First time breeder for Albino Bristle Nosed Ancistrus

I have recently bred my first batch of Golden Albino Bristle Nosed Ancistrus and am delighted with the outcome of some 20 fry now around 3/4 inch in length.

I decided about 4 months ago to utilise my 35 year old full framed gold anodised aluminium Jewel Tank.
The tank size is 4 ft x 15inch wide x 18 inch deep.

The tank was converted about 10 years ago to facilitate sump filtration the sump being about half the size of the tank with a fairly slow pumping rate from an aquajet 1700 sump pump with about 2/3 of the flow being re-cycled in the sump. This gives a well oxygenated sump with a slow flow rate down the weir. I did this to avoid too many fry ending up in the filter system.

None of my local fish stockists had any suitable stock for breeding. I went on the internet and found a guy in Leicester who had some tank raised stock for sale. I purchased 4 young females and 2 males. Sadly I lost one male when my heater stuck and the water temperature rose to 88 deg F.

I threw away the old heater and using a 50 W Rena Smart heater set the pH at around 7.5 by using peat balls and some pH buffer over a period of about 3 weeks fixing the temperature at 78 deg F. The water here is of medium hardness being STWA sourced.

The first clutch of eggs were laid in my makeshift caves using pot vinegar bottles laid on their sand in the sand base. These eggs were abandoned by the male and failed to hatch. I also had issues with the water temperature rising to around 82-84 deg F mark due to the sump pump dissipating heat into the tank.

I fed the Albinos on a mixture of Pleco Tabins fish food and fresh Corgettes. I further two batches of eggs were laid and the lone male took to living in the sump return pipe close to the top of the tank. Then about 6 weeks ago I saw what I thought was a single fry feeding on the Pleco Tabins. Over the next few days I counted more and more fry as they became more visible and fish shaped ! At my last count there were 20 fry and they now come out en-mass at feeding time.

congrads mate!!!

sounds like a good setup.

I'd be looking to introduce a new bloodline. Getting your breeders from the same place is always a dangerous move as these fish suffer from inbreeding badly and getting breeders from the same place increases your chances for breeding siblings.

You are right about introducing fresh bloodlines, at the moment I only have a black male bristlenose available. I am looking at introducing a new albino male when I can find a suitable one. I certainly do not intend to interbreed the new fry.