breeding bristlenoses!!! HELP!!!

Hi,
Please help!!! i have 1 fully grown black bristlenose male, and a black female thats half the size of him. They are in a 1ft tank on their own. They have a dark castle which they sit in, a large piece of bogwood, and a live plant. their nitrates, nitrates and ph are all fine - water is perfect. their temp is 26c. why are they not breeding??? please help!!! thanks

There are two things I can think of. One is, have you looked inside the castle. Male bristle nose like to guard the cave and babies so you may not see them unless you look inside. Second, are you absolutely sure they are the same species. There are several different types of bristle nose plecos and they are not likely to breed with each other. Another thing could be that your female is not mature or is an immature male(no bristles yet). How long have you had her? Did you get them from the same place at the same time?

Another thing is that bristlenose can be picky about where they will spawn. Some will spawn in anything, others want specific caves.

I've heard that the Boester Breeding Bell that they can't resist spawning in it... but I've yet to be able to figure out how to get them...

If you find them, let me know... I'll buy several!

But I agree with Meg... Check the highest point in the tower and see if the male is keeping them herded in there...

Hi, yep ive checked the castle, no babies. I got them both at the same time, the shop told me they are both bristlenose plecs. the male has chunky head, but "female" shes only about 2-3 inches and there are no signs of bristles. she still has quite a way to grow before she is fully grown though. shes about half the size of him. ive tried them with cucumber, to get her to grow more, but they're just not interested. my sister excells in tropical fish, and she said to put in a plantpot, but theres just no room in the tank, what with a big piece of bogwood, and a large castle!! any more suggestions??

It sounds like the aquarium is kind of small, especially if it's the one with all the live bearing fish. Did you get the bogwood from an aquarium shop? If you found it in a lake or pond it could have parasites.

They really like the veggies...

I use Zuchini and Sweet Potato... They tear them up!

Your female may not be ready yet...

oh no no johnarthur, they are in a tank on their own. update, they now have the castle, a plantpot on its side, 2 live plants and a large piece of bogwood. as i said my sister is an expert, and she says the female is most definately breeding size. i just cant understand it!

i bought the bogwood from an aquarium shoip, so its quite safe

I'm glad you are being a careful aquarist, so please forgive an old coot for getting a little confused. I've never raised bristlenose catfish, but if they're anything like angelfish, they pick their own time to spawn and are difficult to predict. Sometimes they can be encouraged to spawn by a partial water change or a change in temperature; I'm not certain this would apply to the bristle guys.

its ok!!! dont worry about that!! if you are breeding corys, then a 20% water change of freezing cold water will certainly trigger them to spawn, but according to my sister, they dont apply to this. I have checked all these things people have suggested and i just cant find anything apart from that they just dont like each other!! any more suggestions you have??

You may need to change partners on them, but before you do that, why not Google them. You may need to use their Latin name, but I've looked up several fish that way, and a lot of information is available out there for free.

yep, ive tried that, ive done everything it says on google and other seach engines, i just cant find a problem. all the male does all day long is sits in the castle fanning. but he isnt fanning anything!!! its so strange. . . theyre just starting to nibble at the cucumber, but theyre not over enthusiastic about it, my other tank with various tropical fish in, there is an enormous hole in the middle of the cucumber where theyve eaten it!!! maybe i should put another slightly bigger female in there (if i can get one!!!) they are so hard to get!! thanks for al your help on this, i will keep you posted!!

Here's one more trick that works for some fish. First, do a partial water change; those cucumbers and stuff can make quite a mess in the water chemistry. After that, wait for a week or so while they adjust to the big water change. As a final resort, you might try removing the male for a week or so. Maybe he just doesn't know what he' doing (think teenage boy) and needs time to figure things out. Temporary separation often works for angelfish. As a final thought, they may just need more time; affairs of the hormones shouldn't be rushed.

Actually, that was about four or five suggestions. I hope Angela will chime in on this.

yeah thanks. i might just try those ideas!!! ill keep ya posted

Well... My plecos are not here yet... I'm waiting for them... Still...

