How many bristlenose fry per litre

Hi I currently have a 216L grow out tank but my fry numbers are going up dramatically I have 62 3cm ones and 100 2cm and than 182 1cm ones and two males with eggs of about 100 each and was wondering weather my 216l tank is capable or if not how big should I go

Hi Brandon,I would say it is time to get another big tank or seperate the males and females and give them a rest and allow the fry to grow so that they can be rehomed.What are you going to do with all those fry?



Bristlenoses

I've started selling the 3cm ones and I had 100 on the dot of them and have sold 38 privately and have found 2 aquarium shops that will buy them at a reasonable cash price but want them to be 4cm, so I am able to sell them but they produce more than you can sell what size tank would be appropriate for all them babys

Well that is difficult for me to say as i have never bred large numbers myself.It would be better to get advice and information from people that have experience with it.I personaly don't like to overcrowd and if it was me i wouldn't have more than 100 4cm fry in a 4 foot tank with very frequent water changes and maintenance.

At this stage i would be seperating the males and females until i had reduced the numbers of fry quite significantly.

Bristlenoses

I only started breeding about 3mths ago and I thought I was having like 30-50 a batch till I counted what I had and than got a shock and i was planning on stopping them from breeding them for little bit till I get a fish room sorted and more tanks, I do a 25-30% water change every 2 days and always check my water chemistry, I seem to be selling the bigger ones fast I have sold 38 in just over a week in private sales and when they get to 4cm I will sell them to the aquarium shop

Hi Brandon

I breed a lot of BN for a LFS, so I can give you a few ideas on how to maximize your space.

More water changes- at least 50% daily IMO.
Sponge filters- at least 4 (babies love to feed off them) you need all the bio filtration you can get, BN are little crud factories.
Some Zeolite in your main filter, the extra ammonia it absorbs can help an overstocked tank.
Bog Wood!!!! LOTS and LOTS of it. BN don't really make use of open water, it's wasted space. Fill the tank half (or more) way up with bog wood, all that extra surface area is like more "floor space" to a BN.
Current, lots and lots of water movement via filters and air stones. Position air stones down in the bog wood to eliminate any stagnant spots.

And (listen to Bristlenoses) REST your breeders! The babies are eating machines, the adults are breeding machines, they don't know enough to stop. If you don't force them to rest they won't.
Good luck, hope this helps a bit, Sarah

Alright sounds good, ill start researching what I can get and where from, I found a 8 4ft tank setup that has a sump cheap very cheap $90 at the moment and all the holes are drilled out and all that, I won't need all of them but I'll see how I go, I have 2 questions about the sponge filter and the uv sterilizer, question 1: is the sponge part a attachment that you can connect to the out flow of your external filter or is it different and question 2: how do you pick a uv sterilizer? Sorry about all the questions I'm still a newbie but am learning a lot and will hopefully be able to help other people that face the same things and I appreciate all your guys help and patience and thank yous whoops that was a bit long haha

Brandon1993 wrote:

Alright sounds good, ill start researching what I can get and where from, I found a 8 4ft tank setup that has a sump cheap very cheap $90 at the moment and all the holes are drilled out and all that, I won't need all of them but I'll see how I go, I have 2 questions about the sponge filter and the uv sterilizer, question 1: is the sponge part a attachment that you can connect to the out flow of your external filter or is it different and question 2: how do you pick a uv sterilizer? Sorry about all the questions I'm still a newbie but am learning a lot and will hopefully be able to help other people that face the same things and I appreciate all your guys help and patience and thank yous whoops that was a bit long haha

