growing bristlenose

Hi, i was wondering i bought some baby albinos from a guy they are long fins and they range from approx 2.5 inch including fins to about 1 inch including the fins. now i bought 6 as juvies and was wondering what can i do for them to give them the best water quality for them to grow faster?

Hello! I haven't had any BN babies yet but I'll clue you in on to what works for me in my other raising adventures. Plus I am currently growing out 5 juvie BNs as well (well I've been at it a few months so maybe they're sub adults now.)

As far as food goes mine LOVE no salt added canned green beans. Just cut them lengthwise and they will devour them! I refrigerate mine after the first use and feed them daily for one week then before throwing away left overs. Then I choose cucumber or zucchini and feed that every other day until it's gone or goes bad. Then it'd another week if canned beans. I alternate like this pretty regularly. Once a week or once every two weeks I feed exclusively frozen thawed deshelled green peas as "maintainence". I also see them eating flake food and occasionally the frozen food I feed to my other fish.

As far as water quality goes, FREQUENT WATER CHANGES is the key! I do 1/3 once a week. Twice a week may be more appropriate depending in size, stocking, and filtration of your tank.

And don't forget Driftwood, that is of utmost importance in keeping BNs alive and thriving.

Hi,
Good water surface agitation,good filtration,regular gravel vaccs,good diet,plenty of space and plenty of water changes (as long as you don't go over the top and do too much too often) Also plenty of hiding places and some wood. These things will keep them good and healthy.


Bristlenoses

Here is what I do with my tanks no matter what kind of fish I'm keeping.
Filters... I always at least double the filtration on my tanks, meaning if the tank is a 20gal tank then I run a filter rated for a 40gal tank. I also run a canister filter on top of the normal filters for maximum bio filtration. On my 90gal I am running 2 marine land 400's with bio wheels each rated for 90gal tanks. Then I have 2 marineland 360 canisters each rated for 100gal tanks.
Heater... You want a heater that will keep your water temp at a constant temp. I again buy a heater rated for a bigger tank just so I know it wiill keep my water temp constant. If the room temp is low and if you buy a heater rated for the tank size you have it may have a hard time keeping up and you will burn them up fast, and have to keep replacing them
I just purchased two uv sterilizers after years of keeping fish. They are not a must, but definitely don't hurt.
Water tests and water changes are a must, with any fish keeping. Some fish are dirtier then others so depending on what you keep for fish will determine how much maintenance to do. In my 90gal I change about 40% of the water every Sunday and if for some reason I ever get any ammonia or nitrites show up in my test I do a water change right then and there, and will do a water change every day till tests are normal. But you also must find the reason for the spike and doi only small water changes daily so you don't send your tank into a cycle. If you have completely cycled your tank and have a strong bio system going then you shouldn't have to do any water changes other then the scheduled weekly water changes.
This is what has worked for me with any fish I have kept or keep. My bristle noses are happy, healthy, and starting to spawn like crazy. I have raised a few of my adults since they were tiny and they grew fast and healthy! I'm sure you will have some healthy fish, and don't do anything to hinder their health to speed up the grow period as that will cause more problems and loss down the road. Patience will always yield the best results! Have fun, and keep us posted!

A strong warning regarding heaters.

Do NOT use a heater rated higher than your tank size unless you have it connected to a separate controller, preferably with an alarm, and even then it is better to use two lower watt heaters, than a single higher one.

Heaters are one of the least reliable pieces of aquarium equipment, both cheap and expensive ones will on occasion fail. When they do, they either quit working and your tank cools off, or just as likely, they get stuck on and kill everything in the tank. A 300 watt heater stuck on can rapidly make 30 gallons of water too hot to keep your hand in.

So if your tank requires, 300 watts, use two 150 watt, or even three 100 watt heaters. That way if one quits, the other(s) will still keep it warm, or if one gets stuck on it can't cook the whole tank.

forever sorry to my beautiful breeding pair of 100% wild blood Peru Angels...... I had to learn at your expense

Sarah

Thanks Sarah, I never thought about that in all the years of keeping fish! I must say (and thank god) that I have had several heaters die out but never had one boil my fish. I can't believe I never thought of that! I am going to swap mine out for a lower wattage heaters in all my tanks tomorrow, because now that It has been brought to my attention that will happen if I don't. Sometimes, if it weren't for bad luck, I would have none at all! Thanks again Sarah, and I feel like a rookie again. Lol

aidenh48 wrote:

Thanks Sarah, I never thought about that in all the years of keeping fish! I must say (and thank god) that I have had several heaters die out but never had one boil my fish. I can't believe I never thought of that! I am going to swap mine out for a lower wattage heaters in all my tanks tomorrow, because now that It has been brought to my attention that will happen if I don't. Sometimes, if it weren't for bad luck, I would have none at all! Thanks again Sarah, and I feel like a rookie again. Lol

Don't feel bad Aiden, I KNEW BETTER, but it was one of those "I'll just use this for now" until I got the proper heaters for the tank, and it wasn't an inexpensive heater either.

I have around 20 tanks and have had about 3 heaters fail in the past 2 years, two shut off, no harm no foul because of the back-ups, and the one stayed on that was too high for the tank- I still feel like an idiot and worse for that beautiful pair of fish.
So thanks for responding, I'd hate for anyone to go through something so preventable.

Sarah