Lyarlla Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 So the other day I went out and finally bought a proper bn cave for my pair. The bn are about 8cm long each. I did a 70% water change and switched off the heater. I have been feeding extra blood worms and frozen brine shrimp lately to condition them. However, yesterday I noticed my male bn was hiding in a crevice of some of my driftwood with just his tail poking out. He doesnt appear to have moved from this spot except for once he came out to eat for 30 seconds. Other than that, every time I check is is in that spot. The female seems to stay close by on that side of the tank too. When she came over he wiggled his tail and chased her away. Is it possible they have laid eggs and he is guarding them? He is normally super friendly and always comes out for spectrum mini pellets but I found it really odd when he didnt come out for food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Get a torch and see if you can shine it into his crevice, if you see a bunch of yellow near him they're eggs! How exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted January 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 LOL the problem is I cant see around corners even with a torch I cant see any yellow eggs but maybe he is just showing his stuff to her. She better get her act together and get fat with eggs asap :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dracon Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 ive just had mine breed in a tubestock pot i thru in the 2ft tank for them to hide in while we moved i got around to setting up the 6ft yesterday, moved all the fish and started to pull down the 2ft tank before i found the eggs so it all went back how it was and the BN are the only fish in the tank now at least you noticed a different behavier in your fish Lyarlla mine just hang on the log near the pot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbies Betta Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 How'd you go? any luck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted January 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Not yet... she is munching cucumber as I type... and he is strutting his stuff She is getting so fat! She looks as round as a 20 cent piece when shes on the glass and getting fatter each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 So I gave up on them and left them alone. He moved into residence in the cave and had been fanning to show off... or so I thought, but using a lamp last night to peek in and be a “peeping Cassi” as Wayne likes to call it, THERE ARE EGGS!!!! Not heaps, only about 10 or so and this is their first spawn so they are still very young, but he is in overdrive fanning then constantly. She is in hiding (recovering?). I’m assuming based on his behaviour that the eggs were laid maybe 3 days ago and they are right up the very very back of the cave So excited right now!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Congrats on the eggs at last!!! Finally they are doing the right thing for you! I've just had my longfin albino's and my shortfin calico bn's both lay a clutch of eggs and hatched out yesterday - first spawn for the albino's which I've had since they were babies - third spawn for the calico - not sure if it's the proximity to New Moon (last weekend) or if it's the wet weather! Whatever the case - you will be peeping up the log a lot more till you see tiny wagging tails I'm sure!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Oh yeah I will be. I've had the female since she was about 2cms. I picked the tiniest bn in the tank so its really excited they have now spawned although I hope they end up with the male's personality - he really is an awesome fish with a bold streak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Can see the headlines now.... Lady arrested for stalking male bristlenose... says she's only interested in his bold personality! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hahahaha, go away and leave me to my stalking ways. Better fish than people In other news, how are all your catfish going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 (edited) I've just noticed another load of eggs from my pair too! out of the 3 spawns they've had so far, only 4 babies survived. My nasty, greedy, little betta fry ate the newly hatched bn fry from the last lot. Now I've gotten rid of the clown loach from my 3.4ft tank and only have the BN pair and my peppermint pleco in there hopefully the little babies will be able to get around in peace and grow up big and strong with no predators. Keep us posted on how yours go. I think I've got another spawn of about 20-30 from my pair. He has a rather large bunch of yellow eggs he's fanning. Edited February 18, 2010 by Fighters4U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 congrats on yours too cassi - bout time they did it again for you - and without the predators you should get a nice little swarm of wagging tails all over your tank! Lyarlla - my other shortfin catfish breeders have been in the fish pond the last few months (don't have any fry growing out at the moment) - cooler water in there during summer for them - noticed the albino male up a log the other day when I parted the weeds to have a look - not sure if they'll breed in there and even if they do the goldfish and rosy barbs will probably clean up a lot of them. Will fish them out next month and put them back in a tank for winter so I can keep them a bit warmer than outside. going to see if I can get a few peppermints when I find some fry at a good price - or a breeding trio maybe and also on the lookout for longfin calico fry too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hmm, I have an adult guppy trio in with the breeding bns. Will the be big enough to eat the babies? Will the female bn eat the bn fry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Never had bn's eat their own fry - I think the male is glad to get rid of them and the