They were shipped out of Greely CO on Tuesday and I still haven't seen them. 8(

I'm stressing...

Anyways... Check out boesterscichlids.com and see if you can get them to e-mail you back. I've heard that the Boester Breeding Bell is irresistable for bristlenose... See if you can get one. They haven't e-mailed me back yet. I was going to give them till Monday and then try to call them.

Have you seen any eggs? It seems strange that the male is fanning... With nothing there... Bristlenose don't eat their own... so... That's kinda strange...

i know, isnt it strange!! he just sits in the castle all day long, he wont come out even for pellets or cucumber!!! he only comes out when its pitch black. but all hes does in the castle is he sits there fanning!!! but there is definately no eggs because i have checked loads of times!!! i will check out the boester breeding bell then. thanks!!!

I called and left a message today for the Boester Breeding Bell... It's pronounce Baster... like a Turkey Baster.

My plecos arrived on Saturday. DOA... They had pierced the bags and the bags leaked out. I'm so sad...

The cucumbers and zuchini do make quite a mess in the tank. The Sweet potato make hardly any mess at all.

I might try turning the light off for a couple days and seeing if that might help. I also thought about removing the male... but... what if you removed the castle? That would force him to come out of there. Leave it out for a couple days and then reintroduce it... maybe in a different spot? I'm not sure...

Also... all these changes might be messing with them too... And checking for eggs and all... Maybe they just need some quiet time... I'd try candlelight and a little soft jazz?

Good Luck, sorry I'm not more help...

I am so sorry to hear about your plecos. That is really very sad. Perhaps you could notify the seller of the issue regarding spines and plastic bags. Maybe they could give you a refund too.

Yeah, I've spoken with her. She was using breather bags.

I would recommend NOT using breather bags with full grown plecos. Even small ones like bristlenose...

She's going to replace the pair with another pair next week. She's going to use thick bags to ship.

Super nice person, I totally recommend dealing with her. She's mainly a bowhead.

OK I give up. What the heck is a bowhead?

As far as I know they are a type of whale. However, in the above context, I don't believe it applies, so I am at a loss as well.

Sorry guys... Bowheads... Rainbow fish people...

LOL!

There is also a gearhead (person who likes fast cars and bikes), cheesehead (Green Bay Packers fan), and thickhead (person who doesn't know what a bowhead is).

Yep, that was me alright. I was clueless. Now I am well informed. It makes much more sense now and I have to admit the whole thing had me laughing.

I just love y'all!

You're too much fun!

hey hey now guys, lets get back to the topic of bristlenoses!!! lol. I have now got a breeding cave. the male came out of the castle when i took it out of the water, but neither of them go in the cave now. Male sits on the filter, and the female sits on the side of the cave. There are no eggs, and there were non in the castle. im totally clueless. my friend bought a pair and they bred within half an hour of being together!!!!!

That's so wild...

I wonder why they won't breed. I'm really curious about it.

I'm wishing you luck, because I have run out of ideas. Other than the Boester Breeding Bell, and you can't get ahold of those people anyways...

thanks for all your help guys, keep it coming in please please pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aase!!!!! thanks

Hi, does anyone else have any ideas?? These guys are my first bristlenoses and i want to breed them as family members are making a fortune out of them breeding them. I am going to try a new tank. They are in a 1ft now, and they are going in a 2 and a half ft on Fri/Sat. I will keep you posted on what happens. Anything anyone would like to say to me before I put them in it???

I think you just answered your own question. Most fish will not spawn in a small aquarium, and one foot sounds awfully small. Is the one foot the largest dimension? How many gallons does the two foot aquarium hold? If you don't want to bother calculating cubic inches then converting to gallons, you could always find a gallon jar and see how many jars full it will hold. Just for rough calculation purposes, a typical 20 gallon aquarium is 24 inches long, 17 inches high, and 12 inches from front to back. Sorry I don't have metric equivalents, but you can figure a litre is slightly more than a quart.

What ever you do, make sure the new aquarium is fully cycled before you add fish. Good luck.