Bristlenose eggs

I have been trying for over 2 years now to get my bristlenose to spawn. I had to buy 9 of them to finally get a female. Last September I found some eggs in the tank that were unattended and although I tried putting them in a tumbler, they died. I also found a batch of eggs in the filter on another occasion and their was nothing I could do to save those after I dumped them with the filter material in the bottom of the sink.

I then moved the female to be with a different male. Now, finally, two days ago, I found another batch of eggs in the bottom of the tank, with no male taking care of them. Once again I stuck them in a makeshift tumbler, but they turned white and died.

This morning there were even more eggs right outside of the males "log". I don't know what to do. Should I leave them alone? Is there any chance the male will take them back in? Why can't any of my males get it right?



The male.

To answer my own question, no the male will not take them back in. He pushed them out to the middle of the tank. I don't even know if they are fertile, but I picked them up and put them in a breeder net with a little water flow from the filter output and an airstone. I don't have much hope, but I have to try. I will never give up until I have some bristlenose fry.

you may want to find or trade males to get 1 that will do his job.

I hope you succeed with the breeding so you get to see this in the future.

Good luck with them Betty, I know you've been trying to spawn them for a long time. Hopefully the eggs are fertile and they will do good in the net.

Thanks guys. Håkan, I would love to see that at some point, although I'd really like one of the males to take care of them. Vman, I have eight males, so there's got to be one that can do the job. I'll give this male another chance because he's the best looking one. Maybe he'll get it right the next time.

Good luck,are you using pleco caves in your tank?they work great for me,my albino bristlenose spawn evey 21 days,if you need caves I can get them

Rob, do you have any pictures of the caves? Is there a bottom lip on it? I've tried an assortment of different caves, tubes, pots, etc., but the times that I have found eggs, the males were in these logs.

http://www.kensfish.com/ceramicsupplies/pleco_breeding_log.JPG


I was wondering if maybe with the lack of a rim or lip on the bottom, that the eggs are accidentally getting pushed out?

I just went down to take a peek at the eggs and noticed three of them being bounced around really high in the net, so I thought there was too much water flow and went to adjust it a bit and much to my surprise, there were tiny little heads and tails on them. They were trying to swim around! Some of them are developing!



Now, if I can just keep them alive. I still would much rather have the plecos taking care of the babies. I guess this is a learning experience for the plecos as well as for me. I found another clump of eggs in the tank and have put them in the net too.

WOOHOO!!!

Wow! That sounds super Betty. Hope it goes well.

wooot i told you could do it betty

A friend of mine has been raising them with great success , sold about 400 fry , feeding decapsulated brine shrimp

Congrats,I will get you some pictures of the caves this weekend.

Should I be trying to remove those clear/whitish eggs? They are stuck together, so it won't be easy. They don't appear to be growing fungus, they just look empty.

A sight for sore eyes! Awesome Betty

good job Betty!!!

Hopefully the other eggs will develop and detach from the cluster before the clear eggs start to fungus which will make it much easier to remove them. Any signs of fungus and I would try to get them out of there tho.

Congrats you have wigglers,I was at my friends tonight he is a breeder I was talking to him about your problems,I would like to talk to you, i think we could really help you out on these guys

Betty e-mail me at harley_rob63@hotmail.com give me your phone# I think we could really help you with these.I think it would be awesome help you get these problems solved

Here's some pics Betty...

Same cave's as Rob uses I got them from him.

Thanks Roger I think these would solve her problem, I went to Peters tonight got a new German Red,a female L264 Sultan female my next breeding questand tomorrow I get a beautiful trio of Aulonocara Kandeensis from him.I would like to talk to Betty I think I could really help her with these Plecos.

Congrats, Betty! i am just thrilled to have my ONE little baby BN surviving.
I'll know now what to look for when a male is guarding eggs, and keep any eye out for the fry. The first 3 I saw, I left in the tank, and never saw them again.

Hi Rob, I really appreciate your wanting to help! If you could just post some tips here, it might help football mom and anyone else that might be getting into breeding plecos as well.

Those caves look interesting. The ones I have taper to a narrow end and are sealed at one end. Do those have a closed end or is it open at both ends? I have given mine a couple of sizes of pvc tube, with both opened and closed ends, but they seem to prefer those logs.

Most of the babies are still alive this morning. A few have turned to a milky color, so after much effort, I have removed those. (They sure are sticky!)

Thanks again!

I'm so happy for you Betty!

Congrats on the spawn and we are hoping for further success!

Love the pics so far and hope to see some more as they continue to develop!

These things are growing quickly. I'll need to start feeding them very soon.
The two batches of eggs were found a day apart.