advice needed on keeping baby bristlenose.

[kieranvowles]

Hi all,

I'm looking to set up a fry tank for my little bristlenose cats, I was looking to by a couple more plecs when low and behold mine have given me an early birthday present, I now have around 25 babies and want some advice from those in the know on how best to keep my little guys. I have a spare 12ltr tank with small filter and heater ready to go.

Thanks in advance

Kieran

[Richard B]

To be honest common BN fry need nothing special. The only thing to realise is that when they start feeding the bioload on the tank increases quite a bit. No real need to move them but bigger/better filtration, increased water changes & increased aeration will all be of benefit.

Is there anything specific you wanted to know?

[kieranvowles]

They are in my malawi tank at the moment, hence why I want to move them before they get eaten, (this has happend before). Will the 12ltr be okay, it's only got a small filter so I know regular water changes will be essential it has a small led light and will have gravel, bog wood and the odd rock. This sounds really basic to me, I used to raise malawi fry but now let them get on with it in the tank,
This is my first time with bristlenose so I want to make it as comfortable for them as possible.

Any tips would be great.

[Suckermouth]

If you've raised Malawi fry then bristlenoses should be no problem. They're basically mini-adults once they've left the cave, quite hardy! The main problems of course is hygiene (and since they're on the bottom, any dirt build-up on the bottom is something they'll live in directly) as well as aggression as they start getting larger and space starts running out. Providing fresh vegetable matter daily is an easy way to keep up with hungry bristlenoses, although you do have to keep tabs on water quality when you leave something like that in the tank! I'm a fan of using zuchinni and cucumber slices although lettuce isn't bad either.

[Richard B]

Cucumber is what i prefer to feed BN fry, best to cut a piece lengthways to expose the maximum internal flesh.

As i'm typing this i can see my adult Claro, commons & sp4. all feeding on cucumber along with a synodontis pleurops.

[leisure_man]

___

[jodilynn]

Our local fish store has been getting a lot of baby albino bristlenose (1/4 to 1/2 long, barely)in lately and one thing they have been doing is keeping them in tanks with no gravel. That way the food is easier for them to find (and also for you to remove if it's uneaten).

My albino is probably the absolute coolest pleco I've ever had. His tail is a bit deformed (didn't see it when he was purchased) but I'll tell you my tank is spotless there is NO algae anywhere! There was a clown pleco in that tank for years and all he did was sit in his cave waiting for his algae wafers and pellet food. He's sulking in another tank now.

[kieranvowles]

So this is the tank up and running I just hope the y like it.

And this is what all the effort is about

23 cats no bigger than my thumb nail.

[MatsP]

Looks good to me (although I'm not 100% convinced about white substrate, but that's personal taste - I'm pretty sure the fish don't care either way).

--
Mats

[kieranvowles]

The substrate is crushed coral straight out of my Malawi tank, as this is where they hatched I thought I'd keep it as close to their birth place as possible, I then read jodilynn post and kinda wish I had left the base bare, makes perfect sense for getting leftovers out. Doh!

[Richard B]

Bare tanks do accelerate the amount of harmful bacteria though, so a lot of people will have a fine layer is sand to prevent the bacterial film build up.

[kieranvowles]

Thanks for that Richard, I will leave the substrate in there in that case. I have noticed some young trumpet snails have made it in, I use them in the big tank to keep my substrate fresh, are they going to be a problem in this tank?

It's been 24hrs and 1 water change since they moved in and they all seem to be doing well. Fingers crossed I've got ut right!

[kieranvowles]

So 4 days have past and the little guys are doing just fine.

I have noticed that some seem to be growing faster than others, is this normal and what size would you recommend they grow to before I put them back in the main tank?