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Peppermint Bristlenose


FrontyKing

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Hi Guys,

I had my first Peppermint Bristlenose spawn yesterday clap.gif but unfortunately I found only 15 eggs on the bottom of the tank cryblow.gif . I have picked them up with a net and placed them in a floating fry saver with an airstone sitting just over the eggs to avoid any rubbish settling on them and am hoping for the best over the next few days(Fingers crossed)!

My question to anyone else who has experienced this in the past is how to avoid the eggs being laid just anywhere. Do I need to limit the amount of caves or do I need to add more caves or do I make one big cave that they can all go into?

There are 4 Peppermints in the colony consisting of 1 male and 3 females. In the tank are 2 bristlenose logs where the male sits in one of them and a female in the other. There is also a large shell which is about 35-40 cm long that is occupied by one of the other females. The 3rd female usually sits behind the heater and occasionally goes into the shell with the other female where she is soon kicked out.

Any help will be appreciated!

Cheers,

Nick. thumbup.gif

Edited by FrontyKing
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Eggs being kicked out of "Bristle nose Logs" seems to be a fairly common problem with Peppermints and Orange spots. PVC pipes are even worse for this problem.

Breeders who use these ceramic logs for common bristle nose don't seem to have any problems at all.

I use inverted terra cotta saucers for breeding common bristle nose, and, even though peppermints will take up residence in these caves they have never spawned in them.

I have "Logs" in a few of my bristle tanks but have never had a spawn in one of these logs...The fish seem to prefer the saucer caves or some impossibly small crevice or hole in a piece of wood. However, given that common B/N will spawn in some strange, apparently secure places, these logs are better than nothing.

At the moment I am experimenting with different 'cave' designs. Some male peppermints and Orange spots have adopted some of these experiments, others have attracted no interest at all.

To date there have been no successfull spawns, but here is hoping.

Alan.

Edited by Alan
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Nick,

Congratulations on your first spawn! Nothing like that first time feeling smile.gif

Actually, I find myself in the same boat at the moment, as one of my other South American eartheaters spawned for the first time last night.

Anyway, as Alan mentioned, the eggs you found on the bottom of the tank were definitely dislodged from where they were laid. Being only 15 eggs, Im sure there are more of them with the male, so don't be surprised if you find another dislodged clump.

Since you have 1 male, all you need is the one spawning cave. I find the females like to sit under terracotta saucers or under a piece of driftwood.

You already have something that your male likes to spawn in, so there is no need to add anything else. Although another spot for the female who resides behind the heater might help her feel more at home smile.gif

Eggs start hatching in around 5-6 days, do the eggs still look healthy now?

cheers

Andrew

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Thanks for the replies guys,

Andrew, in my haste to shut the the lights and get out of the fishroom just in case the female that laid the eggs wasn't finished, I thought there were only about 15 but in fact there were more than 50 when I looked the next morning, of which about 90% of them have turned fungussy now and I don't expect the rest of them to survive. The male definitely didn't have any eggs with him as I have a clear view inside the log with the use of a flashlight.

Nevertheless, I am still ecstatic about the find as I have had these fish for around 3 months only and didn't really expect them to do anything as I had moved their tank from inside the house out to the garage, which is now my fishroom housing 13 tanks, only 3 days prior to them laying eggs.

Hoping for more soon as the female sitting behind the heater is now quite plump and if I'm not wrong I should expect to find another spawn happening soon enough and hopefully this time the male fulfills his duty.

Will keep you all posted.

Lighter in fact I have 2 of them, a 2002 998s that I use for road and a 2004 999R for the track.

Cheers,

Nick.

Edited by FrontyKing
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Nick,

yeah that happens quite often, I've lost quite a few batches to fungus. The fungus spreads through the batch very quickly ruining any good eggs which could be left.

Maybe the move was what encouraged them to spawn. Did I ever tell you that I had a chinese "feng shui" master tell me where to setup my first Peppermint breeding tank? dntknw.gif As you can see, I've had pretty good success with my breeders, so Im in no position to be questioning this ancient chinese practice hahaha.

On saying that, I set up another Peppermint colony elsewhere as I was a bit skeptical of this chinese art. Eventually I got them to spawn aswell, maybe Im just lucky? Oh well, Im not complaining. thumb.gif

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Andrew you can't complain cause you've some bloody good fish there. I know cause I've bought some from you on a couple of occassions and am very happy with them.

Feng shui master eh? Might give it a try laugh.gif ha ha.

Cheers,

Nick.

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I have found (and been told) two main rules for successfull breeding trio's of PM is to have 1 cave/log/pvc tube in the tank. And second have 1 male per tank. I have observed quite a few orangespot/peppermint spawns (even videoed some) and the male chases the female into the "nest" so having multiple "nest" sites can make his job harder.

Just what I have found anyway. Also on the fungus side I have had more success seperating fungus eggs from spawned egg clumps than just leaving them to nature. You may loose/pop a few seperating but it is better than loosing the lot.

Good luck and congrates thumbup.gif

Kind Regards

Gavin

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Thanks for you input Gavin,

In fact, I too thought that one cave and one male per tank would be the best go. In my case there is only one male but now that you have mentioned it Gavin I'll put my thought of one cave into action and see what happens from there.

Cheers,

Nick.

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  • 15 years later...

Question for everyone please 😊 Will a male pepp sit for ages in a rock crevice if there is no female? I have 3 pepps who are fairly secretive but this one fella has been faithfully sitting (and fanning) in this crevice for a couple of months now. Is it just instinctive behaviour or does it mean at least one of his 2 companions is a female? Thanks for any advice. Judy

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