Hey, no problem! No, the sponge filters are air driven- they add much needed oxygen/water movement and TONS of biofiltration. Lots of bang for your buck, they are cheap, easy to clean (squeeze them out in tank water 1 or 2 x a week), they collect all kinds of bits of organic matter on their surface that the babies love to eat, and they also add more surface areas to the tank for the fry to hang out on. I get mine here in the states, they attach to the side of the tank w/a magnet which works well because I can put them above the bog wood. Most are made to rest on the bottom.
UV filters come both inline and in tank - up to you, if space is important, then inline might be better.
Here's a pic of one of my tanks w/sponge filters, bog wood, air stones, and two main filter intakes covered w/sponge. Not a great pic and am reducing the snail population(arrg!), but every bodies healthy, happy, and growing well so you get the idea! Sarah

Ok thank you, that is a nicely set up tank, I got heaps more driftwood so that's all soaking now and I went to look at the sponge filters but Ill need a more powerful air pump, how would you pick your air pump like the right size one.

Brandon1993 wrote:

Ok thank you, that is a nicely set up tank, I got heaps more driftwood so that's all soaking now and I went to look at the sponge filters but Ill need a more powerful air pump, how would you pick your air pump like the right size one.

Thanks Brandon
You don't need a lot of pressure to run the sponge filters, you only want a moderate flow through them, so a decent diaphragm type air pump is fine. One with two outlets can run 4 sponge filters with the use of a gang valve or t- connectors. A bigger or a second air pump can be used to also add some air stones.

Sarah

Ok I'll look at what I can find thanks for your help its very appreciated

Brandon1993 wrote:

Ok I'll look at what I can find thanks for your help its very appreciated

You're very welcome. Though you may curse me when it's time to sort out and pull the salable size babies- the driftwood makes that job even harder !

Have you separated your males and females yet? You really should do that for BOTH your sakes. As you are finding out the numbers will rapidly overwhelm the tank and your ability to find homes if you allow it. Males will let a ripe female into the cave to lay more eggs even before all the previous spawn have left (at least my males do!). Unchecked, that will sicken and eventually kill them since they eat little or nothing the whole time- that's months without food.
Give everybody a rest while you grow out the babies you have- trust me, they will resume breeding when/if you are ready for more.

Good luck, Sarah

Ok yeah I separated them, my male has more eggs to go but should be done in a day or so and with collecting my babies I use a coke bottle with the top turned around as a fish trap, I'm starting to pick up the sales, I have sold 58 of the 100 that are big enough to sell so ill just keep growing the others up and when they've ll grown up ill start em breeding again

Brandon1993 wrote:

Ok yeah I separated them, my male has more eggs to go but should be done in a day or so and with collecting my babies I use a coke bottle with the top turned around as a fish trap, I'm starting to pick up the sales, I have sold 58 of the 100 that are big enough to sell so ill just keep growing the others up and when they've ll grown up ill start em breeding again

That's excellent!

Also happy to hear you have sold a good many, the more room the rest have the healthier and faster they will grow. If you supply nice size healthy babies most LFS will usually be very happy to buy/trade with you.

Good luck, Sarah

Yeah I have hit up a couple of lfs and they said they wan them 1cm bigger so I'm selling them privately until there big enough and than sell what's left to the lfs, what type do you breed at the moment

Brandon1993 wrote:

Yeah I have hit up a couple of lfs and they said they wan them 1cm bigger so I'm selling them privately until there big enough and than sell what's left to the lfs, what type do you breed at the moment

Hi Brandon,

I have browns and albinos currently breeding in one tank. I plan on pulling all the females within the next week. The girls get moved into other tanks while on break. I leave the males in the tank with their caves and the growing babies- that way there is no aggressive reestablishing of territories.

I have a group of reds just reaching breeding age in another tank, I'm hoping they will start soon.

I trade all mine for credit to one LFS I've dealt with for a long time, he takes my baby angels and fancy guppies as well. We have a very good, mutually beneficial relationship that I value greatly.

