how much room is needed

Reprisal · Post by **Reprisal** » 22 Dec 2003, 05:24

well recently i just bought another bristlenose a male
so i have a pair right now in a 40 gallon tank
is that enuff room to house the pair?

Post by **Shane** » 22 Dec 2003, 12:47

It depends on the species. Most pairs are happy, and will spawn, in a ten gallon tank. For larger species a 15-20 gallon tank should be fine. That said, bigger is better and 40 gallons is probably about ideal for a pair.
-Shane

hazard · Post by **hazard** » 23 Dec 2003, 22:03

I have 4 pairs of bristlenose plecos in a 10g. They are spawning all of the time now and there is no aggression that I have seen. I have moved them a few time and this setup seems to work the best for me.

Good luck
Chris

Post by **Barbie** » 23 Dec 2003, 22:40

I'm assuming you mean a pair each in 4 ten gallons, not 8 4 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank...

I initially spawned my bristlenose in a 10 gallon tank, but found that its far too difficult to maintain optimum water quality for fast growth rates, even with moving the pairs with every spawn. The fry just need too much food for the water volume to handle, IMO. I use 20 gallon long tanks for my breeders now, and I remove all but 1 spawn from the tank to grow out at a time. It takes them about 3 months to reach 1.5" TL this way. Otherwise they can be quite slow growing, IME.

In a 40 gallon tank you could raise two or three spawns at a time with just a couple 50% water changes a week, without a problem, I think. I usually give any tank with ancistrus fry in it a 70-80% change twice a week. It does seem to make a noticable difference.

Hope that helps

Barbie