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Too young for breeding?


Nik_n
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I just both these two fish, a male and a female bristlenose plecos. I asked for the biggest ones they got. I chose a pretty big male but they didn't have any common bp females of the se size. This is the biggest I could find. 

I want to attempt breeding them, but I worry that the female will be too small. Any thoughts. 

They had a female from the yellow variety, but they are twice as expensive and I didn't want to mix the common with the yellow. 

Here is a photo straight out of the bag 

IMG_20210824_170058.jpg

IMG_20210824_170054.jpg

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On 8/24/2021 at 11:05 AM, Nik_n said:

I just both these two fish, a male and a female bristlenose plecos. I asked for the biggest ones they got. I chose a pretty big male but they didn't have any common bp females of the se size. This is the biggest I could find. 

I want to attempt breeding them, but I worry that the female will be too small. Any thoughts. 

They had a female from the yellow variety, but they are twice as expensive and I didn't want to mix the common with the yellow. 

Here is a photo straight out of the bag 

IMG_20210824_170058.jpg

IMG_20210824_170054.jpg

When they're ready, they will be fine. Males do not harass females to breed the same way that livebearers, cichlids, or anabantids do. They'll just hole up in a cave, and try to get the female interested. When she's ready, she'll gladly deposit her eggs in a cave for the male to fertilize. 

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On 8/24/2021 at 8:57 PM, Fish Folk said:

When they're ready, they will be fine. Males do not harass females to breed the same way that livebearers, cichlids, or anabantids do. They'll just hole up in a cave, and try to get the female interested. When she's ready, she'll gladly deposit her eggs in a cave for the male to fertilize. 

this pretty much sums it up. mine seemed to wait til the male was over 5" and the female 4" or so. 

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Be prepared my male and female are only 8-10 months. Male just showing lip whiskers and one tiny center whisker just had a batch. His whiskers grew in while he was egg sitting.  Health drop so I agree with the others when they are ready they will. (Unless I was mislead in their age when I purchased them)

Edited by Guppysnail
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I agree with other post when it’s time it’s time. Research I did all said they wouldn’t spawn till at least 1 year old or more. I got 5 that were only 3/4 inch and 9-10 months later I got this

and that was just a sub dominate male I removed from group and placed with an albino female and about a week prior my dominant male spawned and the babies are in a community tank 

good luck, babies are fun!

Edited by Atitagain
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Yeah I agree with the others. The male will just claim a cave and sit there at the entrance fanning his fins to display to the female. They're not overly aggressive at all. If a female is ready to spawn and suitably impressed by his fanning technique, she'll enter the cave and they'll spawn.

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You'd be surprised how young, what size they will breed. I bought some super reds at an auction a few years ago that were only maybe 2" long at the most, none showing any bristles. I put them in a tank with a couple of caves, about a month later I was doing a water change and moved a cave and out popped a few little ones. 

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Thank you all. I got them settled in and they and they are already out and about. I will include a better picture but I would say the male is about 3" and the female a bit less then that maybe 2.5" at most. I was told the fish need to be at least 3" to breed and it may take several months until the female reaches breeding size. I was wondering if I would be able to spawn them in about 2-3 months? Also how long would the fry take to grow up? 

I have a cave and some driftwood, I may add more later. For now it's more than enough for the two fish.  

The closest I have ever come to spawning them was the male sat in the cave flapping his fins. I checked for eggs several times but I couldn't see any.  

Here is a better picture for yesterday after I got them out of the bag. 

IMG_20210824_180058.jpg

IMG_20210824_180112.jpg

Edited by Nik_n
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