Breeding Bristlenose Plec's

BREEDING ;
The breeding pair can be brought into condition with a mixed diet, good water conditions (raise the frequency of waterchanges) and a slight upswing in temperature. It is thought that slightly more acidic than alkaline conditions will also promote breeding. The male will find himself a niche under the bogwood, or in a small clay pot if you provide one for him. He will spend several days cleaning it and fussing around in and out of it. When he is happy with the nest, he will swim around the female, flirt up and down the tank with her, and try to entice her back to his lair. Eventually she will go into his cave and he will follow her in.

The male assumes a position over her, his stomach to her back, both heads pointing the same way, his body half a length forward of hers. She lays large amber coloured eggs. (approx 3mm) and the male fertilizes them immediately. The eggs stick to the sides of the cave. She may leave the cave but return several times to lay more eggs over a few hours. Eventually there will be around 30-60 eggs and the female will swim away to find something to eat!

Meanwhile, the male will begin his long vigil. He will tirelessly tend the eggs, mouthing and fanning them to keep them constantly aerated. He will fend off any intruders to the fry by either fanning his tail furiously at them or physically chasing them off. During all the time he tends the eggs, he will only leave for the shortest time possible to eat, and will quickly return to the nest as soon as possible. After two days eye spots will begin to show on the amber eggs, and after around five to six days, (depending on tank temperature) the eggs will hatch. It is quite safe to leave the male with the fry, he will continue to be a good father and look after them until, at around a week to ten days after hatching, when they have absorbed their very large egg sacs, they will leave the cave and venture out to look for food. Eventually the male will realise that the young have moved out and he will leave the nest.

CARE OF THE FRY:
If the fry have been spawned in a barebottomed rearing tank, (as opposed to a mixed community tank) then daily small waterchanges (10% is adequate) and small meals of the same food types as the adults, (but bloodworm etc. needs to be chopped up small), will promote quick growth. The bottom of the tank should be kept clean, uneaten protein foods being removed. The rate of fry survival is generally high and provided the tank is maintained correctly, then there should be no real problems in raising the fry to a saleable size within three months. Most tropical fish shops will take them from around three cms long.

If the fry have been spawned in a community tank; depending on where the male made his nest, it is perfectly possible to move the entire nest to a seperate rearing tank (to protect the small fry from predators); however this must not be done until the fry have hatched as if the male leaves them before then, the eggs will not be sufficiently fanned and aerated and may become fungussed. In the past, this author has moved clay pots full of fry, (with the male still hanging on for dear life) by means of immersing a deep container inside the main tank, moving the nesting pot gently into it within the tank, and carefully lifting the whole container out and into the rearing tank. If the male leaves them at this point, it will not matter, his main job has been done.
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nice thread curby

"L Number mad wrote:

nice thread curby

thanks your more than welcome to create your own article's on here..

Here is another articule on breeding preparation,



Spawning Ancistrus

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To begin, it is important that I say that there is no "cookie cutter" method to spawning any genus of fish. This group is as diverse as any, and results can vary within a species. Therefore, this is merely a guide of how I do it. There may be better ways out there, and anyone can feel free to email me if they know of one. I'll see to it that the info gets put to good use in my fishroom at the very minimum. Just as much of this method has been gathered from other aquarists as I have learned on my own through trial and error. When put together, it has given consistent results in my tanks. I follow a very strict schedule with these fish because they seem to be capable of spawning on command. It should also be mentioned that this is what I do for the common strains: albino, red, blue eye gold, and all long fin types. Any other species may need some variance from this to be successful.
To begin, I am going to assume that the fish were only recently purchased from a pet shop. Most shops carry fish which are a size of 1 1/2 inches SL, standard length. This means that the fins are not included in the measurement. From this size on, they can be safely fed a homemade diet that I have put together over the years. This includes frozen shrimp, french- cut green beans, garlic extract, and agar. Most of these ingredients come from a grocery store, but the agar can normally be found at health food shops.