Sarah

Ahh yeah that sounds cool I've split mine up but my males keep wanting to trade caves and fight so I'm going to have to make a new cave for them or a couple to stop them fighting, another question I am looking at getting 4 2ft tanks or 2 4ft tanks divides in half and was wondering if a internal filter would be ok with a sponge filter in wash or can you just use the sponge filter

Hi,always over filter,especially with fish such as Bristlenoses,as they are constanly eating and pooping.I have been looking into the Eheim pick ups recently.They are said to be very good sponge filters.The media is just a big piece of sponge and I am thinking if getting a couple to use as a second filter along with a bio filter.Been looking at the Eheim biopowers.The pick ups are really cheap for such a good filter.


Bristlenoses

As Bristlenoses says, OVERFILTER!!! Also, I find that covering my intake strainers w/large pieces of sponge works better than nylon mesh or thinner sponge. It doesn't clog up as fast, (you should still remove and squeeze it out daily in tank water to maintain maximum flow), and it works as an additional bio- filter. Baby BN are fairly large, you don't have to use sponge with tiny pores, these clog up almost instantly, a larger pore works better.

As for your males, they will fight over preferred caves. I've found the long narrow caves better, since two boys may spar outside the entrance, but they don't end up inside it brawling. My 4 males have seemingly settled all territorial issues, they always use the same caves and leave each other alone. I think it's most important to arrange things so the cave entrances are visually blocked - they still know other males are around, but aren't threatened or bothered if they can't see them caved up. I would also have a few more caves than males, at least until they settle on their favorites.

Here is a pic of two of my males in their respective domains. The caves are barely six inches apart, but the wood blocks their view so it's "out of sight, out of mind".

Brandon1993 wrote:

Ahh yeah that sounds cool I've split mine up but my males keep wanting to trade caves and fight so I'm going to have to make a new cave for them or a couple to stop them fighting, another question I am looking at getting 4 2ft tanks or 2 4ft tanks divides in half and was wondering if a internal filter would be ok with a sponge filter in wash or can you just use the sponge filter

Oh, sorry, to be more specific about the filters-
not sure what type of internal filter, if any, would be suitable?

and although most of my angelfish tanks are sponge filters only, I wouldn't even consider such a set up for a BN breeding tank.
I would invest in a high flow canister or HOT or both. The more flexible and roomy the media compartments the better. Get one rated for a tank much bigger than you plan on using it for. BN love current, so the turbulence created is not a problem, its a plus.

Sarah

Ok we'll the tanks I am looking at are 110L and there was 2 internal sponge filters I was looking at, one was 400Lph and the other was 750Lph and it would be for my adults and which would be 1m and 1f and than it would only be till I get a bigger setup so I can setup a decent sump system but I don't have the room for that at the moment, and than 1 air driven sponge filter per tank, but the problem with externals is that there to big and bulky for the room I have for the 4 tanks

Oh and my grow out tank already has a external filter

Brandon1993 wrote:

Ok we'll the tanks I am looking at are 110L and there was 2 internal sponge filters I was looking at, one was 400Lph and the other was 750Lph and it would be for my adults and which would be 1m and 1f and than it would only be till I get a bigger setup so I can setup a decent sump system but I don't have the room for that at the moment, and than 1 air driven sponge filter per tank, but the problem with externals is that there to big and bulky for the room I have for the 4 tanks

Hi Brandon,
Since I'm not sure what you mean by an internal sponge filter with an Lph rating, I can't really comment, but it sounds good. Perhaps it's a type of filter not available here, or maybe I'm just out of the loop

Sarah

Haha that's ok I understand well its like a power head with a long sponge cylinder on it, we'll ill give it a try and if it doesn't work ill just have to find another solution

Brandon1993 wrote:

Haha that's ok I understand well its like a power head with a long sponge cylinder on it, we'll ill give it a try and if it doesn't work ill just have to find another solution

ah ha... ok, now I know what you're referring to. The sponges will likely have to be pulled and cleaned pretty often, but as long as you do that I don't see why they wouldn't work well for you.

Glad you cleared that up for me, was starting to think I was having a senior moment.

Good luck with your project! Sarah