Miracle Bristlenose Baby!! Advice Needed Please??

Hi Everyone!! .... I'm new here and fairly new to fish-keeping.

A few weeks ago I bought a new tank and it wasnt long before my albino bristlenose pair had eggs!

On the day the eggs were laid, I was watching my goldfish and noticed one of the goldfish spat an egg out of his mouth, ate it again, spat it out again , then another goldfish started playing with it too... its like they were playing a ball game with this single little egg!!

I decided to scoop the egg into a little plastic container and just left it sitting on my dining table and didnt do anything with it - wasnt sure if it would hatch or not, but I seriously doubted it!

The cluster of eggs in the big tank hatched on day 6/7. Meanwhile, the single egg in the contailner was still just sitting there, unhatched. Yesterday was day 9. I firgured if it hasnt hatched by now it must be dead and was going to throw it out, but thought no, I'll give it a couple more days...

I got the shock of my life this norning (Day 10). The little bugger actually hatched!! He's wriggling around attached to his little yolk sack and I've decided to name him Ferrero (as he has been in a Ferrero Rocher container LOL).

So what I should do with him now? This little guy has come such a long way and I'd hate to loose him now! Do I just leave him in the container until he's big enough to go in the big tank?

Any advice??

Wow!! Miracle story! I would say just put him back with his family. Im asuming the Ferrero Rocher container isn't filtrated (LOL) and would have little oxygen transfer, not to mention heating.

Yeah put him back with the family and he will be fine

Good luck!

im with fat42b

the best chance for the little fella is with his siblings

Incredible story tho!! simply amazing!

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

deano wrote:

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

I have done this before.

The eggs will hatch but it will take almost double the time as oxygen is an essential part of the egg's development.

Once they have hatched they will obviously require filtered water as they will start eating and producing waste.

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

I have done this before.

The eggs will hatch but it will take almost double the time as oxygen is an essential part of the egg's development.

Once they have hatched they will obviously require filtered water as they will start eating and producing waste.

im going to disagree with them needing fillterd water.
im rearing a batch of fry that i split into 2 tanks one running sponge fillters and being fed 3 times a day. the other tank as nothing at all just a peice of bogwood and at the moment the fry in the still water tank are out growing their siblings in the other tank.
these are only getting fed once a day and are just living in their own poop with a 10% water change daily.

Gotta agree re filter
I had a tank full of fry recently infact too many fry and the filter could not cope, amonia and nitrite was high not extremly high but not high enough
No space to move them so did did 30% water changes daily for 5 days till I got a new filter and did not loose one fry
These little buggers are very hardy

Are the goldfish still in the tank with the baby BN? If they are they will probably consider the babies food. I've had goldfish spawn in my tanks, but I never got any fry as the other gold fish would follow the spawning pair and gobble up the eggs as they dropped. I'm guessing your gold fish are on the small side, which is why they couldn't actually eat the egg, so they may not quite be able to eat your BN fry either. I am glad your little fellow made it, and he would do best with his family, just keep an eye on those gold fish.

Jagtazman wrote:

Gotta agree re filter
I had a tank full of fry recently infact too many fry and the filter could not cope, amonia and nitrite was high not extremly high but not high enough
No space to move them so did did 30% water changes daily for 5 days till I got a new filter and did not loose one fry
These little buggers are very hardy

i had this problem but ive got a bigger tank now just going through its cycle....

Iam also shocked that they even breed in a tank bought 2 weeks ago, id check your nitrites before putting him/her back...

And well done for saving him......

@ Doug - no the ferrero container is not filtered!!

Thanks for all the great advice guys!!

Ok... so today my miracle baby is still happily wriggling around in his ferrero box. I did a water change yesterday and one this morning by tipping some of the water out and adding the filtered water from the main aquarium (didnt want add tap water).

- but here is my problem...

How do I move the little guy? I mean he is so tiny - how do I transfer him? The cluster in the main tank is right up inside the roof of a hollowed out castle ornament. The only way I can see them is by gently lifting the castle and shining a torch into it - even then they are well hidden.

