Alan_au

Yeah, the GBA will breed,,,,,just the rainbow wil eat all the babies !

Goodness !!!!! Phill, if you have Ancistrus catfish ( Bristle nose ) from Peru, then there is no way that they are the same species as the common bristle nose !!!! Not just different lines, but different species all together !!!!! Am I reading things right here ? Is it an honest mistake? or is some one doing a massive snow job ???? Alan PS. on the other hand might be some nice rare Bushy nose cats going at common prices !!!!!!!!

In all the years that I have kept Bristle nose catfish, the only plants they ever harmed were Barclaya longifolia,,,,and they absolutely destroyed those overnight... I never thought that half a dozen B/N could eat 10 medium to large plants in 24 hours, but they did !!! Alan.

My experience breeding Emporas, not all males are fertile. They will spawn but the eggs aren't fertile. When you do get a fertile male they are a nice easy tetra to breed. Unlike most, they don't seem to be avid egg eaters so you are not costantly watching the breeding tank. With a good quantity of spawning medium (java moss or nylon mops) you only need to check for eggs daily. Alan.

Before you go making profound statemants like that Kyle, get a little experience breeding these specise. When you have spawned and raised a few thousand whips I may bow to your opinion. I am always amiable to change, that is what education is about. In twenty or so years, when you have the tertiary qualifications I have, lets talk about this again. I am not going to pos identify a fish from a single pic of a juvinile when there is doubt between two closely related species. I quallified my I.D. with future developments of the fish's morphology. I'm afaid, with my experience I can't do better. Alan. Alan Hosking-James Dip.PA.BSc.Dip App Sc(Hort)

A good indication that a spawn is emminast with all Ancistrus (Bristle nose) is the male sitting at the entrance of his cave 'Flashing' his bristles. It is the female that innitiates spawning, the males just sits in ambush indicating that he is ready. Ala.

Crap Kyle ! It is a Sturisoma. Twig cats are Farlowella genus. Totally different fish altogether. Believe me I have been breeding them more than 30 years, and it took me a long time and a lot of money buying the same fish under different names to sort it all out. Forget "Common names", be a real aquarist and use the correct scientific names. Alan.

I am leaning toward S panamense and another Aus whip breeder agrees at the moment. If they keep the dark patern high up on the arch of their back and dark bars continue up into the dorsal fin they are Royals. They should also grow long filaments on their pectorals and cordal. Alan.

Jess, The fish pictured is a (Genus) Sturisoma most definately, the species is a little doubtful at that size. There are two very similar,- S. panamense "Royal Whiptail" (often erroniously lables a twig catfish when small), and S. barbatum,,,,some times labled S. nigrarostrum which is an invalid name,,,the Longnose Whiptail. These two are very difficult to tell apart when small, and S barbatum is a lot easier to keep and breed than S panamense. This is also reflected in the price as Royals, S panamense, are usually 3 or 4 time the price of S barbatum, the longnose whip. Falowella arcus,,,the true 'Twig catfish' is no relation and looks totally different. Alan.

C.B., Any chance you took note of the temperature, pH, or hardness of your water when they spawned??? Just in case some one else out there might like to try their hand Alan

Remember that if you have a couple of hundred baby BN in a tank and you are feeding to the max, they crap heaps. So cleaning filters is a continious chore, along with water changes. Dosen't matter what you are feeding. Plenty of food in means that much waste out the other end and BN will eat all day and all night if the food is there. Alan.

Blanched pumpkin is my primary food, the fish love it and it is inexpensive. Zuchinni, when I can get it under $1.50 / kg for a change, or chocko, or what ever is in season. They eat just about any veg that has been blanched.

You can get Bristles to 3 cm SL in about 12weeks ( about the smallest I like to move them much,,,,,,,unless newly hatched and then only in my fish room) To get them to 5 cm SL takes quite a bit longer as they put on body bulk as well as length. I try to sell all mine at 3 cm, most economical for time, food and growing space. The time, food and space is not worth the extra $1 I get for a 5 cm fish. But that is here where I get $1 for a 3 cm fish or $2 for a 5cm fish. I have no idea the value in NZ. Alan.

B/N like a highly fiberous diet, and their exrement tends to hold together in long strings if they are getting the right diet. (as do all plecos) Dont worry ! Your fish is eating well and just doing it's thing. Alan.

