Bristlenose Catfish Breeding Advice Needed

[DrunkenPanda]

Hi, currently i have been semi-successful at breeding bristlenoses and posting on here so when the new batch of eggs hatch they dont die in time. Its easier to tell a story of the last few weeks rather than try and work out key points so please stay with me til the end.

Our fish bred over a month ago and the was very good at doing his job and protecting the fry, they hatched and about aweek before we went on holiday we saw the first 3 fry swims out from the hole abit then go back in. While away on holiday my mother was left in charge of the fish tank and when we got back after 5 days the baby bristlenoses, 3 clown plecos and 3 clown loaches had whitespot. So we bought a new tank for the lobster and turned his tank into a hospital for the clown loaches, using heat of 32C to cure the clown loaches of whitespot and the main tank got dosed with Protozin. During this process the bristlenose fry numbered 14 that could be counted and when the whitespot had cleared up there was still 14 kicking about the tank.

After the clown loaches got clear of whitespot they were placed back in the main tank and the hospital was cleaned out and turned into a breeding tank. Problem was no fry could be found in the tank and when i did my filter cleanout found all the fry dead apart from two who have died in the breeding tank.

I know breeding fish is trial and error but would like some idea what could have killed them. the ideas local fish stores have said include:

1. fry starved and got to weak to fight the filters pull (i just fed the tank as normal but the fry only ate from the glass and never touched the food added)

2. the fluvel 205 filter i have weakened the fry to the point they could not fight the pull anymore (i was told by this person the fry need a much slower flowrate)

3. the mixture of whitesot and protozin killed them off and the filter got the bodies.

so any advice on this topic would be of great help as the Bristlenoses have already bred again and the male is now guarding the hole

[MatsP]

Fry may well have had internal whitespot (in the gills), particularly TINY fry will be fragile in this aspect.

I don't thin protozin made anything worse, but it may not have been enough.

Healthy fry should survive high temperatures, but that's not to say that higher temperature doesn't affect them.

I'd say it's also likely that the fish got sucked up by the filter AFTER they died (or at least, they were dying when they got sucked up). I have had Corydoras and Bristlenose fry LIVE in the filter (and grown so large than they obviously could not get out of there, so they had to "wait" for me cleaning the filter to get out).

My advice would be to avoid getting whitespot this time ... ;)
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Mats

[DrunkenPanda]

Thanks for your reply, dont worry its the last time my mother is looking after my fish while im away. on a different topic do you know of any good foods you can use while on holiday about 5 or 6 days away from the tanks.

i also forgot to add i keep the main tank between 25.5C and 26C all the time. it was only the hospital tank that was taken to 32C

thanks again for your advice, seeing that many dead fry in the filter was a shock but its put my mind to rest now. i also have had many corys end up in the filter alive and doing fine, but corys are greedy little things who eat anything (well mine do)

[MatsP]

For adult fish, a fast of 5-6 days is not a problem.

If you have SMALL fry, then you need to feed them, for sure. I use fresh courgette and hikari algae wafers (also started on using JBL Novo Plec, which is a bit more "roughage" - not sure how well it goes down with tiny fry tho').

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Mats

[Richard B]

My b/n fry were fine for a week without food - they hadn't left the cave when i went away & were all over the tank when i returned.

Tetra do a circular "gelatine-style" vacation block which is very good but my fry are generally not fussy, par-boiled celery is a favorite but courgette, cucumber, aquarian algae discs, crab & krill sticks are all wolfed down

[jeff@zina.com]

As another BN breeding newbie, I also have some questions. I have several BN in a community tank and am going to move them to a new tank to breed them. I currently have two males and one female, should I be pairing or creating reverse trios (2F 1M) or a breeding group like with my corys? And what size tank, assuming I'd like to keep the fry with the adults until they're an inch or so and I move them to a grow out tank?

Thanks,

Jeff

[MatsP]

Jeff, there is no such thing as a right or wrong answer here. But my feeling is that one male and 1-2 females is the best choice. There have been reports (in fact, I've seen it myself) that multiple males will fight and, rarely, kill each other when fighting over a cave or the right to have babies.

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Mats

[apistomaster]

I have frequently used a 10 gal BN breeding tank for a single pair. I remove the fry a couple weeks after they have left the cave.
Common Bushy Nose are not particular about their breeding tank.
I would replace your filter with a power head driven sponge filter and add an air stone.
There is no reason to us a filter capable of taking in fry. Live fry inevitably explore the inlet too close and get inside power filters.