Pleco Fry Question

[starsplitter7]

I am pretty excited to find that my albino Bristlenoses have finally spawned, and I have a minimum of 7 that have broken loose of dad's cave. I put them in the BN nursery. No yolk sacs, so I figure they must be about a week old.

Last week I put a question on Planetcatfish about my BN fry. I have been losing them when they hit about 1-1.5 inches. I asked what I was doing wrong, and gave them all my tank information. The tank is a bare tank, and the moderator told me that is my problem. He said that they do not know why, but that pleco fry do not thrive in bare tanks. I kept it bare, because I thought it would be easier to clean. I feed them all the time (zucchini and algae wafers) and do 50% water changes every other day.

Has anyone else heard that you can't raise Pleco fry in bare tanks? I am not doubting this advice. I have a lot of respect for planet catfish, but I am curious if anyone has had experience in this?

I also have the larger older fry spread out among my other (peaceful) tanks to see if they will survive.

Today I spent the day transforming my Q tank into a sand and gravel, planted tank for the BN fry. I have moved all my fry from July and half my fry from September to this tank. I also moved a few of my cherry shrimp, and there were already MTS and rams horn snails with a healthy population of gammarus shrimp in the tank. I am hoping this will work better.

Let me know how you all grow out your pleco/BN fry. Thanks.

[Diana]

A friend raises them in planted tanks, so there is all sorts of microorganisms for them to eat, all over the plants, substrate, driftwood and other things.
I have no idea if this wide assortment of food is part of the answer, or perhaps they pick up some beneficial organisms this way.

[starsplitter7]

Thanks Diana. Planetcatfish didn't know why they did better in planted tanks, but they said most members reported better results in planted tanks. I am moving all mine to planted tanks.

[starsplitter7]

Here's a link to the thread on Planet catfish thread. It has lots of pictures of the fry and where I keep them. (It is easier for me to upload pictures to this site.)

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 66#p204266

[Diana]

Most fish seem to do better in planted tanks. Not just fry. Here are a few reasons why this may be so.

Food:
A planted tank has many more surfaces for algae and microorganisms to grow on. Fish can graze throughout the day. This sort of feeding is especially important for fry.

The variety of food the fish may find in this way includes live food, and many different sorts of things that greatly expand the diet.

The feeding habits of Loricariads is especially suited to this sort of feeding, and fry can only handle microscopic foods. The more surfaces there are the more of such foods there are.

Chemical filtration:
Plants take in a lot more molecules than they strictly need as fertilizer. Diana Walstad has documented very high zinc levels in her plants and safe levels of zinc in the tank water. She has almost toxic levels of zinc in her well, and the plants protect the fish. This is true of other elements, too.

24-7 protection, and stable levels of all the stuff in the tank. Instead of levels rising and falling with water changes. I know we monitor NO3 levels and use this as the basis for setting up water change schedules, but when the plant are thriving the NO3 and everything else is kept at a stable, low level.

CO2/O2 exchange is a lot greater with plants. This is especially so if any of the plants have made their way to the surface.
Plants remove CO2 from the water and add O2 during the day. They even pump O2 into the substrate. Plants respire at night, releasing CO2 and taking in O2. Some plants (not all) will even hold onto the CO2, not release it, so they can use it the next day.

More hiding places, and, for fish that perch on things, more landing sites. This gets the baby BNs up off the substrate, and into the water column. For more aggressive species having hiding places helps to defuse possible aggression. This usually does not set in so young, but it might with some species. It certainly helps when there are maturing Cichlids in the tank, for example.

[starsplitter7]

All of my fish are in sand/gravel bottom, planted tanks with decorations.

But I am under the impression a Q tank should be bare for cleanliness.
And I thought of my fry tank as a Q-tank. THat is where I made my mistake. I wanted to keep them clean.

[Diana]

I know that a lot of fry, many species can be raised in a bare bottom tank, and it is indeed much easier to clean so the nitrates are kept as low as possible, and there is not rotting food.
Would this ultra sterile, clean tank system make them 'Bubble fish' ala the 'bubble children' that have reduced immunity?

I have seen a few comments here and there that some fry do better (grow faster, higher survival rates) in planted tanks. Not many, but I am probably not visiting specialty sites that have forums devoted to the special care and feeding of fry.

In one report there bottom was still bare, and floating plants were used. This would have the benefits of the filtration I suggested above, and lots of leaf surface for microorganisms, but still retain the cleanliness of a bare bottom.

[starsplitter7]

My fry tank had floating wisteria, well gunked plastic plants, a coconut hut and smooth river roocks that all came from other tanks, so had biofilm. But it hasn't been enough. I just don't think I hae been able to keep them clean enough and happy enough. I will try the planted grow out tank and see how that goes. I am sure if I had the money to set up a real growout tank, I wouldn't be having this problem.

[chefkeith]

When I had my 190g tank set-up as a paludarium, I use to see Bristlenose fry often and some of them survived. Most use to hang out near the surface or on a slate waterfall where some algae grew. I also use to feed them raw spinach, kale, and zucchini.

Some years ago, I visited a professional fish breeding facility where BN's were sold. The tanks were in a greenhouse where they received natural sunlight. The water in the tanks was green and thick of algae. By the look of it, those tanks didn't get many water changes. The owner feed them some blanched zucchini when I was there. I took home about 12 BN juvi's and I still have about 8, which are now adults. Back then my tanks were heavy with algae.

I rarely see BN fry in my tanks anymore and I think that's because there is little to no algae in my tanks. My plants aren't thriving anymore either. That's because my nitrates and CO2 levels are too low to support good plant life. My adult fish are very healthy and that's what matters most to me now.