Breeding albino bristlenose plecos

[slowlips]

I bought a mated pair of albino bristlnose plecos a couple of months back and put them in a 75g with cichlids.They did not breed till now.I am planning to move the pair to a 20g long aquarium. Could anyone tell me the tips to breed them like food to give etc.Thanks

[MatsP]

For food: Read my feeding plecos article (part 1 for what you may want to feed them, part 2 if you are uncertain about what to feed your particular fish - but it's a "mainly vegetarian food").

As to breeding, I'm sure there has been at least 10 posts THIS YEAR - and the site has been running for more than 10 years, so there will be many posts about breeding common bristlenoses - about breeding common bristlenoses - the fact that they are albino doesn't change it other than "they will come out sort of white/yellow rather than brown".

My son, who is 6 years old, get fry from them in his tank [ok, I'm helping out by making sure they get the right amount of food and water changes].

--
Mats

[2wheelsx2]

I think the biggest problem is your cichlids. Once you move them to their own tank like you're going to, from all reports I have read, you won't be able to stop them from breeding even if you tried.

[Richard B]

Could you define "mated pair"?

How big are the individuals?

My pair are in a 24 x 15 x 12 & even temporarily housing sharks, barbs etc hasn't stopped them breeding & i do nothing special really. High filtration & varied diet & there you go, 100+ fry every month...

[slowlips]

Could you define "mated pair"?

How big are the individuals?

My pair are in a 24 x 15 x 12 & even temporarily housing sharks, barbs etc hasn't stopped them breeding & i do nothing special really. High filtration & varied diet & there you go, 100+ fry every month...

They are proven breeders they bred before from where I got them.Both are about 4 inches.

[PeterUK]

I have my BN's in 24 x 15 x 12, one pair per tank with no other fish, filtration is by 360 litre sponge filter, bare bottom, one piece of bog wood and 2 upturned 6 inch terra-cotta saucers with a 2inch section cut from the edge (this is where they lay their eggs).
To get them to breed I do 50 % water changes daily for as long as it takes to get eggs (usually about a week)
Once the fry are out and about I increase the amount of food (obviously) slowly, as the fry grow the water needs changing daily as it gets milky white extremely quickly when I feed courgette, so I do 70 -75% water changes daily,
which then gets the adults ready to lay more eggs and the cycle starts all over again.
I noticed today while doing a water change that a 2nd batch of small juv albinos have been let out of the nursery by the male. I must have about 350 - 400 juvs under 1 inch now (normal and albino)

Check recent photo's HERE . . . . 4th post down.

[jeff@zina.com]

The largest problem with BN's is getting rid of the fry. My LFS don't want them until they're close to two inches, which means I need a vegetable farm to support the grow out period.

Jeff

[PeterUK]

The largest problem with BN's is getting rid of the fry. My LFS don't want them until they're close to two inches, which means I need a vegetable farm to support the grow out period.

Jeff

I feed 1/2 of a 8 inch courgette daily to each tank with a few sinking pellets whenever I'm passing the tank, which doesnt work out that expensive at all.