females just want to deposit eggs! A decent sized hungry guppy female might have a go at bn fry but usually they don't bother their own fry once their fry get to a bit over 1cm - possibly will be the same for the bn - just keep an eye on them incase though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Thats a relief! I was looking at some pics of newly hatched fry and smokes they are tiny! This pic is my fav of an L260 http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/plecophoto4.JPG What a blob :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 lol... two eyes and an egg sack! The L numbers are where the money is at - not my money though - can't afford $500 per fish... but one day I wouldn't mind a few... definitely some great colour patterns with some of the L's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 I think I might get myself some baby peppermints for my birthday. I know of a local breeder selling them for $8-$10 each for 1-3cm babies. I got 4 of them in 07 but accidental killed 3. The remainder is male He's sweet though, he keeps moving into the BN cave (maybe he wants to be a dad?) only to be evicted when the BN's want to do their thing. Wayne, yeah my BN's did take a while to spawn again for me. I'm not sure why this time. The temp isn't too high (23-24ish), they've been fed well on bloodworm, brine shrimp and algae discs and I unclog the filter of hair algae regularly to keep a nice current going but they've just not been in the mood I guess for a month or so. They were breeding for me basically every 2 weeks. I'd put the male back with his cave once his babies were out of the cave alone and within a few days he'd be back in there with another load of eggs. I hope they keep this up for the next few weeks and I end up with a ton of baby BN's. I know I won't get much for them at the LFS but the more I have the more I'll make Good luck with yours Lyarlla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 2 weeks???? far out I thought theyd give it a rest and have a month in between! How long till the eggs hatch? Its 5-7 days from memory. Any special tips to caring for the babies? PS. I bought 2 baby peps too :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 um, mine usually hatch anywhere from 3-5 days never had them go as long as 7. They're then out of the cave and looking like real mini bn's 2 or so days after that. I fed mine lettuce, zucchini and cucumber as well as algae discs but I think the bettas ate most of their food, except for the lettuce..they didn't seem to like that. I just blanched it in boiling water for 30 seconds then refreshed it in cool tap water and put in the tank under a rock. The devoured it! I can't think of any special care, having predators in the tank obviously doesn't help but other than that I can't think of anything. Wayne might have some good tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 They were good tips! I have removed/rehoused the predator bettas lol cause I know they will fight the bns for the cucumber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 My bettas even eat the algae pellets it's disturbing! I have to make sure I over feed them now so there's some BS or BW left over for the single remaining in there to eat. I'm not sure I want to put it into the 3.4ft tank yet, I'm afraid it will have too hard a time competing with the other Bn's for food and might end up starving to death. Plus it's used to a nice clean heated and well filtered tank with IAL where it hatched and grew up..the 3.4ft isn't heated at the moment, the filter clogs with hair algae often and it's not clean at all.... the BN's in there have become accustomed to the neglect...this little one is used to being pampered..even it's siblings get pampered at Amanda's (aka Fergus) Good Luck with them! get photo's if you can. I'm gonna try for some newly hatched bn photo's this time. They should hatch tomorrow I reckon. :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 I usually leave the fry with the father as long as I can - somewhere I read that separating them isn't the best thing - can't remember why. Probably because it slows down the repeat breeding possibility and doesn't weaken the father from lack of food due to having his head stuck up a log all the time! If you want to take the babies out of the tank and raise them seperately do it while they are in the log - just lift it out with fry and father all at once. (If you wait for them to emerge from the log and try to catch them with a net you could damage them as they're still pretty fragile and small.) Once they come out of the log you can put dad and log back in the main tank again. The fry usually thrive in the same conditions as the parents and will eat anything you normally feed the parents - give them more treats though (or I do) while they are little. Just watch other adults don't push the little ones off their food too much too - adult bn's are pigs when it comes to eating tasty treats. I'm hoping to have fry out of the log this weekend (fingers crossed) - I can see some nice long tails wagging in the log and those glowing red eyes - just hoping for majority to be longfins so I know I have a good quality group and not a shortfin/longfin cross. Any sign of yours hatching yet Lyarlla? Did yours hatch today Cassi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 My male laid the eggs at the very very back of the log in the top left corner and he pretty much sits over them waving his fins. I keep trying to have a peek at the eggs to see if they are darkening slightly yet or to see if there are tails but every time I put the lamp up the log, he immediately covers the eggs with his body. Great that he's an awesome first dad. Sucky for peeking-Cassi-wannabe's like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 I got a half look in a moment of sneakiness. I have tails all up the back!!! Super excited right now!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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