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Post by Bumblebee on Aug 26, 2005 10:43:07 GMT 10
A commonly available species in australia, easy to breed if you have a few 'caves' for them to make territories in. Easy to sex once about 5cm in length as the males have a lot of bristles developing and a 'ridge' of bristles down the centre of their head. the females have few if any bristles then usually only on the lip. these guys will need a small piece of bogwood to chew on.
A great algae cleaning fish but wont seem to eat the dreaded black hair algae. Should be fed algae wafers, blanched zuccini and shelled peas in a clean tank. will keep tanks spotless from brown and green algae. Beware not to get two males unless you have a large tank as they are very territorial to their own kind and will fight. Harmless to other fish besides the occasional tail-smack during feeding.
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Post by todnjo on Aug 30, 2005 10:44:27 GMT 10
These little guys are happy little things, i have one of these in another tank and was wondering how to sex them. Hes only a litte mite yet so i will wait for him to grow so i can get him/her the appropriate partner. These can be shy little guys but the bigger they get the bolder they become. I have never lost a fish or a baby with bristlenoses in the tank. A friend had one and it had babies about a month after being bought, they did get eaten by other tankmates though. Wont have this prob with gups im hoping coz bristlnose babies hide for the first few weeks dont they?
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Post by Cyberguppy on Aug 30, 2005 20:34:22 GMT 10
I am pretty sure the male protects them for the first week or so of life. I would love some albino bristlenose but they are $50 a pop for a 3cm!  my male is the biggest show-off in the tank |
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Post by Bumblebee on Aug 31, 2005 10:12:50 GMT 10
I have a pair I bought 3 months ago. I woke up this morning to find this little guy! ;D  And there I was thinking my poor male was just grumpy! |
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Post by todnjo on Aug 31, 2005 20:08:21 GMT 10
OOohhh gorgeous. I think i like these little guys the most. I have some cute pics i took of my tiny bristlenose in a tiny bottle. Will hopefully get the time to post em soon.
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Post by Bumblebee on Aug 31, 2005 22:44:35 GMT 10
I just got home and got a peek in mr-bristlenooses nest with a torch , he is very carefully guarding about 40 more ! Its quite amazing because I bought them only 3 months ago at about 4cm and they are now only about 5-6.5 cm. The websites on breeding them say they need to be about a year old these guys are 6-8 months max!
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Post by todnjo on Sept 1, 2005 9:37:16 GMT 10
Oh you are so clever. You must be a proud mum. This is my goal, to breed gorgeous gups and have my other fish breed too. That way you know your fish are healthy and happy. Cant wait to see the pics. Cougratulations!
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Post by Bumblebee on Sept 2, 2005 9:28:03 GMT 10
thank you. So far I have caught about 19 of them and have them in a well ventilated fry-saver with plants and a tiny plant pot to hide in. (the craft ones you get at spotlight) they seem to be happy. they like that liquifry 2 for live bearers too (its a fry-paste) if you pour it carefully it drops to the bottom. found this nice article: www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Woods_Bristlenose_Catfish.html |
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Post by todnjo on Sept 2, 2005 12:51:21 GMT 10
That was a great article, gave me lots of ideas. Maybe we should ask for stories from peoples tanks like that. It was a good read.
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Post by Cyberguppy on Sept 2, 2005 17:35:46 GMT 10
Nice, post some pics when you get them all together. baby bristlenose will be fun to raise.
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Post by Bumblebee on Sept 4, 2005 15:25:14 GMT 10
I have found 28 bristlenose 'kittens' so far. here is a pic of them approx 5-6 days old. apparently they are incubated for 10 days, then feed of their yolk sacks for 4-5 days then take another 4-5 days to emerge from the cave. explains why BN fry are a hefty 15-20mm when they emerge from the cave.  |
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Post by cichlidking on Sept 9, 2005 20:28:49 GMT 10
they look so cool i have one bristlenose in my 6 foot tank and he keeps it nice and clean im not sure what sex it is since it hasnt grown any bristles yet but once i know im going to buy another one of the opposite sex and hoppfully they breed
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Post by Cyberguppy on Sept 10, 2005 14:20:33 GMT 10
what size is he/she? I think they can be sexed by about the 4-5cm mark. My little males seem to be a little more active than the females and like to show mottled markings, the female always shows as plain a colour as she can achieve ;D
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Post by cichlidking on Sept 10, 2005 17:36:12 GMT 10
its about 4-5 cm now but i couldnt get a good mesurment on it since its hiding half under a log
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Post by Cyberguppy on Sept 10, 2005 18:03:18 GMT 10
should be able to tell fairly soon then  |
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my male is the biggest show-off in the tank
