Is a 10 Gallon Aquarium Too Small For Bristle Nose Breeding

ClayT101 · Post by **ClayT101** » 16 Jan 2004, 17:29

As the topic states, is a 10 gallon aquarium too small to breed bristle noses? I also have a 110 gallon that the fry could go in after they reach 2 cm.

Thanks,
Clay

hazard · Post by **hazard** » 16 Jan 2004, 17:41

Barbie is going to freak!!!

I still have my 4 pairs of bristlenose in a 10gal and the males are constantly sitting on eggs. I pull around 150 fry out a month. It works for me at the moment.

Chris

Post by **Barbie** » 16 Jan 2004, 20:01

LOL Hazard, I won't freak, I pointed out the other day anyone is allowed to kill any fish they put in their glass boxes any way they see fit ;). I know its working for you, but I also know that spreading out that bioload would work too. A power failure that might cause me to lose a fish or two, will probably kill all of your breeders. For me, that's not an option I can afford to entertain, hence, I split them up.

I actually spawned my first pair of ancistrus in a 10 gallon tank. He let one batch of fry out of the cave and I played hell keeping water parameters up to snuff without starving the fry. I upgraded them to a 20 gallon long after that, and never looked back. I only allow one batch of fry to stay with him at a time, the others are taken as soon as I see one escape his pot.

Moral of the story is, you can do it, but you have to seriously overload the biocapacity of the tank volume, so it can be a serious tragedy if you have any sort of system failure. I never said it can't be done, I warned it could have some pretty serious consequences, is all.

Now go buy another tank to split them up in hazard

You could also probably get rid of a couple of the males. The females will only spawn with the dominant ones anyway, no? That would also lessen the load in the tank.

Barbie

ClayT101 · Post by **ClayT101** » 19 Jan 2004, 04:30

hazard wrote:I still have my 4 pairs of bristlenose in a 10gal and the males are constantly sitting on eggs.

Do you use gravel, or is it bare bottomed?

hazard · Post by **hazard** » 21 Jan 2004, 22:37

I use a little gravel on the bottom of the tank. I have a whisper 60 on the tank and air stone in there for added oxygen. I have since divided the group. I left the largest pairs in the ten. I will report back how that works out for me.

Chris

spikythefish · Post by **spikythefish** » 22 Jan 2004, 20:30

whisper60, little much for a 10 gallon, dont you think?

Post by **Barbie** » 22 Jan 2004, 23:13

Not for spawning ancistrus, it wouldn't be, no.

Barbie

ClayT101 · Post by **ClayT101** » 24 Jan 2004, 03:59

Update: I just got a 20 gallon long that has been cut in half so it is only 7 inches high. When I got it, I thought it was longer than a normal 20 gallon, but now I realize it is the same length (30 inches X 12 inches). I bought it specifically to spawn my bristlenoses. What would be the best way to set it up?

Should I use gravel?
Strong/weak/no current?
Temp?
Lighting (I assume not much, maybe 6-8 hours per day)?

Any advice / experience would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Clay

Post by **Barbie** » 24 Jan 2004, 04:12

I use bare tanks, so I can keep them clean easier. Lots of flow, and aeration, with frequent water changes. I turn the tank volume over 12-15 times per hour. I personally leave the lights on most of the time, since it just grows algae...

They aren't all that difficult to spawn. You'll see

It's raising the fry that is the work, IMO.

Barbie

hazard · Post by **hazard** » 24 Jan 2004, 04:19

I agree with raising the fry. What a pain. I loose quite a few out of every batch. Maybe even 50%. I have noticed that I get a redish-white sore on the plecos body. I had a episode of this with my breeding group in July. I ended up loosing 4 adults. I ended up treating with maryacn and that cleared it up. I just got done treating my 4 tanks with pleco in it. My loses have decline alot but I notice some still have the sores.

good luck
Chris

Post by **Barbie** » 24 Jan 2004, 04:23

I MIGHT lose one or two per batch now. Big water changes and lots of them, in a tank big enough to allow you to get enough food to them makes a HUGE difference. I do take most batches of fry from the tank and raise them in hanging neat breeders with constant flowing water through them from the sponge filters. It works well, and I can feed them enough that way, without risk of polluting the tank. I hang them in the 55 gallon my sterbai spawn in constantly.

A brand new 20 gallon long would be 30 dollars or a bit less. The water volume would allow you to raise twice the fry in it, its not hard to do the math ;)

Barbie