Two cups of shrimp are grated in a food processor before being mixed with the other ingredients. The green beans are then added to the shrimp. A teaspoon of garlic extract is also added. While the garlic extract is soaking into the other ingredients, I start mixing the agar. Start by heating water to just less than boiling. Put one tablespoon of agar into a glass measuring cup, and fill to the one cup mark with the hot water. This is then stirred as quickly as possible. Once the agar starts to cool, it will clump and make it difficult to get a good final mixture. As soon as the agar has dissolved, pour it in with the other ingredients and use a mixing blade to ensure that everything is mixed well. This is then poured into ice cube trays and frozen for later use.

The tank is usually already established before I get to this point. This means that it has been filled with dechlorinated tap water, cycled for a good bacterial balance, and the temperature set to 80-82 degrees. The higher temperature will help with growth if the maintenance schedule is adhered to. I also use only bare bottom tanks for spawning. This makes cleaning a lot easier.

That brings to the next topic. The tank walls and floor should be wiped down at least once a week. I do this before water changes so I can siphon anything that comes off the walls. To add to this, water changes are done every second day at a rate of approximately 20%. This is done to try to aid rapid growth in the prospective breeders. Any waste in the tank, or left- over food is removed at that time. The tank should be as clean as is physically possible.

Once the breeders have reached a size of 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches SL, the water change schedule changes. At this size, the sexes should be obvious, and may have already started spawning with the above portion of this technique. If not already spawning, I do one of two things depending on whether the females are conditioned. I'll explain what to do if they're not conditioned since both methods end the same.

If the females are not conditioned, or spawning, I cut back the water change volume to only what is needed to clean waste out of the tank. This can easily mean doing one gallon water changes every second day. The tank walls are still cleaned, and kept spotless. This is mimicking a dry season. Slowly, the water gets older, and nutrients build up. After 3-4 weeks, the condition should be degraded enough to start with the rest of the technique.

Before proceeding, you should have spawning caves ready for the breeders. In the case of Ancistrus, I use clay pots that are normally used for house plants. Four inch pots seem to work well for all but the largest specimens, and I've even had 5 inch pairs use them to spawn. I soak these for 2-3 days in a bucket of water. This softens them and makes them easier to cut. At that point, it's time to pull out my trusty Dremel and fiber enforced cutting wheels. Measure the body of the male, across the pectoral and vertical. Do not include fins in these measurements. The hole should be only slightly larger than these measurements and squared. Placement is also important. I cut just below the rim of the pot. By creating this small barrier, eggs and fry appear to be less likely to be kicked out prematurely. The pot is then inverted, and the water drain hole is plugged by using either a hot glue gun or silicone caulk. If using silicone, make sure to allow it to cure for a few days before adding it to the tank. By placing this in the tank upside down, you've made a perfect Ancistrus cave.

Start by picking the day of the week which you have the most free time for fish work. Doing water changes every 2 days, that day will be your water change day every second week. Go back to doing the 20% water changes every second day using dechlorinated tap water and re-set the heater to 78 degrees. Whenever your day falls on a water change day, change 50% of the tank water with a 50/50 mix of reverse osmosis and dechlorinated tap water. If you do not have reverse osmosis, just using tap will often work. You also want to make sure that you drop the temperature by 5-10 degrees with this change. Under normal circumstances, the fish will spawn 3-4 days after this large change.

Once the fish spawn, their diet is changed to prevent the fry from getting too much protien. If the fry are removed to a separate tank, continue feeding the breeders on the same diet. If the fry are to be raised with the parents, I simply stop adding the shrimp to the recipe above. Instead, a single shrimp is dropped into the tank with feedings on the day I'm not doing water changes. This cuts down the protien, but is enough to keep the breeders going constantly.

Perfect a good read and really usefull..

very informative. always helpful to learn new techniques

glad you like

Great write up guys