Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

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medinabob
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Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by medinabob »

Hello All, I'm brand new to this site and to breeding Albino Bristlenose Plecos. I NEED HELP !!! This is my 2nd batch of babies (don't even want to talk about 1st batch!) 4 survived. Anyways round two...I took a friends advice who breeds Brown Bristlenose Plecos by the hundreds. I made sure I didn't move them until the 7th or 8th day after they hatched. The parents spawned in a ceramic square tube designed for catfish. Temp. was 78 in home tank. I setup up a 10 gallon with all the water that was drained from the home tank. I used a well established sponge filter from the home tank also for filtration. As with the 1st batch I lost about 1/3 of the fry within the 1st 24 hrs. Then things seemed to take a better turn. Now they are 5 weeks old and I've begun to start losing fry again. I was changing 20% of the water daily using a drip flow method.. then tried 20% every other day to no avail. feeding them Hikari first bites powder food, french cut style green beans (no salt) and Hikari algae tabs. They are eating well no matter what I feed them. What am I doing wrong??? My water in this area is about 8 on the PH scale and hard and alkaline. It works well for all the Malawi African cichlids I raise...maybe no good for baby plecos??? By the way my friend is on the same water as I am. He only feeds French cut style green beans to his. Thanks in advance for your time. Sorry if it's a long post but I know all the info only helps with your response. Thank You, medinabob :?
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by MatsP »

I don't know what you are doing wrong. Is there gravel in the tank? I have read that bare-bottom tanks sometimes cause probems for young Loricariidae. Try putting sand or fine gravel on the bottom, if it's a bare bottom tank.

I'd probably also feed a bit more veg and less of the prepared food. If the fry gets too much protein, they can get problems with the intestines.

In my experience, it works better to leave the fry with the parents, rather than moving them - but I have moved fry too, and not had much trouble with them, so I'm not saying that is a problem as such - rather wondering why you are moving them if they survive for a week or so in the parents tank.

Edit: And I moved your post to the appropriate forum, as it's more about Loricariidae than about tanks, as far as I can see.

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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by Karsten S. »

Hi,

difficult to say what's going wrong, bristlenose fry is not really fragile. With good water condition it should be possible to raise 100%. Perhaps you should try to lower the pH a bit.
Like Mats I would also recommend to always use sand although bristlenose plecos should "clean" the glass surfaces when they have finished their yolk sack.

In general I would recommend not to put too much food in the tank and to add also some (dried) leaves of for instance walnut trees. Especially those walnut leaves have a slight antibacterial and fungicidal effect and are to my mind a good nutricial complement for bristlenoses.

Cheers
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by Farid »

hi there,
i do it like this
http://veloofahren.ch/Aquarium/einhaengebecken.htm
see the lower part of the page. the glassversion is perfect! as you can see the water is entering the "fry-tank" thru (??) the air filter system...as the water lever rises inside this tank it is draining thru the foam. after about 1-2 weeks i need to clean the foam otherwise the waterlevel rises to high and babies can escape :lol:

this is my newest construction: http://www.img-box.de/54590/
as all tanks are 30cm wide i can use them in all of them!! http://www.img-box.de/54592/

the water stays the same, enough oxygen is guaranteed, waterquality of the (maybe) NO2 rich water is filteres automaticaly by the mainfilter in the tank!! waterchangements in the maintank of 50% a week (i do that in all my 21 tanks) will be enough for the fry. i also fill my tanks with cold water even if the catfish tank is about 30°C the fresh water will have a temp. of about 24°C... exept if the fry is sensitive to rapid temp. changes :!:

i start also with powdered food, artemia salina > brine shrimps (shortly in hot water so they dont swim anymore :P )

good luck!

farid
My cats L2,49,47,46,L66,134,181,189,200,201,204,205,208,260,397,LG6,Parotocinclus recife/halderoi,A.ranunculus,Peckoltia sp. "rio palacio",Pseudohemiodon platycephalus/lamina,Hemiodontichthys acipenserinus,Rineloricaria lanceolata,St.festivum,Akysis vespa,Bunocephalus corracoides,Synodontis multipunctatus/grandiops, C.panda,adolfoi,cruziensis
medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by medinabob »

Thanks Everyone, Keep the tips coming I'm quit a newbie with catfish. It's a glass bottom tank and I move the babies because the parents are breeding in a 75 gallon with Malawi Peacocks. I think I will seperate them soon and try that. Do you think daily water changes of 20% are too much?? Thanks Again, Bob aka medinabob :)
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by apistomaster »

