sandy001 Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hi all Had my first bristlenose spawn about 6 weeks ago followed by another one 3 weeks later. Breeding setup is in a standard 2ft tank with a small canister filter and two sponge filters. Tank has been cycled for a few months. Water changes twice weekly. Young bristlenose were going well on a diet of zuchini, pumkin and algae wafers. About a week ago I started having problems with a dodgy heater and temp dropped to 21-22 from 25. Noticed a few days later that alot of fry were attached to glass near top of tank and were not eating as actively as before. Alot of uneaten food on bottom of tank. Next I started finding the smallest babies dead on bottom of tank. Thought this was due to low temp so I put a new heater in a bought temp back upto 25. Smallest bristles kept dieing, then larger bristles from first spawn started dieing. Checked water parameters today & noticed Ammonia 1mg & Nitrite 0.25 pH 7.4. I think deaths were due to unstable water conditions but any feedback would be appreciated. Thank's Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hey I noticed with my BN when they went to the top of the tank they wanted more air. It might be due to the temp drop. That seems to be the case. Have you used any medications on the tank as i heard BN dont like medications. HTH Cheers Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Maybe the temperature drop wiped out some of your filter bacteria which then in turn caused a spike ammonia and nitrite spike, which in turn killed the baby BN Bad luck. I have my BN in a 2ft tank, double barrel sponge filter and an air stone that sits in the tank, two of the world famous breeding caves and some BN I cant stop them breeding... I even gave 2 trios to my gf and now the sundominant fish are breeding like rabbits. I have only lost one or two fry in heaps of batches. I think they like well filtered, high oygen water. So maybe keep the oxygen up, the temp around 25 degs and cut down on the food for the meanwhile. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Bad luck mate....I always thought oxygen in the water was lower as you increased the temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy001 Posted November 26, 2005 Author Share Posted November 26, 2005 Thank's for the comments. I woke up this morning to find 5 more dead bristles, 1 of them being a newly acquired peppermint of about 5cm . Have since moved 4 other peppermints to 140 ltr plant tank. I did a 30% water change yesterday, not sure what else to do. I am working today but will put an air stone in when I get home and check all water parameters. Here's hoping Cheer's Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWs Fish Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Hi Dave, You need to let the tank re-cycle. Get some test kits. When NH4 and NO2 are 0 (no reading at all), the tank has cycled again. Otherwise fish will keep dying in there for ammonia and nirto poisioning. HTH Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy001 Posted November 27, 2005 Author Share Posted November 27, 2005 Thank's for the info Mike Will reduce number of fish in take and monitor water. Cheer,s Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Dave, I don't know how many fish you have in that tank, but a 2 footer is just a bit small to raise a batch of bristle nose. Fish hanging near the surface points to low oxygen.....But bristles are capable of using atmospheric oxygen the same as cories if the DOR is too low. I would be looking to why the oxygen level is low !!! How do you clean your filters ???? Filters that are too clean or sterile do a good mechanical job, but a lousey biological job. This could well be a technical problen rather than cat fish specific. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy001 Posted November 27, 2005 Author Share Posted November 27, 2005 Alan At time of problem occuring I had approx 50-60 bristles at 1-2cm, 3 adults at 8-10cm & 10 peppermints at 5cm. I clean the sponges & canister in used aquarium water every 1-2 weeks depending on how dirty they are. I feel I may have polluted water by putting too much food in at once (have read alot of info on babies dieing from under feeding) plus too many fish for the filtration. Have since moved all but breeders & water quality is improving. I lost 1 more peppermint yesterday after placing in new 140ltr plant tank and another 1 overnight. Not sure why these died unless it was transition shock or delayed death. This tank has been running for years & has a few neons, raspora etc living happily in there. Other 7 peppermints appear a bit sluggish with some hanging near surface.I would hate to lose any more I really love these guys. Thank,s Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozarowana Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 You tank seems like it was a bit too crowded. I have found that when baby bristlenose and peppermints hang near the surface it is due to poor water quality, usually ammonia or nitrite. I have also observed some babies in a home-made tank that were doing this and was due to the use of non aquarium safe silicone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormboy Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 At time of problem occuring I had approx 50-60 bristles at 1-2cm, 3 adults at 8-10cm & 10 peppermints at 5cm. Woah, thats waaay too many fish for a 2ftr. I would suggest moving everything except the babies out of that tank. Even then, 50ish babies is pushing it but your filtration should keep up if if is working to is capacity. Keep plenty of air going into the tank via an airstone or even a venturi / spraybar on your cannister outlet. A venturi is good because you can direct a jet of oxygenated water onto the glass where the bubs will sit in the flow. good luck. -Mat- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Sorry to hear about your losses I agree with mike probably an ammonia spike I have my BN in a 2ft tank, double barrel sponge filter and an air stone that sits in the tank, two of the world famous breeding caves and some BN I have an idential setup which I set up 3 months ago. I currently have 200-300+ fry ranging from eggs to 2-3cm. That tank is so productive I am tempted to setup another one. But then again I have 2 other colonies producing a similar number of fry so maybe not. But I this week I will probably remove 30-40 of the bigger ones into other tanks to grow up faster and move on. Otherwise I will have a similar problem to what alan described. cheers rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I to Have had this bad luck, 2 weeks ago I was lucky to have my first ever B/Ns breed for me. Then within 2 weeks all dead, the tank went from looking great to the B/Ns parents getting whitespot( may be all the rotting dead babies). So know I hope the parents get over the whitespot ASAP and try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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