albino bristlenose

[ken89]

hi im kinda new catfish, have kept fish for 5years but first time bought catfish. bristlenose are catfish rite? lol.
ummm im wondering the best conditions for breeding because i bought a trio and the females are 7,8cm and males is bout 10cm. i got a holow log which is about 35cm long and its sides are bout 7cm diameter. is this ok for them to breed in or do i have to buy drift wood?

thanx. ken

[EowynJane]

I don't know much about breeding and I'm not sure how big they have to be before they can breed... but I believe they need drift wood in their diet.  I do know they also need spirulina (blue/green algae), love blanched veggies like zuchinni and sometimes meaty treats such as shrimp pellets.  I feed my BN the HBH Veggie wafers and shrimp pellets and he loves both of them.  A good, varied, diet will help them to breed successfully.

Plain clay flower pots also make good caves for them, you can get them at Michaels craft stores cheap.  Just make sure they are the plain old clay and nothing else.  Mine have the brown/orangish look to them and they've worked fine for me.  You can test them by pouring vinegar over them, if it fizzes it's not safe for the tank.  Also you can soak them in a bucket in dechlorinated water and test the water after a few days, mine make the ph drop slightly but not enough to bother the fish.  I think they would enjoy multiple caves as they each like to have their own territory.  What size of tank are they in?

Good luck with them... and don't forget to post pictures!!!  We love pictures on here! 

[mpp]

Ken,
You should get yourself a small piece of driftwood for them to rasp on.  They need plenty of fiber in their diets.  They have long intestinal tracts common to herbivorous fish and fiber keeps things moving along, preventing blockages which can become severe enough to be fatal.  If you're not intending on getting a small piece of driftwood, you should be feeding fresh veggies every other day.  I only blanch veggies for the babies until they're about .5--75 inches long.  After that, it's only raw veggies, augmented by bloodworms once a week and hikari algae wafers every other day.  With feeding fresh veggies, you'll need to do weekly water changes religiously as the sheer bulk of biomass could quickly degrade water conditions.  For my BN/ABN breeding tanks, I have at least one big sponge, and a HOT filter in each tank.  I alternate cleanings of these during the weekly water changes.  For the breeding caves, I use homemade tile caves and they've proved excellent. 
good luck
mike

[crystalview]

MPP  The ones you are sending me are you still blanching the zucchini?  What other brand names have they been eating?  Is there a reason to blanch and then not to blanch when older?

[mpp]

Hi Crystalview,
The ones you're going to recieve alternate between raw zuchini and hikari algae wafers on a daily basis and frozen bloodworms once a week.  I blanch the zuchini when they're first out of the cave because it makes the zuchini easier on the babies to eat and get their bellies full.  They don't have to spend as much energy rasping the zuchini and I've found I hardly lose any babies this way.
hope that helps
mike

[EowynJane]

Really...  raw zuchinni!?  I'm going to have to try that and see how he likes it.  Good call on the tile caves Mike, I had forgotten about those.

[ken89]

For the breeding caves, I use homemade tile caves and they've proved excellent. 
good luck
mike

hmmm wat this lol sry!! maybe a pic would help me understand lol. ummm with zuchini i peel skin and microwave for 15 secs then give it to them but they dont eat it.... i tried leaving skin stil doesnt work... any ideas? same goes for my big pleco. he eats floating food..... he goes upside down and eats the color enhancing pelets i feed to flowerhorns and severums. hes going red too!

[mpp]

Hi Ken,
It's just a DIY tile cave.  I don't microwave or blanch the zuchini for the fish over 3/4 inch.  I peel it and clip it to the tank wall.  For my panaques, I leave it unpeeled.  Some of them like the skin better than the inside.  Here's pics of the caves.




And how I feed bn's zuchini

mike

[ken89]

o lol ty. is there a way to improve the breeding? or will they breed when the time is rite after i get some homes for them?

[mpp]

They like a little bit cooler temps than some other tropicals. 74-76 degrees is usually where I keep them.  Once you get them a home, just feed them well, keep that tank clean and you'll have some baby bns.
mike