marinetropic Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Hi everyone, Just wanted to see what everyone's opinion is regarding the best way of setting up grow out tanks. I'm breeding bristlenoses and they are spawning every 4-8 weeks depending on time of year and how they are feeling (I don't trigger them with water changes, they just do their thang) I have a deal with a couple of the LFS in my area who will take them on a rotating basis, but I don't have a huge amount of grow out space and it's making maintenance difficult (I have a 25 gallon and 2 10 gallons) Once I get some money from the batch I'm a out to sell I can get a proper shelf to run multiple tanks. I can essentially set it up one of 3 ways with the shelving I have picked out, outlined below: 6 x 20 gallon longs (standard 2 ft tanks here) 4 x 25 gallon (45cm/15inch cube) 2 x 40 gallon long (36" x 14" x 18") I plan to run the tanks on sponge filters through one big air pump and appropriate heaters. Is it better to have more tanks and less fish in each or it not that important? Also, pictures of what I'm currently sitting on, 80+ 3-4cm commons, dad sitting on 2 clutches of eggs! There's also another 90-100 ~2cm commons split between the 10 gallons. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 2 -40s are ideal. I tried growing out in 20 long but the water change schedule was grueling due to the amount they eat and waste produced. Also as mom got older growing out 200+ in a 20long to a decent size was impossible for me. On the other side of that I had poor luck mixing batches and lost many of the second batch due to them being outcompeted. So my questions are how old is your breeding girl? How many batches do you intend to grow? How many juveniles Can you rehome? If she is young and you have a solid outlet to take bulk and they want a lot 4-20s If she is 2-3 years old 4-20 will still work by splitting batches. I take the eggs from dad when I do not want another batch. I’ve saturated my local market with over 1000 so now I sell wholesale to a friend with an online business but they move slower so I only do 1-2 batches a year. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 I have 2 females breeding at the same time (that's why he's sitting on 2 clutches). The females have been full size for 6 months, I've had them for 18 months. I only have limited space to set up the breeding rack hence the small number of tanks. The bn's are currently breeding in my 3 ft community tank with platies/mollies/tetras so I can easily let a batch go in the 3 ft if I'm out of space and the live bearers will gobble them up. I also have a a juvy longfin common male and shortfin female super red with the intention of breeding the reds together and the commons. There is another option depending on the final shelving I get, I am able to use 4 x 24" x 18 " x 18" (120l don't know the gallon conversion) which is only a bit smaller in volume than a 40 but a lot bigger than the 20 long, just those tanks are a lot more expensive. Ah the joys of it all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 I don't breed bristlenose, but I do breed a lot of L397s. I keep my young in a 40 breeder. The adult colony is in a 60 breeder. My adult colony is around 20 or so fish, which includes a small number of L183s (ok so I do breed some bristlenose!), but they don't breed as prolifically or as successfully as my L397s yet. I find with L397s that using larger tanks is better if you're going to have a decent number of fish in them. L397s are super messy (are bristlenose as messy?) so I over-filter their aquarium. I keep an aquaclear 110 and 2x box filters, all stuffed with polyfill, running in each aquarium and do a lot of automated water changes. I also run inexpensive in-tank UV sterilizers to prevent bacterial blooms I occasionally get when feeding fresh veggies. My personal experience (again only with L397s) is that water quality is the biggest issue for a dense grow out simply because of the amount of food going in, waste being produced, and the nature of feeding fresh veggies to so many fish. I've been ok with about 200 young L397s in a 40 breeder at one point without any issues, but again, the key is being able to sustain clean water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 Yes bristlenoses are messy haha! I think anything in the "pleco" family (hypancistrus, ancistrus, peckolita etc) are all messy as they are prolific eaters that graze all day. It seems like bigger volume tanks is the way to go. It's interesting that more smaller tanks gives more total volume, but like with everything it means more work and more maintenance, just means I might not be able cycle them as often. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 On 7/23/2024 at 4:23 PM, marinetropic said: I might not be able cycle them as often. You don’t want to flood your market. Keep them in demand it works to your advantage 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 This is true, I'm lucky I have a few shops that will take them as we can't import any "pleco" into Australia so the only ones the LFS can get are from local breeders or the local wholesalers, so any pleco is always in demand (even common bristlenoses). It will be a step by step build anyway as whatever I sell is the money I'll have to expand and sustain the hobby. It's exciting none the less. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 On 7/23/2024 at 5:20 PM, marinetropic said: whatever I sell is the money I'll have to expand and sustain the hobby. It's exciting none the less. This is what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 Thansk for input! After a bit more thinking and measuring my plan will probably be as follows: Rack which will be 3 ft long x 3 ft x 430mm or 530mm and it will house either 1 x 3ft and 2 x 90l cubes or just 2 x 3ft. I can't go taller to get a third shelf as I don't have a point to anchor the shelves to avoid tipping. I'm also picking up a dirt cheap 2ft tank (50 bucks with heater and filter) this weekend to work around my current stock until I can sell off the ones that are grown to buy the shelving. More than likely I'll end up with 1 x 3ft, 2 x 90l cubes and 1 or 2 x 2 ft tanks ( I have a stand for a single 2 foot, but might be able to squeeze in a dual 2 foot stand) 3 footer will be for my common lf/sf trio and common stock, 1 90 will house my super red pair and the other tanks will be grow out space for any live-bearers from my community tank or extra bn space if/when needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 Gah! They hatched today. Had them hanging in a breeder box but one of the big female knocked the lid off and there was babies everywhere. Managed to save most of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 I recommend Putting a divider in your brooder aquarium, and separating your males from females. Once you reintroduce, they'll spawn on cue. You do not want constant fry unless you have a guaranteed way to sell indefinitely. BNPs are popular, but no local market can sustain the numbers you're into. I have very successfully used these to divide tanks. I just cut to fit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074PL8XCY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 That's a good point, I was thinking of potentially going down that route if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamS Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 If you need to offload 6 or 8 I know a place… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marinetropic Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 On 7/26/2024 at 4:45 AM, AdamS said: If you need to offload 6 or 8 I know a place… All depends on location haha! On another note. Picked up a cheap 2 ft and slid it next my other grow out. Just finished setting up and rather happy. Yes I know they are floating jungles, they serve as dumps for all of my offcuts. Haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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