Almost certain that my ABNs have spawned.???

[pleconut]

I get the impression that the male(s) were slightly keener than the female, she played her part, but she may not have been quite ready, either in condition or maturity to lay fertile eggs. The one egg thats still left is opaque but pale yellow no sign of anything developing inside it. There was 40+ eggs, it didn't help it was so unexpected, or i would have prepared for it, this time last week the males weren't interested in caves or the female, she's been trying to get in the males caves since the spawn, id left them to their own devices last weekend, and next... That's ABNs for you!
Ive planted up the new tank for them today, I'm feeding them well, and a generous cooler water change, but hopefully this time they will wait until they are in their new home!

[pleconut]

So early this evening I put my ABN pair into their new tank, to allow them to settle in i turned of the lights, they've settled in ok, as right now the female is in the males cave and he's on the side of the cave. So I might well have another batch of eggs from the two, by time i wake up tomorrow.

[pleconut]

So i put my ABN pair into their new tank, it was cycled, but upon introduction and since they've not been eating much, nor pooping much, for additional support and to be on the safe side, I've also added in a mature filter and also water from the tank they were in, and there's still no improvement. I now have run a forum search, one topic I've found is bristlenoses dont eat much when they're mind's are set on breeding, has anyone seen this in BNs/ABNs the male is still chasing the female or waiting near his cave for her to come near his cave and trying to get her in. Should I be concerned about them not eating? Id not want them to be at risk.

[bekateen]

Although I don't have lots of experience with how different species of plecos behave when courting, from the few spp. I've kept, it is my impression that spawning plecos (and courting plecos) do eat less than plecos doing everyday things (not courting/spawning). Remember, most fish (including our plecos) are "ectothermic poikilotherms," a fancy way of saying cold-blooded (which is really a poor name when you consider the fact that these fish can be found in waters in the 80+ degrees F range... not very "cold" at all). The point is, on average poikilotherms have a metabolic rate about 1/10th of that of comparably-sized endotherms like mammals. Therefore, their daily nutritional demand is much lower than a similar mammal's would be. As a result, ectotherms can eat less daily, and go longer between meals, than can endotherms.*

So at least for a few more days, I wouldn't worry about whether or not they are eating - if they are hungry, they will eventually eat, and if after the first few days they are still making ANY poop at all (it doesn't really matter how much), you know they're eating SOMETHING, and that's good enough to get them started. If you've gone more than 1 or 2 weeks and there is ZERO poop in the tank, then I would be more concerned. Besides, this lack of eating might not just be because "they're busy courting and don't have time to eat," it could still also be a result of their introduction to the new tank.

Cheers, Eric

*As an aside - I wouldn't say the same thing about pleco fry - although they are also ectothermic poikilotherms (obviously), they have small guts and also higher mass-specific metabolic rates than the parents because of their rapid growth. So they're going to want to eat constantly.

[pleconut]

Thanks, I would think if they were that hungry they wouldn't have the energy to be chasing each other around caves, this said the male is being very persistent, and despite not eating the female's showing signs of being gravid, they probably don't have time to stop for an algae wafer! And if they were unhappy with anything to do with the tank, they probably wouldn't want to breed.

[bekateen]

You'd think that hunger would be a pretty strong motivator, but not when the alternative is spawning: in some frog species, males can easily lose 10% of their body weight while courting females. And females lose a lot more, although that analysis is sort of cheating when you consider most of the weight "lost" ends up in the eggs. But still they can lose a lot of their somatic (body) mass too, not counting egg mass.

[pleconut]

I have been feeding small amounts of bloodworm and brine shrimp not any of which is fibre, so this could be where the energy (and eggs developing in the female) are from:-)

[pleconut]

I still have a few concerns, namely the female ABN, after spawning for the first time, and then being moved to a new cycled tank on their own. The male has been relentlessly chasing the female, yet she still remains in the vicinity of his cave, and as soon he spots her, he starts chasing. My concerns are his constant chasing is causing her stress, as on a couple of occasions I've seen her breathing rapidly she obviously can go to the other end of the 3 ft tank they are in. Is this normal? They are still not eating much. All params are normal, but now I'm considering dividing the tank to give her some space from him.

[pleconut]

@bekateen, seems you were right about the ABNs not eating because they are in spawning mode, and is in line with the thread i found during the forum search. I've enquired at some LFS that are around, i go to often for fish and supplies, the information i was given, is that it's completely normal for them not to eat when the first priority is spawning, I was advised to feed them little and often and regularly remove any uneaten food which I'd been doing, there's now evidence they are eating something, it's been almost 2 weeks since they spawned, i guess they will again within the next week.

[bekateen]

Hi Teresa,

The small meals often is good advice. And if you ABNs are like mine, yep, they'll spawn again soon.


Cheers, Eric

[pleconut]

Its looking imminent, I've cardboarded the tank up, as last time i had left them alone during the time they spawned. I've given them a more private half shell coconut cave, along with the ceramic ones, I'll peek each day to check them.

[pleconut]

Here's the lovestruck pair. He tried to trap her a while ago.

Male waiting for female!

Female, in certain light I can just about see eggs developing just between her pectoral and anal fins.

I can confirm i've now seen them both eating, i now feed the female where the male can't see her, and therefore start a pursuit!

[bekateen]

I'm still waiting for my male, whom I bought with bristles already developed and whom I've had for almost exactly a year now, to develop bifurcate (spit) bristles. He's fathered multiple times, but still has only bristles formed as single strands.

[pleconut]

He's got some really impressive growth going on, seeing as he is approximately only a year old, maybe more as not certain of growth rate, but i got him at 7-8 cms a few months ago. Its a bit of a novelty for me having these spawn for the first time, but I'm pretty sure it wont be when I've had tanks full of fry for ages!