bristlenose in a 30 gallon

[woogie0004]

i have been breeding bristlenose in a 30 gallon for a while now just sticking to a trio per 30 i was wondering how many i could safetly put in the 30 the filtereation is a large sponge filter and the tank gets a 50 percent water change once every or every other week

[joe323]

Realistically, as long as there are enough caves/territories for the males to not fight, and filtration/water changes are kept up with, your real limiting factor is the fish themselves. I'd say you could easily keep 2 (maybe even 3) trios as long as you create ample amounts of caves for the males. I would up your filtration from sponges to an aquaclear 50 though...it would only cost like $40 to upgrade.


Joe

[woogie0004]

i have a blower that i use to run sponges in all of my tanks i like the aqua clears but they get expensive both in intial cost and running cost. my main goal is breeding. so would 3 caves for three trios and some good size drift wood pieces for visual barriers do it you think?

[Barbie]

I don't think aquaclears are any better filter than the sponges, if they are maintained correctly. I have quite a few aquaclears and like them, but biological filtration is just that. Surface area and disturbance for oxygenation are the important part, not which specific filter you used to get it.

With that said, a trio of bristlenose should be able to make way more fry than you can ever grow out in a 30 gallon tank without daily water changes. Mine will have upwards of 200 fry every 30 days or so. It takes about 3 months to get them grown out to a sellable size. That's a whale of a fish load on the tank! I wouldn't personally add more than one trio, if you are serious about growing and selling as many as you possibly can.

Barbie