 800l/hr due to the distance of the pipe and it's diameter) which then slowly flows under dividers and over dividers - the only thing it disrupts is a bubblenest if a male tries to blow one in the wrong place. The tanks with sponge filters only give a gentle turnover of water too - no probs for the betta. Too strong a flow of water past the opening of a log or cave can put the bn's off of breeding too I've found - keep a gentle flow and they'll be happy and it will help them keep fanning fresh water going over their eggs. Good to hear your commons are going crazy Nina - did you ever get any peppermints or others? Lyarlla - bn's are pretty easy to breed so give them a go - commons breed like flies and you don't get much for them at the LFS but gee they are good tank cleaners. Go for some of the long fin varieties or peppermints if you want to grow some babies up to breed and return a few $ to your hobby. Your guppies would be fine to have in with the bn's and wouldn't be big enough to eat bn babies - once they come out of their logs they are about 1cm long already. Stick a log in your tank and if the bn you have takes up residence it's likely its a male - females usually only get attracted to a cave / log by a male showing her he has a good safe place to spawn then she (and sometimes several females) will line up and lay eggs for him to hatch. Re age before being able to sex the bn's - with the commons / albinos - usually around 6 months of age you'll notice bristles forming on the males. Peppermints can take a bit longer and so can orange spots - a lot depends on how they are raised, feeding, water conditions, etc etc. Now go out and get yourself some nice longfin calico's and breed them then send me some fry please!!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Hahahaha! Will definately be giving it more thought over the next few weeks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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