The other option would be to move the entire castle into my smaller 2ft tank (filtered) and put the little fellow in there? Also, this would prevent the little ones being eaten by the goldfish once they leave their cave.

I did ask the guy at the aquarium shop if the golfish would eat the babies, but the thought they would be too slow to catch them... I am doubtful about this and would prefer to move them??

your guy at the aquarium is an idiot! sorry, but gold fish too slow to catch a bristlenose baby...thats like saying this Falcon is too slow to catch that baby rabbit with only 2 legs. Goldfish are predators, very agressive predators, the fry wont stand a chance!

The issue is how long has the 2ft tank been going as it may still be cycling if it has just been set up and the biggest killer of bristlenose fry is ammonia IMO. They hate it and quickly drop off. If the tank is cycled and had no ammonia in it then i would move them asap to get them away from the goldfish. Move the whole oranment, usually dad will stay in it too, which is fine as he helps the wrigglers.

While you are moving them you could drop the miricle baby into the cave or simply put him in as close as you can to the entrance. but generally, once they reach the wriggler stage they will be fine asl long as they dont get eaten.

Doug wrote:

your guy at the aquarium is an idiot! sorry, but gold fish too slow to catch a bristlenose baby...thats like saying this Falcon is too slow to catch that baby rabbit with only 2 legs. Goldfish are predators, very agressive predators, the fry wont stand a chance!

The issue is how long has the 2ft tank been going as it may still be cycling if it has just been set up and the biggest killer of bristlenose fry is ammonia IMO. They hate it and quickly drop off. If the tank is cycled and had no ammonia in it then i would move them asap to get them away from the goldfish. Move the whole oranment, usually dad will stay in it too, which is fine as he helps the wrigglers.

While you are moving them you could drop the miricle baby into the cave or simply put him in as close as you can to the entrance. but generally, once they reach the wriggler stage they will be fine asl long as they dont get eaten.

You Beat me to it Doug..!! LOL..

Yeah, most people don't realise that gold fish are very opportunistic feaders..

I agree with the statement about the ammonia being the biggest killer of fry.. And, yes, if the tank is cycled just pop him / her in the castle with his / her family. Just make sure that there isn't too juch temperature difference between the Ferrero container and the tank - Not a BIG deal but worth the consideration..

Pete

deano wrote:

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

I have done this before.

The eggs will hatch but it will take almost double the time as oxygen is an essential part of the egg's development.

Once they have hatched they will obviously require filtered water as they will start eating and producing waste.

im going to disagree with them needing fillterd water.
im rearing a batch of fry that i split into 2 tanks one running sponge fillters and being fed 3 times a day. the other tank as nothing at all just a peice of bogwood and at the moment the fry in the still water tank are out growing their siblings in the other tank.
these are only getting fed once a day and are just living in their own poop with a 10% water change daily.

Oh, and regarding the above post, I feel that this would depend highly on the size tank they are in.. obviously a larger tank is a lot less suceptible to ammonia spikes.

On top of this, the fry will not THRIVE in their own poop.. It's no coincidence that the growth rate of fry is generally higher with regular tank maintenence.

My opinion only of course..

Pete

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

I have done this before.

The eggs will hatch but it will take almost double the time as oxygen is an essential part of the egg's development.

Once they have hatched they will obviously require filtered water as they will start eating and producing waste.

im going to disagree with them needing fillterd water.
im rearing a batch of fry that i split into 2 tanks one running sponge fillters and being fed 3 times a day. the other tank as nothing at all just a peice of bogwood and at the moment the fry in the still water tank are out growing their siblings in the other tank.
these are only getting fed once a day and are just living in their own poop with a 10% water change daily.

Oh, and regarding the above post, I feel that this would depend highly on the size tank they are in.. obviously a larger tank is a lot less suceptible to ammonia spikes.

On top of this, the fry will not THRIVE in their own poop.. It's no coincidence that the growth rate of fry is generally higher with regular tank maintenence.

My opinion only of course..

