Nik_n Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) I just noticed that my female bristelnose pleco is injured (see photo). It seems as if she had her scale nipped. I'm trying to breed plecos and have a male and two females. The male has chosen a cave a rarely leaves it. I think he doesn't have eggs inside because he isn't fanning and I saw him leave the cave multiple times. They have been in the tank together for about 2 weeks now. There are 5 columbian tetras, 2 angelfish and one gourmai but none of them seem to have even noticed the plecos. I saw the male and the female interact for the past couple of days so I had my hopes up but don't know what to make of this. I'm gonna check for eggs later but doubt I will find anything Edited September 21, 2021 by Nik_n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 The male could have tapped the female in his cave causeing the damage if you can Qarantine her and I would do a course of maracyn to cover against any secondary bacterial andi ick x to provent any fungus setting in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik_n Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 if he trapped her that means that they have attempted to spawn right? I haven't seen him fanning at all but will check for eggs in the morning. I don't think I have the option to quarantine her but I will keep any eye on her and treat the tank if need be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 She might gone in to his was not ready to lay eggs and the male got a bit rough with her and that's what caused the damage @Nik_n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik_n Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 Alright. At least is breeding behaviour. Did you mean that the female wasn't ready to lay the eggs? I feed a mix of algae waffers and greenbeans and sometimes some blood worms will make their way to the bottom. Is there anything else I should be feeding to increase the chances of them breeding. Or is it just the matter of fattening up the female? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) Yes when my female bristlenose is ready to breed she nudge the male in the side and he will fan his fins at her and sometimes chasing her to try entice her into his cave I feed them a mixture of foods to get them into breeding condition repashy super green Sera catfish chips hikari aglae wafers bug bites pleco formula cucumber blanched spinach and lettuce sweet potato blood worms and mine lay eggs every 3-4weeks I have about 150 plus baby's at the moment @Nik_n Edited September 22, 2021 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik_n Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 oh wow! Do you do water cold water changes to promote breeding? How long does it take to grow out the fry to a sellable size? I don't know if my LFS has rapashi but I will try to get some. I also sometimes feed zucchini I heard it good for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) No I don't do cold water changes I just do a 25% water change once a week the key to breeding bristlenose is good nutrition and good water quality and having a male female once they get to breeding size you you'll be over run with fry I hold on to my bristlenose fry for a least 3- 4 months I feed the fry 3times a day the fry get exactly the same food as I feed my adult bristlenose zucchini cucumber sweet potato theirs a lot of different vegetables you can feed he's some of my fry eating repashy with proud dad in the background Edited September 22, 2021 by Colu 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 (edited) On 9/21/2021 at 7:47 PM, Colu said: No I don't do cold water changes I just do a 25% water change once a week the key to breeding bristlenose is good nutrition and good water quality and having a male female once they get to breeding size you you'll be over run with fry I hold on to my bristlenose fry for a least 3- 4 months I feed the fry 3times a day the fry get exactly the same food as I feed my adult bristlenose zucchini cucumber sweet potato theirs a lot of different vegetables you can feed he some my of my fry eating repashy with proud dad in the background I agree completely with the nutrition. When the female has enough quality food she gets a huge egg belly and willingly goes into the cave. The male does not need to trap and force her. Mine have laid three back to back clutches so far and she readily swims into the cave and lays. Here is the second laying behavior of mine. You can see in picture 4 she was not ready to lay and still has an egg belly dad did not force her to stay in the cave she came back later and laid here is mom just minutes before she went in and laid dad did not trap her he hung at the opening land this is seconds after she emerged from laying Edited September 22, 2021 by Guppysnail 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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