Right on bill !!! specially if you have a good snail population or a couple of bristle nose in the bare tank with the recovering cories (Catfish). We have no scientific evidence so far but anacdotal reports suggest a bacterial activity on "Cat whiskers" in some situations. To the extent that some cases result in total erosion and mouth deformaties. Alan.

That is an "Old wives tale" that sharp substrate wears away barbels on catfish. Experiments with crushed glass have proved beyond doubt that it is not the physical form of the substrate that causes "Barbel erosion". Barbel erosion is quite commen in bare tanks with no substrate at all. Provided the damage is not total, yes the whiskers will grow back. Alan.

That's it !!! I'm moving to NZ. Might ballance the migration numbers a bit. Seems 2/3 of Kiwis live in Aus. Bristle nose would have to be the easiest of all plecos to breed. Feed them right, good water, and suitable spawning cave and you can't stop them! And I only get $2 for a 5cm (SL) bristle here. In my experience (35 yrs + breeding plcos), they need massive amounts of veg food. A few algae discs and what ever they scrounge around the tank will not get them into breeding condition. A well fed female bristle nose will spawn every 40 to 45 days. Good size fish,,,,,50 to 80 eggs per spawn. Goes a long way to paying the food and power bills for the fish room every year. Alan

Gee, I'm a bit late getting to this strand. But Bob has got it right, the critter bottom center of the pic is the larva of one the diving beetles. Regeardless of species they are perdators of anything small enough to be captured so fish fry make an ideal entre' .. There is also a damzel fly larva in the pic along with all the daphnia. Upper left, long thin greeish thing with bug eyes. Also a predator of small animals. I would siggest that both these predators are growing fat in the pond eating daphnia or anything else they may catch. The use of a fine seive or course netting will allow the daphia through but retain the nasties for disposal or feeding to larger predatory fish. Alan

Cories have lousey eye sight at the best of times. The never see food cvomming and only go into a mad feed mode when they smell/sence the food near. Then they just zoom around until they bump into something tastey. Definately not sight feeders. so he prolly not in the least handicapped. Alan.

From the plate forms(scales) on the belly I would think R microlepidogasta is close, tho we don't have the scale patterns for all the whip species. Looks very much like what I had, imported as R microlepidogasta..... As for what the "crocodile" whips are ????....I have no idea. Alan.

It is more a question of age rather than size. I once had some BN get down 18mm airlifts and live in the UG filter. Of course they never got fed in there, but I was not going to pull apart a going growing tank to get them out. Stunted and under fed as they were the still spawned at around 5 cm but they had been in there for about 9 months. Given that they were a couple months old when they were put in the tank in the first place, let's say about a year old regardless of size. This is about right for my breeding colonies of normal size BN. Alan

Kim, Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is a "Discus Cone"???? With Discus these days you just fill a beer bottle with sand, stand it in a bare tank, and Discus spawn on it. (Not an original idea, saw it being used in a three story Discus factory in Asia) Works with Angles also. These "Discus Cones" have me intrigued. Alan.

We don't have any "Black eyed Golds" here in Aus, well not that I am aware of anyway. (One of these days I am going to zip over to NZ, con Kim out of a half dozen and sneek them back here). However, I have been fooling around with ancistrus species for more than 30 years, and have tried all sorts of spawning sites (caves). Coconut shells, ceramic logs from retail outlets, home made slate caves, drilled and glued flower pots, PVC pipes, bamboo tubes, 'Woomera rock', you name it. The most accepted and successful spawning site I have found is a plain old clay (terracotta) saucer that they use under flower pots. Cheap as chips and available from plant nurseries or orchid outlets. Just tap out a section of the rim with a hammer, smooth the rough edges with the scrap knocked out and place in the breeding tank upside down. All my breeding tanks have 'full tank' UG filters as well as ancillery filters and these 'breeding caves' have proved themselves over the years. Do not be alarmed if the father lets the cave opening get covered in while he is brooding. When the time is right he will dig himself and the babies out. A neat way of keeping predators at bay Alan

Chris, You can be fairly confident that he is a L129. This Hypancistrus species can be very variable in colour patterns even to the extent that they will change with age. A nice little fish only gets to about 8 cm SL and if you can find a female for him there is no reason that they can't be bred in aquarium. Alan

For a nut like me who plays with line breeding and genetics, this would be a real buzz!!! How cool would be a black eyed gold BN with a black tail ??? Alan