Farid,
I recommend using a larger tank than a 10 gal. Bushy nose do not grow very fas, especially if they are crowded. Best growth rates will occur when you provide 1 gal per fish at first. Over crowding, even wile they are very small, can have a great effect on their initial growth rate and ultimate size at a future given age.
i also recommend a thin layer of sand and an abundant supply of wood. the wood increases the surface area for the fry to forage on and provides microterritories. i would also provide a good growth of a plant like Hornwort which is allowed to fill the upper 1/4 of the water column.
Don't feed heat killed bbS; use chilled live brine shrimp. they may be dead as long as they are still fresh. store them no longer than 48 hours in clean brine the same strength used for hatching and be sure to rinse them free of brine. Also feed them Spirulina sticks and earthworm sticks. these 2 foods soften into a mush the fry can easily eat. They will work much better than the hard pressed algae wafers. Supplemental feed them with zucchini or similar blanched vegetables.
Provide strong filtration and an air stone. i like to have one sponge filter driven by a power head. Using an outside power filter is beneficial, too. Just be sure to use a pre-filter on it's inet.
They seem to grow best in water with a ph of 7.2 to 7.6 and at least 350 to 450 ppm TDS.
20% daily water changes are fine but 70% twice a week works very well.
80%f is a good rearing tank temperature. Replacement water after water changes may be up to 6 dF lower with no adverse effects. The heater will return the tank water back to 80*f within an hour if you allow 5 watts per gal.
I also maintain thriving colonies of cherry shrimp in my pleco fry tanks as they are helpful in eating loose and fine particles of the recommended foods which may be missed by the fry. The surplus cherry shrimp that will result usually find a ready market so you can make the tank more productive of salable animals with no additional work.
Avid Trout fly fisherman. ·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by medinabob »

Thank You Sooo much Everyone, I went to an all French cut style green bean diet (no salt) and lessser H20 changes. I stopped the algea tablet and proccessed foods I was adding. The 2nd batch I've had 98% survival rate. I cannot tell you catfish people how much I appreciate your help. Hopefully in the near future I'll attempt much more challenging species and you will guide me down the successfull path!!! :thumbsup: Thanks Again, Medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by Barbie »

Hiya Bob,

I'm preparing to confuse the heck out of you, but welcome to the board in spite of it ;).

I seriously doubt you're killing baby Ancistrus with water changes. Almost everyone that I've talked to that was having problems with them was starving them. It's hard to be able to add enough food to the tank to feed all those voracious fry without polluting it, let alone in a 10 gallon. IMO, Hikari Algae wafers are a way better food for fry than the green beans, as they'll be higher protein and less filler, while still providing fiber, if you really are struggling to get them enough food. They too soften, it's just a slower process, so it takes them longer to foul the water. IME, a varied diet with a wide range of available foods will definitely benefit them as they can choose which foods they need. Just keep an eye on what things they're preferring.

I regularly change 50-80% of the water in my bristlenose tanks. I used to do it daily when I tried to raise them in 20 gallon tanks. Now I just give the trio of adults a 55 gallon, throw in food and let them fill it. I do huge water changes weekly and I almost never lose fry anymore. The stability and water volume are definitely a lifesaver for my method of growing out babies.

There just isn't ever a single way that must be followed to be successful with these guys. It's just going to take what works for you. I'm glad to hear the french cut green beans are giving you a better survival rate. Hopefully that will be an ongoing trend!

Barbie
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by cwm »

Hi
I have raised 1000 or more A.B. A 10 gallon tank is fine to spawn them in. ALL YOU NEED IS A sponge filter & a cave. don't move the fry. feed them Zukes & collard greens. The tank is going to get messy, but thats the way they like it. Just clean up the coarse debree of the tank once a day. Change 50% of the water once a week.
Charlie
medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by medinabob »

Thank You Sooo Much, I really appreciate all the help and advice. Things have got much better...I'm on about batch 6 or 7 (2 pairs) and success has gone way up. My best luck has come from a pair in a 20 long with 2 sponge filters (glass botom) and an HOB outside (99%) hatch. I left both parents in with fry. My next question is what to do now. The parents (20 long) have produced a 2nd spawn...is it OK to leave them in with the 1st spawn or will this be trouble??? Thanks Again but now have too many fry :thumbsup: Medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by MatsP »

medinabob wrote:Thank You Sooo Much, I really appreciate all the help and advice. Things have got much better...I'm on about batch 6 or 7 (2 pairs) and success has gone way up. My best luck has come from a pair in a 20 long with 2 sponge filters (glass botom) and an HOB outside (99%) hatch. I left both parents in with fry. My next question is what to do now. The parents (20 long) have produced a 2nd spawn...is it OK to leave them in with the 1st spawn or will this be trouble??? Thanks Again but now have too many fry :thumbsup: Medinabob
It's fine to leave the fry with the juveniles for some time, but at some point, you will get too many and too large fry for them to stay in the tank. This will show, mainly, in that the fry do not get enough food, and stop growing - that won't be particularly easy to spot. I tend to move mine on when they are between 3/4" and 1" total length.

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medinabob
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Re: Raising Albino Bushynose Plecostomus fry

Post by medinabob »

Hello All, Thank You so much for all the help and patience with this newbie (me) :lol:. Farid...Is there any chance you could post those instructions on that 1st link in English? Again I would like to thank everyone for all the help...hopefuly I'll be taking on greater challenges in the catfish world in the future and am looking forward to yuor help. Thanks Bob a.k.a. medinabob
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