enzoom1 Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 hey everybody! woke up today and walked over to my tank to see lots of bristlenose fry everywhere! i bought the pair about a month ago at the lps for i think $15-20 each. They were in different tanks so i was taking a leap of faith hoping that they would be a good breeding pair....and they are! Only thing I'm nervous about is sucking up the fry in the siphon when cleaning tank :-? anyone have any suggestions about keeping the fry healthy and what not? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Congrats on breeding them. Do you think you done anything to trigger them breeding (I'm trying to get mine breed and was hoping there was something I could do to bet them in the mood :lol: ). Once again congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why would you want to breed them? EVERYONE breeds them. They breed like rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Hey cam, thanks. sorry i can't say i know what triggered them to breed, but I have read that a 50% water change can do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why would you want to breed them? EVERYONE breeds them. They breed like rabbits. Because BNs babys are soooo cool. I done a 50-60 percent water change today but so far it hasn't worked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Because BNs babys are soooo cool. I done a 50-60 percent water change today but so far it hasn't worked Have they paired up yet? Have you seen them both in the same place(maybe aorund a hole or cave) recently? And the males will sometimes practice fanning nothing before they spawn too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I've seen them together but they don't tay with each other that long (1-2 minutes ussually) and the male doesn't really use the cave it's mainly the female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why would you want to breed them? EVERYONE breeds them. They breed like rabbits. sad give the guy some respect lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 hahaha lol. it is pretty true, they do breed like rabbits lol but i reckon they're awsome so yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why would you want to breed them? EVERYONE breeds them. They breed like rabbits. It's called achieving something Makes most people feel good to achieve something in life :roll: Congrats enzoom and good luck Cam 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thanks african. I just like watching things raising their fry and breeding and like I said before baby BNs are soooo cool. Once again congrats enzoom1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Congrats enzoom1 :bounce: Only thing I'm nervous about is sucking up the fry in the siphon when cleaning tank :-? anyone have any suggestions about keeping the fry healthy and what not? I don't do gravel cleans on my BN growout tank until the fry are big enough to see easily and to get out of the way quickly. You can still siphon water to do water changes if you have the hose taking water from the middle level or you could put a net over it. I do small water changes, no more than 20%, and I warm the fresh water a little. I only do 1 a week :oops: but 2 would be better I feed my fry with flake mostly, spirulina tabs and some kind of vege like courgette, cucumber or skinned peas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 It was only a few years ago that BNs were rare in NZ. It was thanks to one particular woman that we have the number we now have today. Only a few years ago "everyone' was breeding rice fish. Try to find some now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 It was only a few years ago that BNs were rare in NZ. It was thanks to one particular woman that we have the number we now have today. Only a few years ago "everyone' was breeding rice fish. Try to find some now! Must be true because I dont even know what a rice fsh is. :lol: And Who would this particular woman be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 It's called achieving something Makes most people feel good to achieve something in life :roll: Congrats enzoom and good luck Cam 8) They'll quickly feel otherwise when they realize they have 300 bristlenose to get rid of, all their tanks have drifts of bristlenose poop and everything inside the tank is impossible to see through the brown bristlenose shingling. Then, years later, after they're down to the last 30ish and have torn EVERYTHING out of their 400L tank so they could get every single one except the biggest pair, FINALLY don't have any more of them... SEVEN MORE OF THE *#$* THINGS!!! will pop out of who knows where as they're picking up the bags of bristlenose to take to the fish shop. That's my experience anyway. But, at least they're not pearl gouramis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 enzoom - congrats The young ones are very handy for keeping tanks tidy. The adults do tend to poop a lot though. My recommendations are a small slice of corgette weighted down with something, change it every 2-3 days. Make sure not to overfeed your other fish with flake food etc, when flake food is left over I tend to find my bristlenose have the tendancy to bloat, so I'm very anal about what goes in to the tanks. Cam - you can't just throw them together and make them breed. It will take time, its usually best to concentrate on something else and leave them to it, they'll do it when they're ready. Mine just do it when they feel like it, water changes or food don't seem to make a difference, just one day 'tada'. The eggs take a week to hatch, and often if you find young bristlenose swiming around they could already be a few weeks old Something else I do is when I see the babies hiding in the cave with dad OR eggs, is move the cave and male bristlenose to a new tank of the same temp (preferably already cycled). The best bristlenose producing factories I've seen are generally well stocked community (nothing that bites, so fish like neons and guppies) that are just left alone. After about a year you'll have too many bristlenose to know what to do with like Ira said. When I get the space I want to setup a 2ft planted guppy tank with my GBAs, and leave them to it. The good thing with BN and GBA is that they don't eat each other (although males do fight) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Thanks for the tips spiderweb. So you think that they breed better when in a tank with other fish??? I'm just going to leave them there and hope one day they'll breed. I'm pretty sure in my other tank I have a male and female as the male is about 7cm and has bristles and the other is 5-6cms and doesn't have any so hopefully I'll have two pairs. I've heard that it's harder to stop them breeding than it is to start them so I should probably be a bit worried if I do have two pairs. How are the babies going enzoom1? How many do you think you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 I doubt they breed better in a tank with other fish, I think it's a "Watched pot" kind of situation. People with them in a tank on their own do it because they're watching and waiting impatiently for them to breed. In a community tank they don't pay as close of attention so the bristlenoses seem to boil quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Cam you will be stoked after your first lot born... 8) And to keep a limit on the amount yours produce you can always seperate males/females... and just reintroduce when you want some to breed again. Many people I have spoken to in past have said their Bristles have often gone in stages of breeding, breed a few batches then they have a chill out period... I have found our Bristles have bred in a tank of their own or in a community. Our GBA's have gone well in their own tank with very good strong water flow. Enzoom is going to busy counting :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Oh OK so it doesn't really help. I'll just have to try and forget about them for a while. maybe another tank will help 8) :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yep what the others have said in reply Having two pairs is fine, but you'll find only the dominant male will breed, and the eggs provided by both females. Bristlenose don't form pairs like cichlids do. You'll find (well I found) the males will often fight for this position and for the best cave. They're not serious fights, they just try and push each other out of the cave and pull out their spikes, haven't seen any damage from it but the harrasment is annoying to watch. I think the preferred ratio is 3 girls to 1 male in a tank. Means he'll be busy with eggs a lot of the time. So up to you what you do with them, I don't think the other male will have a negative impact unless they're fighting a lot (like my ones are at the moment ). Anyone want a male GBA?!!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Well I have at least 5 adult males and only 2 girls in mine :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yeah I'm hoping most of my little ones are females as I'd put them alll except maybe one with my big male just incase something happens to my big male then I'd still have a breeding pair. Sorry for hijaking enzoom1's thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Congrats Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 I tried to do a head count of all the fry today and I found that there are 40+ of them. I'm gonna have my hands full caring for them all until they are ready to be sold It's funny, you see some really pale almost albino ones in the batch while others are common coloured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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