Bristlenose tank mates

I was wondering what other fish everyone keeps in their
BN tanks. I'm down to one tank and was going to set up for
BNs again but I want to breed and keep some other fish
so the tank don't look to bare. It's going to be black gravel
black background lots of wood and some plants. I'm
not really into tetras and want something to add some colour.
I know it cuts down my choices.

Hi munter

Depends on what size tank you are talking about here, but find that the Endler's Livebarers [Poecilia sp. wingei] make for a nice looking and active tank.



Hope This Helps
CHEERS

p.s. They breed like Rabbits when established!

sicklids wrote:

p.s. They breed like Rabbits when established!

amen to that!

how long is a peice of string?

we cant answer you with out knowing more info..tank size, planned water parameters.

I keep all sorts of fish with my peppermints in my big amazon display tank. I keep rams, discus, L333, L201 and i have kept many different american chiclids with them in the past.

If you intend to breed the BN then the smaller fish would be the go. As mentioned above, endlers are good, as are guppies. You could even get a single male Betta if the tank is not too big as to freak it out.

can i suggest even some shrimp. they will keep the plants spotless for you and wont even think about the fish. colour and cleaners all in one, cant loose!

Quote :

You could even get a single male Betta if the tank is not too big as to freak it out.

So long as you judge it's temperament to be pretty placid, you can keep other fish with it too, so long as theres no flowing fins or too bright coloured. My two (different tanks) love my BN's, they'll rest on a plant as just watch them go around the glass

I have some dwarf platys and cherry shrimp in with my albino BN and no issues.
I was pondering on adding an ancistrus to my 20 gal with 4 african dwarf frogs among other tankmates. They are both peaceful species, so thinking it may work.

It will depend on your parameters, as others have said, but I want to promote Gourami. They breathe air sometimes with the labyrinth organ, so float around the top of the tank, and most are very pretty. They come in all sizes for what tank size you have, just be careful of two fish fighting as the males are very territorial.
They also tend to require similar water to BN so they thrive pretty well with BN (well my Pearls have )

Tiger Barbs also seem pretty cool if kept in a school of 6, and require similar water parameters to BN although I have never owned them.

tank is a standard 3 footer, lots of wood, a few plants, ph is 7.4
have some shrimp. was thinking maybe some dwarf cichlids like
apisto's? but not sure how they will go.or maybe pacific blue eyes.
i had to change the black gravel, they guy at the lfs i bought
it from told me it wouldnt change the ph and i double checked with him.
well the ph rose to over 8 i lost a few fish.ill never go back and ill boycott others who tell me they go there.
i couldnt adjust the ph so i took the gravel out and then i could adjust it. tank is back to normal.
tiger barbs are no good as barbs are avid egg eaters.
ive done guppies before.ive been thinking a school of black neons.

Big fan of apistos personally - obviously need excellent water and can be pricey - but they're lovely to look at and exhibit really interesting behaviour. They don't bother my BN at all.

Yeah I was looking at Apistos and Blue Rams for my BNs as well they both look good and interesting, it ended up being the cost of them at my LFS which switched me to Pearl Gouramis.

Thanks for the heads up bout barbs eating eggs, I will make sure if I do get some Tigers they will go in a different tank

Gouramis are nice fish.

My wife had a pearl but it was way too aggressive towards the platys in the tank. Especially during feeding time. Had to put him in a tank by himself until we could find another good home for him. He now lives happily with other pearls in a 90 gallon courtesy of a co-worker of hers.

I have Corandras, Mollies, and a Butterfly Fish in with mine.

I have mollies with my BN. Mostly because they are readily available and like the local water. Over the years I have had two particularly large mollies who would go after the occasional tiny fry that just emerged from the cave but most do not. Individual fish personalities are a component in the end. I have a betta in my L-144 tank, that started out in a tank with some browns. I had to move the betta because he was being harassed by a male BN.

Thanx for the replies. I think I'm going for the aspiato s or the tetras.

I have three tanks all with BN in...

Tank 1-Fluval
2xBN + 120 bN FRY + a couple of mollies, 4 guppies, and 2 cory's.....

Tank 2-Clearseal
1xBN (4inch) + 5 BN fry... and one red male betta (picture in the current comp)

Tank 3-Rekord
3xBN + 5 mollies and 3 female betta.

