Albino Bristlenose Eggs

I spy with my little eye..... my bristle sitting on eggs!!

Woot Woot

Ima gonna be a mama again! :P

Albino Bristlenose Babies

Yesterday I noticed that the Albino Bristlenose babies have finished absorbing their egg sacs and are now busy exploring their tank. Daddy Bristlenose is still in the tank with them to recuperate and catch up on eating, (daddy bristlenoses do not eat the whole time they are caring for the eggs and young babies till their egg sacs have absorbed, he fans and cleans them constantly) but will be moved out in a few days time, back to the other bristle tank.

Better Pics of the Albino Bristle Babies

These guys are soo cute with the egg sacs still attached :P The egg sacs are getting smaller and smaller. Shouldn't be too long now :)

There are now 16 escaped babies in the floating container with more than that still left in the terracotta pot.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs Hatching

Looks like the fry are all going to survive this time!

All the fry are still healthy and wiggling around on their egg sacs. I have found other escapees of the terracotta pot and added them to the floating container also. Daddy bristle must be busy in the terracotta pot as I haven't seen him once! Just as it should be :)

I can't wait to see the babies once they have absorbed their egg sacs and are free swimming! Which should be in another day or two.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs Hatching

Seems that the bristlenose babies are hatching, from evidence of half a dozen stray eggs found wiggling around the tank this morning. The babies can be seen clearly on top of their egg sacs, which are still attached.

Well at least daddy bristlenose got them to hatching stage this time, although he is still guarding and looking after them all, the escapees shouldn't have been allowed to escape.

I scooped up the stray eggs and placed them in a floating container with an air stone, to protect them from predators.

In this photo, if you look very closely at the egg I have circled, you can just make out the baby attached to it. It was the best pic I could get at this stage.

I also wanted to share how comical it is to watch the eggs move around so I have added a short clip showing an baby attached to the egg on the move :P I apologise that the focus could have been better but you will still get the gist of what I am showing you.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs - take 2

Once again I was pulling everything out of the bristlenose tank for a cleanout, when I found the male protecting eggs in the flowerpot! What is it with me wanting to do tank cleanouts and him having eggs? LOL

Unfortunately I also found a small cluster of eggs on the ground between the flowerpot and the back wall. :(

So, fingers crossed again - I hope this time, these eggs make it.

Bristlenose Eggs

A couple of the eggs have tails today and I can see them both wiggling! YaY

What a relief!

Now just waiting for the remaining eggs to start hatching also.

Albino Bristlenose Egg Problem continued

*sigh* well the male has totally abandoned the eggs in the flowerpot now too, so I have removed them and put them with yesterdays eggs that got kicked out.

Today is day 5 since the eggs were laid - usually they hatch between 5 and 7 days. I have no idea at this stage if the eggs will survive - I can replicate the fanning that the male is meant to do by an airstone but obviously I can't duplicate him cleaning them...

*keeping those fingers crossed*

Albino Bristlenose Egg Problem

I've noticed that my albino bristle male hasn't been as attentive as he should with the eggs and now fungi has claimed some of them. :(

Then tonight I find he has kicked a clutch of them out. Most of these where white but there are four good eggs amongst them. I have separated these four and put them in a container with an airstone. He still has some in the flowerpot.

With any luck all the eggs that are left will hatch within a day or two.

*fingers crossed*

Hopefully next batch of eggs goes better ;)

Albino Bristlenoses First Batch of Eggs

I brought two juvenile albino bristlenoses a few months ago with the intention of breeding them when they got older. They were both too young to sex at that stage but amazingly I happened to end up with a male and a female!

So then it was a waiting game till they got old enough to start breeding.

Over the last month there has been some tank chasing going on between them so things were looking promising. Today I started to clean out their tank - I drained alot of the water and started catching fish - the bristles share their tank with my blue tailed guppies. I caught all the guppies and started on the bristles. They tend to run into a flower pot which makes my life easier as I just lift the pot out and scoop them up in my waiting net. As I turned the flower pot over, low and behold, there were a few eggs clumped together inside! YaY! Thank goodness the flower pot never left the waterline. That would have been very bad.

There looks to be probably around 18 eggs.

Needless to say I put the tank back together nice and quickly so not to disturb them or cause the dad to panic. I housed the guppies elsewhere.

Since this is their first ever batch it is a learning curve for him. Once the female lays the eggs, that's it - her part in it is over.

It is the males responsibility to sit over the eggs and to fan them continuously. This keeps the water circulating and decreases the chance of fungi claiming the eggs. Males take their job very seriously and do not leave the nest even to eat. Then when the eggs hatch and the new fry still have their egg yolks attached, they are all wriggling around, he then keeps them all clustered together and protects them from predators. When their egg sacs are absorbed and they need their first meal, he goes out and brings something back to the cave. Usually I have a piece of zucchini or broccoli waiting for them.

Once the fry start emerging from the cave and exploring, dads job is over. Though sometimes dad gets overprotective and keeps trying to rustle the gang up together.

I really enjoy breeding bristlenoses and have been doing so for about 8 years. They are very beginner friendly and are a great introduction into egg layers if you are looking to step up from livebearers.

This is a photo of my female albino bristle -

and here is a photo of my male albino with the eggs -