New BN Fry Tank

Hi, I have a breeding pair of BN's and they breed in our community tank but when put into a net or floating saver the angel fish come along and suck them out and through the holes, so I am thinking of setting a small 30 litre tank for the fry to go in, any ideas how to get the filter cycled? what am i best to put in sand, stones or nothing? many thanks! I am sure I will have many more questions to ask!!

Hi, yes a 30L rearing tank will be ok initially but remember plecs are little poo machines, so you will need to over filter and probably best to put in an air stone, and it won't be long before you would need to move them to a larger tank to grow on, a new tank will also be deficient of any algae initially so you could use courgette as a food source for the fry, as for the substrate I have a bare bottomed and pea gravel substrate and as long as you keep them clean I don't think it matters, although it is easier to see the poo in a bare bottomed tank, if you can use some of your original filter media in your new filter that would help with the cycling but don't rush it and good luck with your B/Ns

Hi, thanks for the tips, I have bought a new 60 litre tank and like you said I will go with the bare bottomed tank, have also got air stone, should i fill it with water out of my old tank?? Do i put some fish in the new tank to get the filter cycled?? if so what sort of fish?? Many thanks for your help it much appreciated!

umm you could get some filter media from your other tank and put it in your new filter. and add some flakes to keep the bb alive

Yep, using water from your mature tank will be fine, if you can use some filter media from your established filter in the new one that will ensure some bacteria will be present in the new filter, if not then you will need to cycle the tank, preferably a fishless cycle, if you can use some media then like the other post says put some flake/food in the tank and check for Nitrite and Ammonia after a couple of days using a test kit, both readings should be 0.0ppm. If all is well introduce a few fish at a time keeping your eye on the readings, don't rush it as the new filter may not cope.

Excellent! Thanks for the replies, tank should arrive in the next couple of days will let you know how everything is going next week, thanks again, my existing tank has a very slight reading of nitrate which is quite normal how do you get that down to 0.0ppm?

Hi, Don't get mixed up with Nitrite and Nitrate, an easy mistake, Up to about 40ppm Nitrate is acceptable but you want 0.0ppm Nitrite, if your Nitrite's are slightly hi maybe a water change will help but if it stays high you will need to find the cause, ie over stocked, filter not adequate, overfeeding etc hth

Whoops yes got nitrate and nitrite muddle up! I have ordered some more water test strips will check the water when they arrive, with the breeding pair of bn am i best to keep them in the 350 litre tank and when she has laid the eggs in the tube and the male is in there lift them and put them in the new tank or put both male and female in the new 60 litre tank when its ready and let them get on with it?? Will she eat the fry?? Thanks.

To be honest the test strips are not that accurate, I use the API Freshwater master test kit, you can find them at a pretty reasonable price on flea bay, I tend to lift the male and fry into the rearing tank once the fry start to appear out of the cave but I don't think it really matters, if it's the first time they have bred there may have a few teething problems, just make sure the water stats are the same for both tanks. Don't worry about the female they are really good parents, HTH

Tank arrived today, filled it with 75% water from my other tank, heater and air pump should arrive tomorrow, unable to put filter media from my other tank as this filter has a hole through the middle with plastic media in, feeding tank flake food, will test in a few days and let you know the readings.

Yes, can be a little bit awkward to get some established media into a different type of filter sometimes, I sometimes cut a piece of the sponge in one of my established filters and push it into the other one until the tank has cycled and a bit longer then take it out. I have always had good result using Bio mature for cycling some tanks from new, some people use ammonia with good result, but I now tend to use established media.

IMO the bigger the better.

Not just because the considerable quantity of poop. If they have enough room to roam around they'll grow faster and will be healthy.

Hi, added some Interpet Filter Start, measured water with ammonia kit which is zero and tested for Nitrites and that is zero too, Nitrates are 15, have put my two blind cavefish in this tank (as i don't really like them) to see if the water is ok, could I keep any fish in with the bristlenoses and their fry? The female and male have been in and out of of the breeding tube today so may be some eggs will arrive soon?

Hi, I've never used Interpet Filter Start but just do what the instructions say, to be honest with you I would not have put the fish into the the tank even though you are not fond of them as they will be suffering by taking in ammonia from there waste until the filter starts to cycle, I would take them out for the fishes sake, and be patient, cycling a new tank can take quite a few weeks at least, but like I say I have never used Filter start so it may be ok to do that, maybe someone else on here may be able to help with that.
As regards other fish, if it will fit in their mouth it will probably end up as lunch, other b/ns seem to be ok though.

I've used Weiss Bacter-Boost to start cycling quickly and it works good... after a week ammonia and nitrites were 0 with no ill effects.

http://www.weissorganics.com/bacterboost.html

Properly cycling a tank is beyond my skill lvl and patience

Hi! BN male and female been in tank now for 2 weeks no sign of any eggs as yet!!

be patient young padiwun

if the move was stressful or if the water is still settling down then the fish will have other things on their mind than breeding. give them time to settle down. in about another 3-4 weeks i would start to trigger them. it may take a few goes getting them back into the rythum but once they get going again it should be all good

This morning I looked in the cave after the male and female were chasing each other all day yesterday and yes we have eggs!! Male in fanning in the cave nose faced in, do I just leave them to their own devcies now??

Congratulations on the eggs .

So long as the male does not kick the eggs out then just leave him to it

Thanks, will keep you posted, is it right the eggs hatch in 4-5 days? When does he stop fanning?

Hehe I just had first batch from my albino pair yesterday, I have a common male in another tank who has never stopped fanning! He has also never had a batch of eggs to fan (as he was not my dominant male) , I think they do it to show off to the ladies

4 to 5 days is right for hatching then the fry will live of their yolk sacs for another 5-7 days. After the yolk sac have been used they will start looking for food, once they start coming out of the cave then have food available for them at all times as they are ravenous feeders.

Fanning is to keep the eggs oxygenated and to stop dirt and sediment building up on the eggs. he will fan the eggs continually untill they hatch.

What do I feed the fry with?

same stuff you feed the adults with, veges and algae wafers.

Had a look today and half the egg sacs are empty then an hour later all the eggs have gone later on i spotted a clump of egg sacs floating around the tank with one egg intact, what has happened??