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Hey all, I am completely new to breeding bristlenose catfish. But since I heard they were easy to breed and most fish stores want to have them, I thought it would be a good idea. I dont even have them yet, but I just wanted to ask a few questions. Can I use a a ten gallon tank? How many BN's should I get? Should the tank have gravel, or would it be ok to keep it bare? Once the fry are free swimming, should I remove the male? Would they spawn on a clay pot? If someone could answer any of these questions it would be appreciated
Thanks

10 gallons seems kind small, I'm using a 40 for my pair which might be a little oversized, but when the fry start to swim around the tank, it doesn't seem so big afterall. A 20 or 30 is probably ideal.

If they are old enough to spawn, you will be able to see the bristles on the male and no bristles on the female. So, you could identify and purchase only a pair. However, I got my hands on two grown fish, and it took 7 months or so before the first spawn. They were in this 40 gallon together for the entire time and I guess they have to warm up to each other. There was no aggression, but they never spawned until 7 months+ had passed. Now they spawned for the second time about 3-4 after the first. I have about 25 from the first and what looks like 30 in the second.

Either gravel or bare is fine, although I would recomend sand instead of gravel. The little eggs sacs on the wigglers are quite small and could get caught in the gravel.
I have not removed my male, he doesn't eat the fry or anything. But once the fry get a little bigger, I am moving them to a different tank for grow-out. My second spawn is about to leave the cave and the tank will seem overcrowded soon.
I had success with two flower-pot bases (the saucers under the flower pot) in which I turned one upside down and glued them together with silicone to form a cave, and I cut out a door way with a hack-saw. They seem to like a smaller space, not a huge cave.

Oh I might have to wait to spawn them then. Unless they would spawn with a pictus carfish, but he would probably eat the fry . He is in the 29 gallon. Thanks for the info. I will probably post in the cory section too, because the fish store is always low on them too.
Thanks for the info

I would put a few females in there...i have 4 in with my male.... he picks and choses...

hmm... so theres no way they could breed in a 10 gallon? I have a couple tens, and I also wanted to breed cories. I am going to post in that section too.

Actually they will quite happily spawn in a 10 gal. I keep single pairs of BN,n in my 8 and 10 gal killifish tanks (usually to grow out). these also contain 1 pair killifish and around 75% of the tank planted.Water quality is good/perfect with just these 4 fish in the tanks. fish have happily spawned in both 8 gal and 10 gal, although I wouldnt reccomend 8 gal for serious breeding as fry need to be raised elsewhere. Tanks should have a fairly fine gravel, low ph, driftwood and several 'caves' that the male can just squeeze into, usually twice the length, twice the hight of an adult BN. If anything, they will be most picky about their caves when breeding and sometimes wont spawn unless the male thinks its good enough. Personally I have never had bn's harm their eggs or fry intentionally. the only reason to move the young is if you can provide them with more space and better water quality to grow elsewhere (a large grow-out tank). eggs take around 14 days from being layed to the fry emerging from the cave, during which time the male will guard them and not come out to eat much. Its usually best to move the breeding fish to 15-20 gal setups when they start getting large.

the 8 gal spawn from a few days ago, he made his home in the bottom of an easter island figurine he knocked over.

Around my neck of the woods, cories cost about $3 apiece, regular plecostomus might be about $3-4, but the bristlenose and albino bristlenose cost around $10 at stores. Local breeders in the active aquarium clubs have smaller bristlenose for $2 each. The stores always seem to have an abundance of cories, but not the BN.