when to pull the fry out??

Hi, my bristlenose spawned a few days ago now they have been out of the egg for three days how long will they be in their cave for before coming out? I want to have some survive this time they are in a cichlid tank and last time they all got eatten im going to put them in a 10 gallon but im not sure when i should do that? Any help please

Mine emerged from the cave 8 days after hatching. I'd say it takes 8-10 days. I just picked up the cave with babies and dad and moved them to a 10 gallon filled with water from their previous tank.

Hi,Best thing to do would be to move them all over now with cave and dad.

There is a way to do it so that you don't pour them all out or flush them out.You need to get a receptacle such as a small tub or jug and place this into the tank that has the babies and dad and cave in.Fill it right up with water and put it on the bottom next to the cave or as close as possible.Then slowly and carefully place the cave into it with dad aswell(hopefully he will stay in the cave).Carefully move it all over to the new tank and place it on the bottom.Carefully and slowly move the cave from the tub/jug and place it in it's new tank.

You could also firmly put the palm of your hand over the end of the cave and do it that way but it has to be kept full of water at all times.

Make sure the new receiving tank is cycled and set up for them and all should be great with no problems.

Good Luck!

Bristlenoses

what bristlenoses said

Well took your advice set up a 10 gallon tank filled up the tank 90% water from the tank the babies were in and 10% new water let that all settle down for a few hours then put the cichlid stone. In the tank with the dad come up to check a few hours later ive got babies out swimming around just a few also out of no where found a trumpet snail in the cave after moving them so weird thought to where that came from because ive got no clue but im so happy ive finally got baby bristlenose plecos

Congrats on the babies and the successful move!

If you have substrate in the cichlid tank you may have a lot more trumpet snails than you know! They generally stay burrowed when the lights are on. If it's a planted tank, they probably hitchhiked in on a plant. Within reason, they are beneficial, keeping the substrate healthy. If you check your tank after the lights have been off for a few hours, you may get a better idea of their numbers. Your cichlids may be killing/eating the baby snails, keeping them in check.

Good luck with the BN fry!

Sarah

It was a fully planted tank before but i washed it out real good and the sand im using is just white handy man sand from menards lol 5 bucks for 50lbs i use that sand in all my tanks. Im not complaining about the snail because i think they are cool i actually wanna get some different types of snails just to have for an occansional snack for fish

Well all the fry finally went out of the cave dads been out for a day so he went back in my big tank to be with his ladies. But while the male brown was gone my male albino has suddleny taken intrest to my other cichlid stone and wont leave it but no eggs in that one yet so with any luck by next week illhopefully have some albino eggs

chrisl1994 wrote:

Well all the fry finally went out of the cave dads been out for a day so he went back in my big tank to be with his ladies. But while the male brown was gone my male albino has suddleny taken intrest to my other cichlid stone and wont leave it but no eggs in that one yet so with any luck by next week illhopefully have some albino eggs

Congratulations!
Keep an eye on the male you just moved back, he and the other male that has caved up may fight for a while reestablishing territory. If you don't want more browns, you may want to keep him out of that tank a while longer. Being more experienced, he may be the one any ripe female(s) go to rather than the albino.

Good luck with the new fry
Sarah

My albino male stays on one end of the tank and then my brown male stays at the other end. The females go where ever they please haha, my babies look different from my last batch cause this batch is way smaller when they went swimming and they almost look calico because they have brown and white spots may be because they are young yet. What do you think

Yes, browns esp seem to go through color changes, so no telling at this age (at least I can't tell!).

If your boys are tight in their own caves, then probably no issue. I've had issues when returning a male to the colony only if he decides he wants to take over somebody else's cave, then I have to take him back out for a while.

As long as you don't have your heart set on albino fry, then things sound good. If you definitely want some albino, you may or may not get any if the girls pick the brown male again, depends on whether he carries the gene.

Good luck, sounds like you have a nice set-up.
Sarah

Rookie question here im going to an auction tomorrow for fish, their will be bristlenose plecos their but say i buy a pair would it hurt my babies that i just had and put in a 10 gallon tank to also put my new pair in that tank with them?

chrisl1994 wrote:

Rookie question here im going to an auction tomorrow for fish, their will be bristlenose plecos their but say i buy a pair would it hurt my babies that i just had and put in a 10 gallon tank to also put my new pair in that tank with them?

I wouldn't. You really should quarantine any new fish before you add them to any of your tanks. They can bring in any number of diseases, parasites, worms, etc.
It's one of those things you don't want to learn the hard way

Sarah

Well yes i do that all the time but afterwards would it be ok to put this pair in with my babies?

chrisl1994 wrote:

Well yes i do that all the time but afterwards would it be ok to put this pair in with my babies?

Oh, ok sorry. Yes, adult BN are fine with fry, so it shouldn't be a problem. My only concern is a 10 gal tank isn't going to be big enough for very many fry for very long as it is, and they will be growing while you quarantine any newcomers. By the time the new pair is cleared to go in, your tank will likely already be getting overcrowded.

Sarah

So move them to a 20 gallon?

chrisl1994 wrote:

So move them to a 20 gallon?

How many fry do you think you have? They can stay in a 10gal for a while, but bigger is always better. Water quality is easier to maintain, your fry will grow faster with more room, and if you have another spawn soon you can move dad and cave and wigglers right into the twenty. If it's the brown male again, you should probably leave him in the grow out tank a few weeks anyway so he doesn't spawn a third time without a break.

I don't know how long you quarantine, but 6 to 8 weeks is really needed to be safe. The current fry will be pretty big by then.

Sarah

I only do it for a week but i am hard on it because i slowly raise the temp everyday its worked for me alot of times. And ive got prob apptox 20 fry

chrisl1994 wrote:

I only do it for a week but i am hard on it because i slowly raise the temp everyday its worked for me alot of times. And ive got prob apptox 20 fry

Well, that's a small spawn so the ten is fine for now. I'd still plan on getting a larger tank set up as a grow out though, once they start spawning they rarely stop. Spawns can often be well over 100.

Good luck, hope you find something nice at the auction!

Sarah

Yeah this spawn was smaller than my last one. Also this spawn is physically smaller too my 1st spawn before they left thw stone they were about a a quarter inch and they were brown as can be. This spawn they were smaller and different in color im not complaning tho im just happy to have some babies finally. Now if only my albino long fins would grow im wanting to get some reds but not ready to put down that kind of money yet

What are the shops/breeders asking for reds around your area? I'm trying to decide whether to just sell mine to the lfs that takes my other fish, or if it's worth getting involved in shipping and dealing with customers. I was in the retail pet business for a few years, then in live animal wholesale for over twenty years... kind of had enough of all that!

Sarah

My local stores do not sell them at all they sell common browns at 10 a piece

So far ive got albino that carry the blue eyed gene and long fin gene

Also just bought red green cross