# Bristlenose Fry Grow really slow?



## nighttigerz (Jun 23, 2012)

I've been breeding Bristlenoses for about 2-3 years now but most of my baby bristlenose pleco fry doesn't even get to adult hood because they're growing really slow.. I sell off most of the smaller ones and keep the bigger ones to grow but when I do that they tend to die off or just don't grow..? 

I've had 1 baby bristlenose fry now that stayed about 1" for about 6-7months, what should I feed him/her to grow faster? or is it because of the water quality?

I would like to know why my bristlenose fry aren't growing..

Thanks,

Eric


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

It might help if you tell us what you feed them from the time they start eating until now? 

Also what size tank are they growing out in? 

How often you change water and how much? 

And what temperature the tank is kept at?

Do you have any other fish in the same tank?
--
Paul


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## nighttigerz (Jun 23, 2012)

I feed them Hikari Algae Wafers, Angelfins Earthworm Sticks, Zucchini, Cucumber, Carrot, Sweet Potato, and Tropical Fish Flakes.

The tank they are growing out in is a 20 gallon tank.

I clean the water once a week

The temperature I keep them in his 27°C-28°C

I keep the baby bristlenose plecos with guppies..

Eric


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

please explain what you mean by "clean the water", this is extremely important information and your answer just might tell us exactly what the problem is I'm betting.

It would be very beneficial to plecos to have wood in the tank as this helps them with fiber.

Your food list looks very good, but info on how much, how often, how long its in the tank and so on would help lots.

what is your filter on this tank? How many fish of each type in the tank? Is it a 20 long or standard 20?

Your previous answers gave many red flags to possible problems but we need much more detail.


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## nighttigerz (Jun 23, 2012)

I mean water changes, not clean the water, my bad.. I have a piece of driftwood in the tank too, I feed them about 3 times a day, I have about 30 guppies but only 5 adults the rest are juveniles. The filter I use for the tank is Aquaclear 150, and Aqua Tech 10-20 Filter..


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

do you have a master test kit and check the levels regularly?

if you do test, are things ever off? such as ammonia and nitrites. Do you keep nitrates under 30?

Feeding 3 times a day sounds excessive unless they are new fry.

I plan to breed BN plecos soon myself and it would be helpful to me to know what your problem is.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

The rest being how many?

It sounds to me like a water quality and crowding issue. I'd suggest maybe removing the guppies, or putting the babies in their own grow out tank. With more than one piece of drift wood.

Food list looks good, I've never been a fan of feeding carrots except to my turtles but hey if it's getting eaten, 3 times a day seems excessive, maybe lower this to twice a day. Out of curiosity, do you feed them a small portion of that food daily? or do you do 1 type at each feeding?


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## nighttigerz (Jun 23, 2012)

The rest is 25 Juvies.. I have 30 guppies, in that 30 guppies i have 5 adults, and i have 25 left which is all juvies.. I took out all the guppies today now they are in the tank alone, and took 2 pieces of driftwood from my other tank and added it in, I feed them Earthworm sticks 1 time in the morning and algae wafers at lunch and flakes at the night, I do that for about 4-5days a week and the 2 days I feed them veggies.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

guessing the extra guppies is a recent thing as they breed like guppies.

The only thing I can think of also is water quality.

Do you have a master test kit? This is a must in this hobby to do well.


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## nighttigerz (Jun 23, 2012)

I actually caught all the guppies out and counted them, sadly I do not have a master test kit, I didnt use one before..


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## boun (Feb 16, 2012)

After three failed attempts to raise BN fry. I kept the fry in the tank with the parents in a 23g long using an AC70 filter. I changed the water and cleaned the tank on a weekly basis. I fed them twice a day with veggie wafers, and kitchen veggies. They kept dying after getting to about 1/2"-1" or a month.

I reduced the deaths to a couple of factors, lack of food and dirty tank. The parents like all plecos produced a lot of waste that gets spread along the bottom of the tank where the fry hangs around. We also had a bit of a snail infestation that kept eating a lot of the food. With the last batch once I saw there were wigglers i moved their pleco cave into a breeding basket, less the father of course. The basket is kept in the same tank. This way the fries are kept of the bottom. Feeding is easy and food would be in close proximity of the cave. Plus the breeding basket keeps the snails out.

This batch is now growing out nicely in their own 23g long. The tank is setup the same as the parents with three good pieces of driftwood. I added some clown loaches for the snails and kept the feeding to twice a day. 

No dead BN plecos thus far.

There were a couple of fries that I missed during the move into the breeding basket. They managed to survived and are actually twice the size of those in the basket. Bigger tanks equal faster growth, but not to big to make it difficult for them to find the godly given food from above 

These were my first few attempts with my only pair. I am sure there much more experience members that will be able to chime in with helpful hints.

Hope this helps.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I strongly suggest getting a master test kit and posting ammonia, nitrite and nitrates readings. Without these tests we can't really help much as its the first thing we want to know


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