Have to admit I dont have much luck with the male fighters, he is in tank 2 now as whenever I put him in a tank with guppies or mollies he always attack them and kills them- I have had a handful of male betta's in the last few years and each have been
very aggressive to other live bearers as well as cory's

I know some people have had some success with male betta's in community tanks, but I at this moment i time have not...lol..

Can be quite expensive since the first betta I had finished a my first school of panda cories off...

So most new fighters I quarantine now in a samller tank until I have monitored their aggression,
or just watch closely until you know they not going to go psycho....lol

On another matter you bring up, tank 3 above is a Rekord 80,
and it as about 1inch depth of very fine black gravel.., some bog wood and a couple of plants and ornaments,
and I have had no problem establishing a breeding pair of BN in that tank before moving them to a bigger tank.

You do have excellent ways of altering PH as some other guys in here will state-however my tank with blank gravel as needed no adjustment as yet and all the fish I have in there seem quite happy at the moment.

Regards

LJ

what type of other fish may eat the shrimp,

and what is best type of shrimp to have in a BN set up, and how many shrimp in one tank...

Regards

LJ

I don't really know what other fish eat shrimp cause all I have are guppies, mollies, BNs.

I do, however, have a nice supply of Ghost/Glass shrimp. Love the little guys! Little garbage disposals. Their bioload is minimal at best so you can have quite a few. Just be careful with overcrowding as they will fight each other for space. Also have a few hiding places because when they shed their "skin" they like to hide for a couple of days.

firstly, the male fighter is killing the other fish as they are colourful and about the same size. If u keep a male fighter in a community tank there must be not other comparible size colourful fish in the tank as he will kill them, no ifs buts or maybes, he will kill them. Male fighters are programed to take out anything that resembles another male. I demonstrate a biology prac at university where we show male fighters various stimulants and note their reaction. A male fighter will fire up at a blob of plasticine as long as its colourful and about the right size just as hard as he does to a real male in the tank next to him. Its a pre programmed reaction and one that you cant avoid. Comapre a male guppy to a male fighter, bit smaller sure, but same shape, colourful, MALE, and swimming way too close...goodnight guppy

in terms of shrimp. Shrimp are generally omnivorous but will only eat meat if its dead. they only attack each other over teritory or if there is too many of them in a tank. I find the best shrimp to keep are the Caridina species as they are tropical and will breed in freshwater. The glass shrimp, Paratya species, and good too as they can survive in the warm water and will breed too but they are clear, which makes them a bit boring IMO. Some of the other shrimp that are avalible are nice looking but need saltwater to breed in or other special conditions. These two groups of shrimp are very common in Aus (as they are native) and can be bought easily over the web from breeders. I'm not sure about the UK. Im sure you would have some of the really common ones like the cherry shrimp or the local glass shrimp (cant remember its scientific name of the top of my head).

All these shrimp will live in a bristlenose tank without issue. They wont ever get near the eggs, the dad will see to that, and they help clean up. I have cherry shrimp in about half my tanks and they are fine. I suspect the mature bristlenose will eat a young one every now and again but they can have up to 70 babies at a time, and it a tank they breed year round so nno issues there.

Things to avoid are the prawns. these guys are larger and are predators. The common ones over here are the long armed prawn (Marcobrachium australiensis). these are amazing creatures but be warned, they attack fish much larger than themselves and each other. these ones need to be in a dedicated tank.

Doug if only i had your advice about the betta a year ago...lol...

i however learnt from others and past mistakes and will not make the same mistake again...

very rarely can males be kept with guppies or similar fan tail or colourful fish....

I do educate myself fairly and widely before going into something new always....

Now on the lookout for some shrimp now....had a bad experience with a red claw crab recently lol...

so the shrimps should be a timely change to my set up..lol..

thanks in advance

wolverine, zebra danio's eat shrimp as i just found out. all my shrimp went into hiding when i got the danio's and yesterday
i found 3 bodies partly eaten so im guessing in a few days my shrimp will all be fish food. im gonna stick with tetra's.

thinking of a few tetras myself.. and do they breed easy too....

which are colourful enough to stand out in a tank with blue back ground, and a tank with black back ground?