dambarwa Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 BREEDING BRISTLENOSE CATFISH - Ancistrus species I've been breeding BN Catfish for a while now. "Mum'n'Dad" (obviously the breeding pair) first spawned when they were only 4cm long!! (3.5 years ago) There is one survivor from this spawning. ("Tippy" is doing very well in my friends' tank) "Mum'n'Dad" are now 4years old and 10cm long!!!! The males develop a wonderful set of bristles around his top lip and straight up the middle of his face. The females, however, keep a smooth nose. There is an exception to this. Some females will grow short bristles around her top lip but NEVER down the middle of their face!! Bristlenoses are excellent at clearing up algae. I've never had an algae problem. I popped a couple into another tank (owned by a 9 year old) because it was looking revoltingly green. ewwwww It was totally cleaned up in 2 days!! Bristlenoses like to breed in caves!! The male will pick out HIS cave for permanent residence. when the female is ready to spawn she will chase him out of his cave (Looks a bit like a "love-dance"). This is the only time I've ever seen "Mum" dominate "Dad". "Mum" will then spawn her eggs in "Dad's" cave! Then "Dad" does ALL the work. He will keep water flowing over the eggs, to prevent them from going to fungus. He does this apparently by feeling the water flow with his bristles!! "Dad" also chases away all and any other fish that come too close. But he only chases, he doesn't attack!!! Once the eggs are laid it takes 5-6 days for them to hatch, then it takes another 5-6 days for the babies to eat their egg sacs, then they'll become free-swimmimg and independent. They are about 1cm when free-swimming and can take up to 4 or 5 months to grow them to 3cm (selling size). They like to eat blood worm, algae pellets and also peas, lettuce, zuchinni, pumpkin, beans etc. Bristlenoses get along with pretty much everything - as long as THEY don't get eaten!! They are great for any type of tank. Also if you're thinking of breeding them - make SURE you have a tank ready for the babies. Once they start to spawn they WILL NOT stop. I use a "Castle" an ornamental -from a LFS- cave. This is a feature of my tank and doubles as a very convenient cave!!! I've heard that others use pvc pipe. With "Catfish Castle" I have only seen the eggs once. Some people like to see the eggs, I reckon that if I can't see them, then "Dad" must be more relaxed!!! An old ceramic flower pot (even a broken one as long as no fish can cut themselves). A friend of mine uses a mug, yep, an old coffee mug with a larger rock over it. There's heaps of ideas!! The entrance to "Catfish Castle" is only 2cm wide x 3cm tall with tiny windows (.5cm x 1cm) and all the new babies come out the windows!!! It's so cute!! But there is plenty of room inside for "Dad" to turn around/move etc. You are only limited by your imagination -and be aware of what your cave is made from-ie; a plaster ornament will disintegrate and your fish won't be very happy with you!! You can 'make' caves just by arranging your driftwood and rocks. By the way I did forget to mention that it seems as if Bristlenoses need some driftwood to munch on too. Opinions differ on why, (fibre???) but it is generally agreed that they do need driftwood in their diet. Driftwood is very cheap at LFS. There are basically 3 sizes, small, medium, and the rest. It is unclear as to why BN's 'munch' on driftwood. I have noticed that there is ALWAYS baby BN on the driftwood. -Small pieces of driftwood make excellent "bait" for catching little ones. Just pop the whole piece gently into a container and lift out!!! "Mum'n'Dad" are on the driftwood at least once a week and have a great time!!! Back to why do they need it? I've never kept BN without driftwood so I don't know what becomes of them without it. I personally think it's for fibre as they are herbivores. If you think about their diet and what they like ie;peas & lettuce etc. then suplementing their diet with fibre makes sense to me. I may be totally wrong. Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 Thanks for that Annie, a very informative post. It is my understanding they need the wood to aid digestion so fibre makes sense. Baby bristlenoses are one of my favourites. Watching lots of babies swarming all over a piece of driftwood is fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 Great post Annie, with lots of interesting information. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us all Happy Days, BIll (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 Along with the Hoplos the BN will be my next breeding attempt. Thanks for the information. I found it very helpful. The other thing I heard is that you can only have one male and female in a tank or they wont spawn. Any truth to this? I have about twenty in different tanks so I will go looking for a suitable pair in the next week or so. I was also wondering if I can put the Hoplos and BN in the same tank and get they to breed. Hoplos bein bubblenest builders and the BN laying under a log etc seems like an ok combination until fry are free swimming anyway then I would get them out before the garbage gutsers (aka Hoplos) scoffed them!! :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambarwa Posted February 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 Hi Cat, I only have a breeding PAIR, but I have heard of breeding Trios where the females will lay a batch of eggs each but in the same cave!! This is so the male can look after both!! Experiment!! I'm not sure what Hoplos are but my BN breed in with Mollies, Platies and a variety of Tetras. BN's like to spawn in a cave so, your Hoplos are bubblenest builders, if you supply a very enclosed 'cave', I mean 'enclosed' only a 2cm x 2cm sizeish opening with room to move inside - they'll get in, and it should work!! Good Luck Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 I am no good with 'proper' names. Just rushed out and got my fishy book and they are "Hoplosternum" (so this book says anyways. A South American catfish. Cool fish. Very interactive - feed from my hand. Even sit in my hand if I leave it in the tank. Mine are about 6 - 8 inches long. Hyperactive little critters. Always on the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Hoplos = Hoplosternum thoracatum (or something like that, though I think the genus may have changed again). You can definitely have more than one female BN in the the male - I had three females spawning at about the same time with the one male - just means that the male has a huge number of eggs to sit on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambarwa Posted February 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Hi there Rob, If the male 'sits' on 1 batch of eggs, it takes 10-12 days. When he comes out he is ravenous!! He doesn't seem to eat while he's 'on' eggs. I'm wondering how he would eat to keep up his strength if he had 2 or more females' eggs? Does he eat? He NEVER leaves his cave ("Catfish Castle"). I'd be scared of him starving to death. I put 1 Algae Pellet in "Catfish Castle" his 10-12 days confinement. Do the females leave batches of eggs at the same time or are they scattered about? Sorry so many questions. TIA Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bev Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I got a new BN 31/2 weeks ago, male about 4 - 5 cm long to go in my community tank with what I had decided was a female (almost no bristles). At first they chased each other round the tank for about 2 hours then settled. After a week the male disappeared, when I had not seen him for 4 days I shifted some of the bogwood looking for him. Found with a mass of about 30-40 eggs (maybe more). it's now 13 days later and today while cleaning the tank I could not resist looking for him and the eggs. He was still there with a large moving mass of what I quess are babies (to hard to make them out clearly without disturbing them to much. So I quess the question is how long will he stay with them and how can I make sure that at least some of them surrive life in a community tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I think you will find most of them should survive - depending on what else is in the tank. They are looked after very well by the dad and are bigger than most other fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I had 2 males and 2 females in a 3ft tank. I had one lot, I gave away 1 male and 1 female which I think was the breeding pair ! Then later on the female died, I got another and they have never bred since ! There babies are so cute. I would love another female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I haven't had any luck breeding them either. Lost a few months ago my mature female who had bred once with a huge male I lost ages ago and along with her I lost two other males. 2-3 months ago I bought 14 babies and they're dropping dead all over the place. I think I'm just bad luck for bristlenoses. I think I've gone through a grand total of about 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suemack Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I don't think it's you Ira - local pet shop brought in a whole tank load of babies BN (she's never had a problem with them in the past) and she lost the lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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