Hey there! Got a bristlenose male doing what I believe is fanning eggs (saw him at the entrance of this little nook in the driftwood when the female was in there earlier) and I'm pretty sure it would be ideal to have a seperate tank for fry to move into, and potentially so I could separate them for a little while at a time if I start getting too overloaded. I'm a little tight on space so even the tank I'm thinking of buying for this purpose (51W x 30D x 43Hcm, 52L) is a squeeze but I'm pretty sure I can fit it. Ultimately I want the best for my fish so worse case scenario I will sell the female, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. Currently I've got a 70L tank with a 61 x 36cm footprint, well-filtered and with water changes and gravel cleaning every week to week and a half (about 15% water changes) and have no issues with anything. No other tankmates in there other than a couple pond snails. So, any tips on raising the fry? Would the 52L be okay to keep the fry in until I can sell them (or to keep the adults separate if I have far too many fry at once)? 

Cheers guys

As there's nothing else in there, leave them where they are. Once the fry leave their cave they look cute zipping about with their little tails looking like flags. Neither parents eat the fry. Indeed, neither do other fish. No special care is needed and they do not need to be separated from the adults.

They love cucumbers. Weight a slice - I use a fishing sinker tied to one or thread a row of slices onto a knitting needle with the sinker tied to the middle, so it sits on the substrate, or leave it floating, and watch them eat it from the inside out until all that's left is the skin.

Your biggest problem will be catching the speedy little buggers when you want to sell them 🙂

 

Awesome thank you! Mostly I'm just worried that the tank will get too crowded with all the new little fish in there. What size can you sell them and do you feed the cucumber raw? Your comment is very helpful, makes me less nervous. :) Turns out the male wasn't fanning but I'd like to be prepared for when he is as I'm fairly certain he's getting ready.

Raw cucumber. They will eat all sorts of veg actually. They are very small so don't upset the bioload too much when young.
I found they don't transport well under 3cm so you need them at least that to sell in my opinion. Others may disagree (someone always does 🙂 )

Fella may have been cleaning out the site ready to entice a female into his space.

Sounds great, thanks! And yeah I though he might have been too

How long should you leave the cucumber in for?

Until they have eaten all but the rind, or it all starts to fall to bits. Start with 1 slice as it sometimes takes them a while to try new foods.

Alright, sounds wonderful thank you!!

Thought you might like to see these pics, taken today (excuse the messy tank). The gold ancistrus is around 8cm. The Odessa barbs went nuts over it as soon as I dropped it in.

Yooo that looks cool! Cute lil guys!!

Does raw zucchini work too? We've got frozen slices and I was thinking I could defrost it, weigh it down (ziptie around a rock or a plant weight) and drop it in. I'd love to do that even just for the adults tbh. Are raw vegetables safe in general? Is the boiling just to make it sink/make it softer or is raw stuff unsafe?

I've never boiled any veg before adding them to the water. I would think they would break up and foul the tank faster. You don't have to weight them down either but I think it makes it easier for the fish to eat. Try spearing a slice onto a fork and dropping that in.

Try various veg but make sure they are washed first to remove any pesticides or other stuff on store bought veg. It can take the fish a day or two to recognise it as new food. If they haven't touched it after 3 or 4 days, and it is starting to break up, remove it and try something else.

Pumpkin is also enjoyed by some fish but it does break up faster, which is why cucumber, zucchini and the like work well. Shelled peas are often used for constipated fish.

Experiment and see what your fish like best. I knew a cichlid who loved bananas!

Ah makes heaps of sense, thank you! I gave them raw zucchini with a plant weight last night and my male loved it! Tried it in about an hour. He's a very active and curious fish, though, so I'm not surprised. Female hasn't tried it unless she did so when I was asleep which wouldn't surprise me.

Here is what it looks like day 2. See how they have eaten from the inside out? You can also see gnaw marks on the outer skin.

I was going to post an updated pic of what the cucumber slices looked like today but when I looked, at lunchtime, the knitting needle was totally bare! It usually takes them 3 or 4 days to finish it and there are often rings of skin floating about, which I remove.

Yoo nice! Got home from camp today, whole thing exceot a little bit of 'scum'  on the weight was gone! Breeding caves got delivered today and I will wash them and put them into the tank in a couple hours.

Good luck!

Tomorrow someone is coming to catch all my fish and dismantle my last aquarium. I will be fishless for the first time in 45 years. I am unable to do the maintenance myself and want them to go to somewhere they will be well looked after.

Aww, glad they're going to a good home though