A wonderful little surprise!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

somthinsfishy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2005
199
0
0
43
ogden, ut, us
I was cleaning out, and adding a few caves to my 125 pleco tank. I was in the progress of pulling out all of the decor, when I pulled out a little chinese castle. To my surprise I found a bushy nose stuffed inside with a bunch of little fry!! Not sure how many, but I found some that have already absorbed their eggsack, and some that still have theirs. I then took the castle to the 10 gal. fry tank, and all is looking well. I'll try to get some pics as soon as I can. I love it when that happens.
 
First plecos I've ever bred. I've bred tons of Tanganyikan, Victorian, and Malawi cichlids, even a few mulit. cats. Now if I can just get the rest of plecos, and my cory's to breed that would be killer.
 
Many plecs, and cories are easy to breed, it just takes the right setup, and a little conditioning. Make sure you are ready for what comes afterwards with care for the fry. Often the spawning isn't hard, it is the survival of the fry that is difficult.
 
I managed to get a ok picture. I'm not exactaly sure they are bushy nose. The reason I say this is because. Their are some that are alot further along than others. Some are grown to about a .25 of a inch, with no signs of an egg sack at all. The others are either just emerging, still in the egg, or are squirming with a egg sac. Any reccomendations, on raising fry?

Circled in red are the older ones I speak of. The one in yellow is what the others look like.
fry.jpg
 
Awesome, congrats, thought you'd have no problems with them. Well of course they don't always hatch, and they can hatch at different times. This also could be a second batch? the little ones in their look quite developed considering. I would generally try to remove the eggs as i find them, and put them in a little breeder tank, or even better side on tank, and put an air stone in with them to create a good oxy flow and good circulation without spinning the eggs around. However with BN's i've always left with the parents, as they are prolific breeders, and great parents and had no problems. When the egg sac has gone they will start grazing in search of foods just like their parents. Egg sack will be gone between 8-15 days. Do you have a guestimate of the size of the larger fry? Anyhoo, the presence of other predators would make the male not let out any fry from the cave, which isn't always a good thing. It is easier to feed them when they are kept in a smaller breeder... i just fed the veggies that the adults grazed on, tried to encourage algae growth. Could also try algae wafers and Sera vipachips etc etc
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com