Trying To Breed Bristlenose Plecos

[kris1978]

hi, my wife's trying to breed bristlenose plecs, she has 10 plecs in total. we've seen loads of people saying that their female bristlenose is full of eggs, how can u tell?
also the largest female b/n hardly ever comes out of her cave, she is still alive, we've even tried taking the cave out of the water to get her out, but she dnt budge. can any1 help?

we bought a trio of b/n's, the male is an albino 1. we know they have bred, but it was some time ago. does any1 have any tips 2 getting them breeding?
we have tried cold water changes, the ph is 7.6, they have plenty of bogwood, caves and hiding places. the only fish in the tank are plecs.

thanks

 

[jonnyf84]

keep your temp around 79F, a temp drop of a degree can help as it simulates the rainy season when BN's breed in the wild although this is not usually necessary as so many generations of BN's have been captive bred so most will breed year round regardless of temp drops. Your ph is good. slate caves are the prefered nesting places for bn's. Add a air stone and have a fast water flow. When did you get them? sometimes they can just take time to settle in. You can tell by if she is carrying eggs if she is gravid this is easiest to judge when you can see her under belly if it looks swollen then she's gravis or very fat.
THIS IS A GRAVID FEMALE


Don't what ever you don't move her cave or disrupt her, this will cause her more stress, just leave her be. I have had a couple of BN's in the past that have been like this but they have been healthy and well so don't worry unless you notice her losing weight or acting strangely.

Provide a healthy diet of varied greens (cucumber, courgette, lettuce, peas, algae tabs etc.)

Most importantly try and keep them stress free and do regular water checks for ammonia and a stable PH.

jonny

 

[kris1978]

thanks for your help, we only bought the plecs just under a week ago so will need time to settle in, the last time they breed was about 3 months ago!!!
we have put in a small power head to make a faster flow and will try 20% cold water changes for a while which will keep the temp down abit.
we put in fresh cucumber and algae wafers daily.
we will just see what happens over the nxt few weeks and see if anything happens.
many thanks

 

[jonnyf84]

your welcome. Just remember to vary the diet.

Good Luck,
Jonny.