Bn Pleco Fry

[Gruntle]

Hi all,
 
As mentioned some months ago, I have moved a female BN Pleco into the 200l tank with my male.
 
Boom! Within 2 weeks, I had fry. At one stage I was able to count 10 of them.
 
However, there are a couple of weeks between sightings. one day there are heaps of them, then a gap of a couple of weeks before I see any more, then 8-10 again, then nothing, and so on.
 
I am wondering whether these are separate batches of fry, and whether they are dying after a few days. Being so small, I don't think I'd ever see a deceased one in a reasonably large, well planted tank. And I've never seen the parents (either of them) in the cave I purchased for them, nor have I ever seen any eggs. I suspect they are using the mangrove driftwood as breeding/hiding space.
 
I haven't really been doing anything out of the ordinary in the way of care for them, since there are so many other projects on the go at home I haven't really had the time to do much more than put some flake in for the other inhabitants and some wafers for the plecos.
 
Are BN fry hard to raise?
Should I be looking at catching them and growing them out in a smaller tank?
Could either the cherry barbs or neon tetras be eating them?
 
Or alternatively, do they grow slowly so I'm really seeing the same little ones and they spend most of their time hiding?
 
So many questions, so few answers from Dr Google...

 

[NickAu]

This is my Bn's breeding.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/438940-my-bnplecos-are-breeding/
 
Normally once they are hatched and still in the cave I take them out and give them to my LFS who puts them in a grow out tank.
 
The male will push the fry out of his cave when they can survive without him.
 
My Bn's seem to breed every 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[Baccus]

Intially the eggs hatch and you will have little yellow babies with a large egg yolk still attached to their stomach. As this yolk is absorbed the fry change from yellow to black/ mottled. It is at this stage generally 1/2 cm in size (if not a tad smaller) that the fry will leave the nest area and be seen about the tank. Being so small almost any fish that can fit them in their mouth will eat them. I find at this stage the fry are readily seen about the tank as they are eating machines and constantly searching for food. As the fry approach 1-2 cm they will begin hiding a bit more but still readily appear when food is on offer. As they get closer to 5cm they have generally taken on thier parents reclusive habits.
There is two possibilities with your BN fry. The first is that the various fry you are seeing are different batches of fry and the previous ones are just hiding in other parts of the tank.
The other option is that the fry are dying from lack of extra food being added for their requirements and the other fry you are seeing are new batches of fry that in turn may also die off if not given the extra food.
As a tip for the BN's both the parents and the fry be sure to include a protein food as well as the usual algae wafers, because BN's are not strictly only vegetarian.

 

[NickAu]

My LFS gave me a handful XTREME - Catfish Wafer Scrapers My Bn's go mad over them.
 
http/shrimplovers.com.au/product/catfish-scrapers-125g-sinking-wafer
Ingredient List:
Krill Meal, Shrimp Meal, Fish Meal, Herring Meal, Squid Meal, Octopus, Green Peas, Rice Meal, Wheat Flour, Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles, Spirolina blue-green algae, Stinging Nettles, Brewers Dried Yeast and Paprika.
 
This is a list of vegetables and fruit that are popular with most plecs.

    Zucchini/Courgette
    Cucumber
    Peas (deshelled)
    Sweet Potato
    Green Beans
    Melon/Melon rind

    Aubergine/Egg plant
    Avocado
    Broad Beans
    Broccoli/Stalk
    Butternut Squash+ other squash
    Capsicum/Bell pepper(not the hot ones)
    Cauliflower/Stalk
    Carrot
    Coconut
    Grapes
    Kale/Collard Greens
    Kiwi Fruit
    Lettuce
    Lima Beans
    Mango
    Mushroom (common plecs and goldspots love mushroom)let it float,they will reach it.
    Papaya
    Potato
    Pumpkin
    Spinach
    Sprouts
    Swede
    Tomato
    Yam

 

[Baccus]

In the plant department they are also quite fond of eating waterlilies.
And with fruit mine happily eat Icecream Beans.

 

[RCA]

Stick in a piece of cucumber and you will soon see them attach onto it. They are very delicate when first born and therefore I found greater success with leaving them in the tank. This way the strongest survive and you will soon find you have plenty to pass on anyway. If you try and catch them, they will often perish from any damage in doing so.
Check out all the diffferent ages in my video http/youtu.be/9SbBQ6Gwmjc

 

[Munroco]

Great Video RCA. beautiful tank, whats that green stuff on your bogwood at 1:20 could it be green spot algae thats been allowed to grow?

 

[RCA]

Thank you, did you see the next video of it being broken down
The tufts of green are most likely an algae, but looks awesome IMO.