rosco Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 Hi,I have a couple of questions re BN cats:The first is: To breed BN do you have to have more than 1 female per male or is a 1 male and 1 female enough?The second is: I read a bit further down that you can feed BN zucc's? If so how do you prepare them, how much do you give them, how often do you give it to them, and what are the benefits of do so.It is worth noting that I have 2 BN's one is a male around 10-12cm and the other is a female around 5-6cm. They in the same tank cleaning up after my messy Africians (well the female is anyhow :lol: )thanks in advancePR :^: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MudTea Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 Hi -I gave my bn pumpkin and English Spanish. I normally feed them at nite time (after light's out).They are in a small tank right now (18'') and afriad that the water will get too dirty if I leave the zucchini/cucumber in there overnite, I never gave them cucumber or zucchini.I freeze my pumpkin and before i put it in, I rinse it w/ hot water. Since it's frozen, it will actually sink down to the bottom. HTH.Cheer,Tina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dviv Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 A slice of fresh zuchinni.Put it in a microwave safe dish covered in water.Microwave on high for 30 seconds.Rinse under cold water to cool it down.The BN's LOOOOVE it : (Other cichlids like it too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest big bad burundi Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 more males per females is best .males take cara of the eggs : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 I'm afraid I will have to disagree with that observation. I got my first bristle nose in 1970 and in the last thirty odd years have raised tens of thousands of them. I just took more than 700 eggs from one male last week. A male will spawn with as many ripe females as he can entice into his laire.I have 4 breeding colonies at the moment, each in a 4x2x2 tank and consist of 4 males and 12 to 16 females in each tank. It is not uncommon for one males to mate with 5 or 6 females and care for all the eggs.Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengaBoy Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 LOL up'ed your spawn counts Alan I see - I remember when you were amazed at 120?anyway - pairs can work just fine and dandyhit the sliced zuchinni for 10 secs in the microwave, wash it to cool it... they lurve it.btw, dont be so keen to remove the bn fry from the breeding tank... let them grow up in there if there are no predators Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caty Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 One pair is fine, if you want more its best to have more females to males.Steve that was per female, Alan is talking a number of females here.Tammy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 I'll go with Steve on leaving the fry in the breeding tank if there are no predators !!! The youngsters get a good start in life. All the things they need are right there and you don't have the fuss and bother of introducing gut flora and enzimes to ensure thier growth. 2 to 3 month baby bisstles can be a pain to catch though when it come time to sell them.Good Luck! go for it!Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 3, 2003 Author Share Posted December 3, 2003 Thanks for all the responses guys :^: I will start feeding them some vegies ASAPCurrently, the pair that I have are in one of my 4' cichlid tanks. I have quite a few rocks piles to form caves and hiding spots for the cichlids along with a couple of pieces of driftwood (the male BN has made one round piece exclusively his hiding spot). Should I add anything extra cave like things or should they be OK for now.I currently have another 2 2' tanks setup that I am raising cichlid juveniles in (should I produce any of my own and not have to continue to buy them :lol: ) for my main tanks. If I get any action going in the BN department I will put another post up then So i am hoping soon that I will be able to report back to say that I have some little ones on the way.cheersPRBTW Steve love your Tropheus I am very jealous :^: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 I suggest you check the link outIt is from the articles section of the original AusCat site and has an excellent article on Bristlenose cats that Alan wrote, not to mention some other very helpful itemsAusCAt Article sectionPR if you have at least one of each sex you will breed Bristlenose but you will always breed more with more breeders lolol :lol: I also feel that removal of the fry from breeding tanks is not neccessary unless there are other fish that may predate on the fry having said this you can overcrowd a breeding tank with fry production and then its easier to just move the adults when using small tanks (24" or 30" size) for large tanks like Alan uses removal of the spawning cave or egg mass to a hatching/raising tank is the better practiceI have found that trios in 2' tanks works well as you can have females staggered in their gravid phase so there is less competition in the spawning cave and eggs don't get ejected .......... egg ejection is no big drama either as previously noted you can hatch the eggs in a strainer or tumblerHave fun and enjoy the fish L2H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 about the btns i have just a pair, and they bred fineAbout food mine get zuchinni and they love it they eat the inside first then the skin. and i dont microwave it! i just cut a zucchini down the middle and then at maybe 6 cm long pieces. put some plant weights through it to stop floating if you want or i just float it white side down, they eat it fine, just one piece at a time, just recently tried microwaved thin sliced pumpkin and the fry love it!!. because my btns are with some amaricans i have them in commercilly avaliable "bristlenose logs" these are clay thingys and avaliable at your local lfs (maybe). when i see the male has a brood i remove them to an established 12 inch tank after a week they emerge active and hungry min eare eating spirillina flake, drift wood, pumkin, zuchini, lettuce. as for the male he stays with them for a week then him and his log thingy goes back to the amarican tank, the fry get innoculated with gut flora from his poop i guessI got the clay bristlenose logs because they ate out their last real log, drift wood, so it was not suitable for them they really like hollows with 1 opening and usuall a small hole in the other end to help water circulation, yes the zuchinni left for a few days will look pretty scanky but never had any probs with deaths, or high ammonia etc just have a good established filter...Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 4, 2003 Author Share Posted December 4, 2003 Thanks L2H I will check out the link and trofius I will look around the LFS for something similar to that BN logcheersPR :^: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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