accidental breeding of bristlenose plecos

[Cys aquatics]

 this morning when i went to feed the fish i saw at least 35 baby bristlenose plecos i'm guessing they are about 2 weeks old, any advice on what to do with them is welcome. i have a 29 gallon tank that i could put them in temporarily.

[gardenman]

You can just leave them in with the parents if there are no predatory fish around. They'll eat the same food the parents do. If you're feeding them whole string beans the babies have a harder time with the outer skin of the string bean but if you're feeding them the French-style beans they'll do fine. Long term, local fish stores will generally take them once they reach a decent size. Or you can just keep them. Fish stores typically like them around two inches or so. Online sellers tend to sell them from an inch and up. They get to be an inch long pretty quickly but will need six months to a year to get two inches long.

[Cys aquatics]

ok, would they be fine eating algae wafers?

 

[gardenman]

On 11/15/2021 at 11:09 AM, Cys aquatics said:

ok, would they be fine eating algae wafers?

 

Probably. Mine get shrimp pellets, French-style green beans, and regular fish food in the mornings, then tubifex worm cubes more regular fish food, and an occasional precooked frozen shrimp in the afternoon. I find bristlenose plecos to be pretty happy carnivores given the chance, so some meaty food is often appreciated. 

[lefty o]

the little bitty ones will eat just about anything the parents will. also, if you dont desire them to keep breeding you have to remove anything they can use as a cave.

[Cys aquatics]

ok thanks for the advice

 

[HH Morant]

Repashy is great for plecos and pleco fry. I use 75% green Repashy (Super Green or Soylent Green) and 25% Bottom Scratcher. Just mix it, cut it into cubes, and freeze it.

[Colu]

I feed my fry repashy solient green algae wafers EBO youngster grow paste cucumber lettuce and some frozen blood worms and brine shrimp for extra protein to improve growth your bristlenose will breed every couple of weeks once they get to breeding size I probably have a 150 plus fry at the moment 

[Cys aquatics]

is there any way that i can stop them from breeding, and would it work if i do some algae wafers and some frozen brine shrimp?

 

[lefty o]

if they dont have a cave or dark place to hide in, they wont breed.

[Colu]

In my experience with bristlenose is the only way to stop them breeding is to sperate them and put them in different tanks 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Colu

[anewbie]

In one of my tanks they breed; but in the other the predators get the eggs before they hatch so a solution is predator. In this case I think it is the clown loach. The male has a running argument over the clown loach as to who owns the cave. The clown is quite a bit larger so the pleco never attacks him but ris rather more passive aggressive constantly disturbing him when he is trying to sleep.