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Well I have a heap of BN as most of u know, I have some gene carrier BN that I have mentioned elsewhere from memory, the male of which is a measley 3-4cm and has already fathered 2 successfull (small) spawns.
Having run out of tank space I chose to put a small pair of albino BN in the same tank. Th efemale Albino is 4.5cm and has been full of eggs and seemingly waiting for a suitable stud to spawn with for a while.

the gene carrier BN I am speking off came from crossing a common longfin female with a Albino non longfin.

I was sitting on the patio (yeah thats right this tank is outside without a heater and they started spawning in front of me, so I grabbed the camera (cannon S2IS) and started to capture what I could.

tank details are,

3ft, NO HEATER (20.5deg)
gravel bottom, planted,
Bristlenose Logs,
wood with lots of holes

the series of photos show them changing places in the log and the then the female out of the log resting after the spawn, the bottom shows a young fry from the previous spawn when the 2 gene carrier BN bred.

Hi,

I have a similar problem with Hypancistrus contradens
It's not a joke, since 6 months now there's alway youngs and / or eggs with the male (s).

I let the youngs with the adultes, the sand of the tank is covered by every size L201 at feeding time...

We also have BN, we have put the F in a other tank to stop the investation.

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Cathy

There is only one really sure way, and that is to separate the male from the female(s) somehow.

Another method that MAY work is to raise the temperature, as they will (according to what I've read in more than one place) not spawn if the temperature is too high. Too high is a question of debate, but definitely above 26'C, probably above 28'C. This is not guaranteed tho'.

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Mats

hey guys the title was sarcasm only, LOL
I love spawns even though I have no more room for fry LOL

the interesting part was the crossing factor

MatsP wrote:There is only one really sure way, and that is to separate the male from the female(s) somehow.

Another method that MAY work is to raise the temperature, as they will (according to what I've read in more than one place) not spawn if the temperature is too high. Too high is a question of debate, but definitely above 26'C, probably above 28'C. This is not guaranteed tho'.

--
Mats

We can extend the upper spawning temperature range to 30C. I have ~500 albino Ancistrus from a trio set up at this temp. I just split them up to prevent further reproduction at this time.

apistomaster wrote:

MatsP wrote:There is only one really sure way, and that is to separate the male from the female(s) somehow.

Another method that MAY work is to raise the temperature, as they will (according to what I've read in more than one place) not spawn if the temperature is too high. Too high is a question of debate, but definitely above 26'C, probably above 28'C. This is not guaranteed tho'.

--
Mats

We can extend the upper spawning temperature range to 30C. I have ~500 albino Ancistrus from a trio set up at this temp. I just split them up to prevent further reproduction at this time.

Given this (which isn't entirely different from my experiences), I somehow suspect that a higher temperature is more of a TEMPORARY spawning inhibitor, rather than a permanent one. So if you raise the temperature several degrees, the fish will then not spawn until they are thoroughly acclimated to that temperature - assuming all other conditions are "right" for spawning of cours.

However, I'm pretty sure there is an upper limit within which they will CERTAINLY not spawn. All fish have a temperature range that they survive, and within that range, one where they spawn more or less readily.

--
Mats

Might I suggest the introduction of a suitable predator?

No you may not!

Only joking.
What would you suggest would prey on BN catfish, a bit cruchy don't you think?

grokefish wrote:What would you suggest would prey on BN catfish, a bit cruchy don't you think?

When they are very young, the bony scutes aren't very hard, and the fin-rays aren't strong enough to cause a problem. I've seen my Satanoperca eat fry that has just come out of the cave, for example. These aren't "predators" by the normal meaning, but certainly will eat fry. So will goldfish - as experienced in my first ever spawn, as there was also a goldfish in the tank...

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Mats

has been accused of ancistrophagy. There was a thread quite a while ago about one that allegedly ate an adult bristlenose.

I put a couple hundred albino bn fry still with a slight amount of yolk left to absorb in with four young adult discus and the Discus ate them all within 48 hours. I did not mean for them to be eaten but they were. I was surprised by this development. Discus are not generally much of a threat and previous to this I have only had them eat their own spawns.

My BN will soon shut down as the heat of Summer begins to grind on and my tanks begin to stay at 32C. None of my catfish will breed until it cools back down.