# breeding bristlenose plecos with malawi mbuna



## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Can it be done? Im having a hard time finding females, males everywhere. If i do find some though, is it possible for them to successfully breed? I cant imagine a baby bristlenose tastes too good?

wha'd ya think?


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## kj23502 (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm sure they can breed if the circumstances are right and the male has a cave that he likes. The thing is the fry will get eaten. I've decided to keep my 1" juvie albino bristlenoses I just bought out of my cichlid tank b/c someone just told me that their fish ate their bristlenose. So even if they don't taste to good, they are still food.

Kj


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## redstallion02 (Jan 17, 2008)

I good size male can protect a cave if you make a good one.

I used a flower pot cut in half glued to a piece of glass. Think there is a link on planet catfish somewhere. I am pretty sure that is where I found the design.

The idea is once you know the male is protecting some eggs, you simply pull the cave setup out of the main tank and place it in another tank. Can be as small as a 10 gallon since the male will stay in the cave until the babies hatch.

From there you can raise them without the worry of the mbuna trying to eat/nip at the babies when the go out to explore.

I talk like I have done this but my bristle nose have yet to breed. But I designed the same thing for my dad and he has had it work fine.


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm not sure if the bristlenose will breed in harder, higher pH water. Mine seemed to like the softer water I had my rams and angels in. When the little guys left the protection of dad and the cave, the angelfish would snatch them off the glass. The ones that laid low survived and I'm still trying to find homes for them. They'll have about 70 fry at a time.


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## Terrence23 (Oct 2, 2008)

Your bristlenose fry will get eaten in a cichlid tank for sure. Cichlids aren't too picky about their food.

The albino BN pair in my fry growout tank have spawned twice so far in some knotholes in the small piece of driftwood I keep in there for them. The first time, they scattered their eggs all over the wood and my 1" demasoni and msobo fry snatched them all up as tasty snacks within a couple days of them being laid. My male seemed to be lazy in guarding them.

The second time they wised up and clumped the eggs deep in the knothole and the male kept them covered with his body while fanning them with his fins. This batch hatched in about 5 days and a couple wigglers with yolk sacs still attached managed to escape the nest. I watched them get ripped apart and eaten in short order by the cichlid fry, so they obviously taste good! 

The male kept the others covered up and I pulled them out into a 10 gallon tank when their yolk sacs were gone. I had 10 to start with and still have 8 survivors which are growing fast on blanched zucchini.

I don't think you'll have trouble breeding them in high Ph water. My water is practically liquid limestone out of the tap at 8.2 Ph and my bristlenose are thriving. Bristlenose plecos are regarded as one of the easiest types of plecos to breed in the aquarium. Mine seem to be breeding every six weeks now so it will soon become like cichlid fry where I just let nature take its course.

I think the males are easier to find because like with male cichlids superior coloration, they look exotic with their funky nose bristles while the females look kind of dull without them. That means the males obviously sell better. I got lucky with my female that I bought when she was only about an inch long from a forum sponsor.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

My male bristlenose defends the fry against any fish in my tank, quite impressively. You must remove the fry before they can swim freely, that's when they get picked off.
Softer, dirty water is best to breed bristlenose in. keep your water clean though :thumb: 
Point is it's very achieveable you might need a seperate tank to raise the fry though, those little buggers are sooooo messy


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