Just bought a Bristlenose calico pleco

[Red Devil]

Hi, I forgot to add one of the most important things... He MUST have driftwood. They require it as part of their diet. They rasp on it and it helps to aid digestion.
Cheers

Thank you..i had been soaking forever some driftwood that i bought a while back for him... and the tennins just would not stop leaching through..so i finally boiled it and it still gets the water in the pail very dark brown..just yesterday on my way out to LFS that i know has excellent driftwood and bringing them also baby africans ..but the weather turned and it started to hail so i came back.. i will stop at another LFS today to get some if they should have it.. different direction .. but like you have been searching for male bushy i have been searching for driftwood haha..i do have a small piece in there for him but almost witthered away.. so yes ..on a mission for driftwood.

 

[Red Devil]

I scuba dive for them. When I was looking for more, I put an add on my local classifieds forum. Just so you know, the shell will break down in your water and potentially increase your PH, so watch your params. If you add driftwood, it neutralizes the ph increase of the shell. Try the clay pot, abs pipe and slate caves if you can't find moonsnail shells. Barnacles also work for my guys.

Thank you so much all your help... i appreciate it greatly.. would i need to get a calico bushy female to breed with male bushy calico to get calico babies..or if it was normal color would there be 50/50 chance some would be calico as well? Breeding them.... are they okay to breed in a tank of guppys.. {not feeders} just fish that we keep with planted tank?.

 

[jordonsmum]

Thank you so much all your help... i appreciate it greatly.. would i need to get a calico bushy female to breed with male bushy calico to get calico babies..or if it was normal color would there be 50/50 chance some would be calico as well? Breeding them.... are they okay to breed in a tank of guppys.. {not feeders} just fish that we keep with planted tank?.

I allow them to spawn in my community tanks. One has rainbows in with them, another swordtails and another assorted fry tank. Once I am sure a spawn has happened, I pull the shell out with dad inside and put it in a nursery tank. Make sure there is no salt in the water. I had high fatalities in salted water, and virtually none with totally fresh water. Dad stays in the "cave" and constantly fans the eggs to airate them so they don't get mouldy. Very unlikely that you will see him during this time. He will continue to fan until every last egg has hatched. I give dad a week or so to relax with the fry because he doesn't eat during the whole process and then replace him back into the community tank. The whole process starts over again. He posts himself at the mouth of the "cave" (in my case shell or barnacle) and releases pheromones into the water. He flaps his fins to push the hormone into the water so the females pick up on it. Eventually they will line up outside the cave, he'll pick his choice and only let her in to lay her eggs. Then he kicks her out and disappears until the lil uns hatch.

I condition the male and the females with blood worms before I put them back together so that they're well fed, healthy and have lots of energy for the upcoming work. It's good for them occasionally, but too often can cause digestion problems.

I'll PM you with some info on where you can find more. It's more difficult for me because even though there are lots in the US, shipping is virtually impossible into Canada without a liscence.

Sorry for the novel

 

[jordonsmum]

Thank you so much all your help... i appreciate it greatly.. would i need to get a calico bushy female to breed with male bushy calico to get calico babies..or if it was normal color would there be 50/50 chance some would be calico as well? Breeding them.... are they okay to breed in a tank of guppys.. {not feeders} just fish that we keep with planted tank?.

Oops, sorry ... forgot to respond to the color question. If you breed with any other color other than calico, you will get a VERY low calico ratio if any. Calico is recessive.

I even tried breeding my female with a Gold, hoping that gold was the recessive because it was the lighter color of the two. 2 large batches of fry and not a single Calico out of both. Then I tried with an albino... nothing

 

[Red Devil]

I allow them to spawn in my community tanks. One has rainbows in with them, another swordtails and another assorted fry tank. Once I am sure a spawn has happened, I pull the shell out with dad inside and put it in a nursery tank. Make sure there is no salt in the water. I had high fatalities in salted water, and virtually none with totally fresh water. Dad stays in the "cave" and constantly fans the eggs to airate them so they don't get mouldy. Very unlikely that you will see him during this time. He will continue to fan until every last egg has hatched. I give dad a week or so to relax with the fry because he doesn't eat during the whole process and then replace him back into the community tank. The whole process starts over again. He posts himself at the mouth of the "cave" (in my case shell or barnacle) and releases pheromones into the water. He flaps his fins to push the hormone into the water so the females pick up on it. Eventually they will line up outside the cave, he'll pick his choice and only let her in to lay her eggs. Then he kicks her out and disappears until the lil uns hatch.

I condition the male and the females with blood worms before I put them back together so that they're well fed, healthy and have lots of energy for the upcoming work. It's good for them occasionally, but too often can cause digestion problems.

I'll PM you with some info on where you can find more. It's more difficult for me because even though there are lots in the US, shipping is virtually impossible into Canada without a liscence.

Sorry for the novel

you are awesome ..wow thanks so much for all this info...you really explained everything perfectly.. i don't even have to ask you anything more

 

[Red Devil]

Oops, sorry ... forgot to respond to the color question. If you breed with any other color other than calico, you will get a VERY low calico ratio if any. Calico is recessive.

I even tried breeding my female with a Gold, hoping that gold was the recessive because it was the lighter color of the two. 2 large batches of fry and not a single Calico out of both. Then I tried with an albino... nothing

I have an LFS about an hour from me that i will check with for a calico female but if not i will ask the guy i bought this one from to order me one..awesome..looking forward to it..and i did get the new driftwood now i just have to soak this one for a week... thanks very much for noticing my thread ..i have learned so much from you!!! Oh i do have one more question..how many babies do they usually hatch? Is the first hatch less the future hatches..thanks so much!!!

 

[jordonsmum]

I have an LFS about an hour from me that i will check with for a calico female but if not i will ask the guy i bought this one from to order me one..awesome..looking forward to it..and i did get the new driftwood now i just have to soak this one for a week... thanks very much for noticing my thread ..i have learned so much from you!!! Oh i do have one more question..how many babies do they usually hatch? Is the first hatch less the future hatches..thanks so much!!!

All of mine have varied,
My L 144 (gold BN) has hatched anywhere from 50+ right from the first try and spawns once every second month. He'd spawn more if he could, I force him to take a break and some alone time...lol my little romeo. He has two ladies that he spawns with.

My Albino male (short and long) hatched 5-6 fry the first time around. Two months later, he's now the proud papa of 60-80 fr. I'd count , but they won't stay still long enough...lol

Few things to keep in mind.
-they need constant fresh food. They starve to death quickly,
-need to cover filter intake with sponges because they like the flow and eating things from the filter intake and get sucked in easily. My grow out tank has a bare bottom. It's soooo much easier to suck up the daily fresh food and they stick to it easier.
-They need excellent water quality. I change 30% of my grow out tank every 3 days. The fry do best with the list of fresh foods that I gave you earlier.

 

[jordonsmum]

Here's a photo of what the Calico female crossed with Gold male looked like. Two batches and all were exactly the same.
The Albino and calico cross, turned out with exactly the same pattern, just faded more.

Mom is the pretty brown gal... She's my fav!!!

 

[mengyone]

nice fish! hmm. i was wondering, where do you guys get your calicos from? i;'ve been looking around and i have found none. please let me know! thanks!

 

[Red Devil]

Here's a photo of what the Calico female crossed with Gold male looked like. Two batches and all were exactly the same.
The Albino and calico cross, turned out with exactly the same pattern, just faded more.

Mom is the pretty brown gal... She's my fav!!!

gold and calico cross baby is awesome too.. Moms is a beauty ..nice pics and thanks for the added info...i am very excited and will find out today if my Lfs can get me calico female,i will let you know