Pete

actually Deano might disagree with you there, he is doing some interesting experiments at the moment

Experimenting with poop...?? Lol..

That's cool.. I guess we've all had our own experiences And let's face it.. if there was only one way of doing it there would be no need for the forum.. And that's what it's all about.. sharing your own experiences so that others can learn from them and have their own experiences..

Pete

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

Fat42b wrote:

deano wrote:

this is very intresting as im rearing some fry in still water at the moment.
but ive never heard of eggs hatching in still water. i might give this a go to see if it can be done with a cluster of eggs.

I have done this before.

The eggs will hatch but it will take almost double the time as oxygen is an essential part of the egg's development.

Once they have hatched they will obviously require filtered water as they will start eating and producing waste.

im going to disagree with them needing fillterd water.
im rearing a batch of fry that i split into 2 tanks one running sponge fillters and being fed 3 times a day. the other tank as nothing at all just a peice of bogwood and at the moment the fry in the still water tank are out growing their siblings in the other tank.
these are only getting fed once a day and are just living in their own poop with a 10% water change daily.

Oh, and regarding the above post, I feel that this would depend highly on the size tank they are in.. obviously a larger tank is a lot less suceptible to ammonia spikes.

On top of this, the fry will not THRIVE in their own poop.. It's no coincidence that the growth rate of fry is generally higher with regular tank maintenence.

My opinion only of course..

Pete

this is not somthing i took on lightly and i always put the best intrest of my fish first.
a friend of mine over in germany who as been breeding bristlenoses for over fourty years told me to give this a go.
so this is a proven way of rearing bristlenose fry if it was'nt i would not be having a go at doing this.
if i can get them to the shops in a lesser time then its all good. rearing them this way is supposed to give you around a 30% better growth.
we will see what happens.
both set of fry are in 48x15x15 tanks.
when you look into this it sounds mad at first. then when its explaind to you it makes sence.
they are living in their own poop and living off microorganisms and protien from their own waist so their getting two bites of the cherry so to speek.
how many times a day do you look into youre tank and see youre bristlenose fry munching on the sponge fillters.
mine are doing it every time i look in the tank and feeding of detritus.
youre right its no coincidance that fry grow quicker with regular water changes and good maintanence.
but were not talking about normal fish here. bristlenoses can live in still water for a long time. they are able to live of the atmospheric air to compansate lack of oxygen.
im doing 10% daily water changes so their getting the oxygen they need from the fresh water im adding.
im keeping a close eye on the water and when things start rising the water changes will increase.
so far these fry are out growing their siblings and showing far better coloure too.
im going to stick this out and find out the pros and cons to rearing this way.
upto now its a 2 2 draw
pros better growth and coloure
cons.... tank stinks and fry will need to be acclimatised back to normal water.

Whiskers wrote:

@ Doug - no the ferrero container is not filtered!!

Thanks for all the great advice guys!!

Ok... so today my miracle baby is still happily wriggling around in his ferrero box. I did a water change yesterday and one this morning by tipping some of the water out and adding the filtered water from the main aquarium (didnt want add tap water).

- but here is my problem...

How do I move the little guy? I mean he is so tiny - how do I transfer him? The cluster in the main tank is right up inside the roof of a hollowed out castle ornament. The only way I can see them is by gently lifting the castle and shining a torch into it - even then they are well hidden.

The other option would be to move the entire castle into my smaller 2ft tank (filtered) and put the little fellow in there? Also, this would prevent the little ones being eaten by the goldfish once they leave their cave.

I did ask the guy at the aquarium shop if the golfish would eat the babies, but the thought they would be too slow to catch them... I am doubtful about this and would prefer to move them??

i would move the castle to the 2ft tank it will save you messing about later on.
good luck with the little fellow.

Wow amazing story..You really have got a miracle fry there, specially after being a soccer ball for some goldfish..I do hope Ferrero continues to grow on for you, I would put the whole batch into the other tank soon as possible, Those Goldies would munch em all up in no time if they see them...
Be careful lifting the castle out as the water running out may pull them out with it..but yeah he should be with his siblings.,