Breeding Bushynose Plecos can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. This is a great beginners catfish and there are also a lot of different strains, colors and fin varieties to choose from.
There are a couple of things you need to do to set yourself up for successfully breeding Bushynose Plecos.
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| Photo by Alex Sorokine |
1) Set-up a bare bottom tank for your colony of fish. A 40 gallon tank works well with this. Use only bubble filters, or any other filter that cannot suck up the young fry.
2) You can either purchase adult fish or juveniles to start your colony. If you purchase adults, then a ratio of 1 male to 4-5 females is ideal. If you purchase juveniles, the purchase 6-8 fish and let them grow up into adults. Pick the best adults from the group for your breeding colony. Sexing Bushynose is easy and can be done when the fish are around 3" or larger. Adult males have an intensely bushy nose, while females do not. Females also have a wider body than males when viewed from above.
3) Males will need a cave of some sort to entice a female to join him in. When the female is ready to breed she will join the male in the cave, lay her eggs and then leave. The male will take care of the eggs and young fry from there. He is a good parent.
4) Providing the proper food for both the adults and the fry is very important. Bushynose have large appetites and require a diverse diet. Make sure to stay away from proteins. In large quantity protein can bind up and kill your fish. Foods like zucchini, romaine lettuce, spirulina flakes, and algae wafers are perfect foods for both adult and fry.
5) Water changes are essential. Since you will be feeding your growing fish a lot of food, daily water changes of 25-50% are recommended. Water changes are one of the most important parts of keeping tropical fish so do not skip this part. Monitor your water quality for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.
You can raise Bushynose fry in the same tank as the adults, but you may want to separate them to prevent over stocking of the tank. Bushynose fry grow quickly and you should have fish that you can sell or trade within 3 months.
At Tropical Fish Resource we have over 20 years of experience keeping and studying tropical fish. We travel all over the world researching and documenting different species in the wild. Our goal is to educate people about the sustainability of the tropical fish hobby and how keeping tropical fish can impact the environment.
Article Source: EzineArticles
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