Community Bristlenose Breeding Tank

[AquaticAustin]

I think that will be an overall better breeding environment (what you just listed) also not for the room aspect of it, have you considered dwarf gouramis? They have IMO brighter colors, thats why I got them at least. The one in my profile (powder blue) and a red one with a powder blue fin. Harlquins are very nice I like those if your going with the rummy nose, other than that just the standard cardinal tetras are always a winner in my book too for their bright colors

 

[Dburgess1231]

i love the pearl gouramis though. that is why i want them. they always looked so nice to me.

 

[AquaticAustin]

Also for the killfish, look around on the forums a bit, I know that one of the vendors sells some REALLY nice clown killifish that stay pretty small for $3 each. Mine were rescue fish so I dont know how much they actually cost in stores. Schooling fish off the top of my head: glo fish, zebra danios, platys (little larger tho), mollies (larger still), cardinal tetras, forgot name but they are neon tetras that have like a black stripe instead, a little larger option is like hatchetfish? many out there just have to find them compatible and what you want for a style.

 

[AquaticAustin]

i love the pearl gouramis though. that is why i want them. they always looked so nice to me.

Hey to each his own! I personally like balloon belly mollies though they look a little strange in such a large tank lol. they are definitely nice fish those pearl gouramis

 

[allaboutfish]

i know you dont think im "qualified" to post in your thread, but to aquaticaustin, not all killifish will work. clown killis and least killies will along with golden wonders and a couple of others but things like garneri and annuals would not make good community fish.

 

[sora1600]

I just get disturbed when people read what they want and not understand what is going on. Annoying.

rebuilt:

4-6 bn plecos.-(1-2 males rest females)
3 pearl gouramis- (1 male and 2 females)
12 harlquins?
12 rummy noses

Might want to be careful on the gouramis. They may get aggressive with each other and may hide. Just make sure to have another tank in case they start attacking each other. In my opinion, when breeding bristlenoses, they are better off in their own tanks. I first started out breeding bristlenoses in a community tank and some of the fry ended up as food. Plus they will be at least safe from any disease or whatever that can harm them as young fry because they are not as hardy as the adults. Try to only keep one male as he will get aggressive. I had 2 pairs in a 40g and my alpha male was a killer. He killed off his mate, non stop aggression to the other male, and I had to remove him to his own tank after putting him with the corys, which he attacked, especially when feeding. I'm not sure if the caves you want on the back will be good as, in my experience, they prefer the pleco caves that lay down on the ground. If you are planning to raise the fry in this tank, make sure all fry get food as there will be other fishes eating the food. If given their own tank, at least you see who gets to eat instead of guesing if everyone got something to eat. If getting killifishes, try to make sure you don't get the lyretail ones as their flowing fins may get nipped. I've kept killies before and they're better off in their own species tank. Just stick to your stocking for the community tank.

 

[pinkertd]

The females choose the male for breeding so if you only have one male they will all breed with him. My experience has shown that when there are 2 males and multiple females, the females choose the alpha male and the other male will just harass the breeding male. I've had as many as 3 females all spawn one right after the other with the same male and he has taken care of all three spawns at once. The cories will not bother the pleco eggs or fry. Not sure how you're going to attach caves to the back glass. I situate my caves on the substrate surrounded by some cover, but places so that I can see the activity inside the cave. Fresh hatched pleco babies are tiny soft little munchies for fish even as small as an ember tetra. When they wiggle and they are little...they sure do look like live food so I can't really advise any other fish that stay in the water column that won't do that. I remove the males and the cave of eggs to a 10G tank for hatching and as a starting tank for the fry. If yo do that, the babies don't get eaten when the venture out of the cave in the beggining and it also allows the fry to eat tiny growth food that they need inthe beginning.

 

[verbal]

With enough hiding places, you should get decent fry survival. However follow Debbi's advice if you want higher survival.

In terms of what type of fry you will end up with:
You will not get any albinos unless both parents are albino(recessive gene). You should get at least 1/2 of your fry that have a long-finned parent will be long-finned(LF is dominant).

 

[authmal]

if you read the post i am building caves on the back wall that will house the plecos for probably 60% of the time and the other 40% will be while feeding. And changing your stock/not knowing what to put with what has alot to do with this. I tried to be nice about it but i have a feeling you are too full of yourself to get the hint. I am not new when it comes to fish, I have been doing this for 10 years now and worked in a fish dept of a pet store for 2 years. cories and bn work very well togther and they will not bother eachother, especially with the pleco caves.

Okay. I slept on this before deciding to actually reply. Yes, I can see why you would think AAF is clueless, but I think you are as well, because you're only apparently reading parts of what he posts. His biggest "sin" is simply indecisiveness coupled with zeal. He's made valid points, points that others *also* made, and you've taken no offense to. It's the inconsistency that bothers me, because you are discounting the source, not the advice. He's actually reasonably knowledgeable. That said, I don't agree with getting and rehoming fish at the frequency he does, but that's his prerogative, and doesn't mean he's caring for them poorly in the interim. So he can't keep angels. Big deal. I can't keep otos, and that really annoys me. For some reason, some people just have issues with some kinds of fish. Telling AAf you think he's a bad source of advice once is sufficient. As the "mature" person, if you don't like his advice, simply ignore his posts; you don't need to keep talking about how you don't value his input.

I don't know if this breeding plan of yours will work, and I ignored the likelihood of success in my earlier post. You're actually better off with a smaller but larger tank for your goal, like a 40 breeder due to the surface area, which will be conducive to better breeding behavior, or eliminating any other fish in the tank stocking plan if you really want success. Of course, you'll possibly think I'm too full of myself, but that, is your prerogative.

 

[Dburgess1231]

haha i see what you are saying but maybe the title is throwing everyone off... I dont want it to be strictly breeding. i dont want to end up with a million baby bn plecos. Just some here and there. and if a couple fry get eaten by other fish then that is the life cycle.