Bristlenose breeding questions

i recently purchased 6 albino BN around 1 inch and i was wondering how long until the sexually mature, im sure itll be a while before they are ready to breed but does anyone know? also im planning to get some pvc pipes for them and i want them to b able to breed in it once they get older, so does anyone know what size i should get?? and how big of a opening should it be?? also im considering making some caves from some slates and i was wondering how big should i make it?? and if anyone has some that there BN breeds in can you please give me the measurements... sorry for all the question but if anyone could help me answer all or most these questions it would really be appreciated thanks

sometimes its very easy to sex BN's when they are male's...but its hard to get a solid female untill they are fully grown and mature....a mature breeding size is roughly around 3" but ppl have said they have spawned younger???as you are aware males have a bushy snout(bristle's up his nose to his eye's) and female's dont, female's will only grow bristle's around her lip and they are only small bristle's...keep tabs on your bn's size with a tape measure when there on the glass and when they start getting near the 3 inch mark, sexing will get a bit easier and your BN's are now getting mature.....

PVC piping is a good starter but i use slate cave's myself and your BN's dont like big space to do there stuff in so in reality you wanna get a cave that will just about fit two 3" BN's in(a nice snug fit.....

Here is a link to give you an idea on cave sizes...

http://www.bristlenoseworld.com/uk-trade-room-f23/for-sell-unused-bristlenose-breeding-caves-taunton-t304.htm

Ebay has plenty of these cave's for sale......

thanks for the info

the_K wrote:

thanks for the info

hope it helps just ask away mate.......

what types of food do you feed your BN and how do you prepare the food... also are all veggies and fruits good for them or is some bad?

the_K wrote:

what types of food do you feed your BN and how do you prepare the food... also are all veggies and fruits good for them or is some bad?

everybody has diff view's on this subject...
Personally myself i feed mainly Hikari Wafer's....with Courgette(zucchini) going in about 2-3 times a week.......

Here is a list posted by jakob and made by Jo(Zebz)

http://www.bristlenoseworld.com/feeding-time-f6/pleco-veggie-list-t69.htm

pretty much everything on here you can feed your BN's....
But they will rarley turn the nose away from Hikari wafer's...

i was wondering... do you guys blanch some of the heard stuff to brake it down a bit and soften it first or just use it as it is and see what the plecos do with it first? like the potato, carrot, broccoli, coconut,lettuces and others

the_K wrote:

i was wondering... do you guys blanch some of the heard stuff to brake it down a bit and soften it first or just use it as it is and see what the plecos do with it first? like the potato, carrot, broccoli, coconut,lettuces and others

the really hard stuff like sweet potatoe could do with blanching but i dont blach courgette as i have plenty of bog wood and drift so they can easily digest the anyway....like i said i dont really experiment to much with veggies i tend to stick with what i no...i have tried melon and they really like that to...

ok thanks

Both my brown BN and my albinos had their first spawns at 2 inches.

I'm pretty sure they are not related strains as they came from different LFS at different times, so I doubt their are from some line of early spawners.

When they came home, they did not go into newly cycled tanks, but mature ones and that may make a difference as who knows what kinds of micro flora/fauna is in a mature tank that cannot be measured but that fish benefit from.

I had MAJOR difficulty sexing my first lot - they were ALL females! Once I met a friend who had both, it became easier to see the diffs!