Albino BN Advice

[Grubby Sculpin]

So my first experience with albino bristlenose started about a year ago. I bought 7 juveniles online and put them in my 90 gallon cichlid/community tank. (Few cichlids but none that are agressive, the mostly concentrate on their digging) One grew very quickly and was twice the size of the others within a month. And he was the only one who would actually eat any cucumber or zucchini that I put in the tank. Over the next couple of months most grew slowly except for two that stayed small. So I brought the two to work where we have a 100 gallon tank with 6 african cichlids. (Nothing is done to the water except for that the only water added is RO, nothing is done to the pH.) These two grew quickly because the tank was full of algea, and they were never fed anything. I went away for two weeks and the 5 I had at home somehow died. (tough to trust my fish with someone who doesnt care). So the other two were still thriving at work and it seemed like they were male and female. Then I noticed that the female had bloody shredded fins one day. So I took the male home. The female at work is still doing well eating algae. She looks much better now that she is alone. The male is weird. At first he ate only algae off the glass from the upper half of the tank. Lately he has finally started to eat off the driftwood and plants. He wont eat anything I feed him so Ive given up and just let him eat algae. He hasnt grown much, and at a year old he is probably only about 3". Id like to breed them, and there is where I need the advice. Any ideas on what to do and where to do it? Supposed to be easy to breed BN but last time they were together, they fought. And unless I buy more online, which I suppose is an option, I cant get more because they just arent available in my area. Thanks for the help and I apologize for being so wordy.

[drpleco]

If your male really is that combative, you could keep them apart while they get conditioned and only put them together to spawn. The female may still get beaten up, but you can remove her once she's spawned. Many people have reported getting eggs immediately after reuniting a pair of BN's. As far as triggering a spawn and all of that, do a forum search and you'll get more than enough information. Breeding these guys is discussed almost daily around here.

It's strange that your fish won't eat anything but algae. Mine will eat anything I throw in the tank, including shrimp, carrot, zuccini, flake, wafers, and pellets. Perhaps the other fish in the tank have made them shy? your fish are not likely to be hassled for eating algae, but maybe they get attacked when going after anyting else. This may have conditioned them to stick to algae. Just a thought, anyway. I have my BN's in their own tank where they can eat all day in peace. highly recommend this. I also recommend 1-2 more females IF your male is the one doing the fin shredding. I would suspect the africans in that regard, however.