Topic: Newbie BN question

[Antonia]

I was just wondering when do Bristlenose catfish get their bristles? Mine hasn't got any,it's about 6cm long.

[tracey]

Bristles come with sexual maturity and females often do not develop them at all.  I'm assuming 6cm is Total Length (tip of nose to tip of tail), which would mean not quite 2" SL (tip of nose to start of tail).  That's possibly not quite big enough for maturity, although I would have expected a male to have started developing a few bristles at that size.  It sounds like you have a female.

[Karma]

Mine got their beards about around 9 months of age.

[Antonia]

Thank you. Yes, it was tip of nose to tip of tail,so it looks like I might have a girl then.

[Gerry]

Great wee fish BN's 

[Antonia]

Yep she's cute,but someone thought we had a tadpole. 

[Gerry]

    how big do your tadpoles get 

[Katt]

Bristles come with sexual maturity and females often do not develop them at all.  I'm assuming 6cm is Total Length (tip of nose to tip of tail), which would mean not quite 2" SL (tip of nose to start of tail).  That's possibly not quite big enough for maturity, although I would have expected a male to have started developing a few bristles at that size.  It sounds like you have a female.

Agree with Tracey,  by now you should at lest see some bristles...But keep in mind some female`s will get some as well, just not as much or as long.

[Antonia]

Thanks everyone. .What is the best brand of Wafers I should be feeding ?.Or a ingredient I should be looking for ?.The LFS had a range of different wafers.

[Tony]

I feed mine hikari wafers

[tracey]

I really like the JBL Novo PlecoChips.  They're specifically designed for plecos with high veggie diet requirements and also contain 10% wood fibre for those that need wood in their diets.  There's speculation that Ancistrus species do require wood, but I don't think it's been confirmed.  They don't disintegrate in the tank, so you can chuck them in when you turn the lights out and they won't dissolve before your plecos come out for dinner.  All of my guys, Commons, Bristlenoses and my Clowns love them.

[Antonia]

Thanks for that guys.I wrote them down. That JBL sounds good,would it be bad for other fish if they ate it?.As it has wood fibre in it? ,the tankmate is a Severum.

[tracey]

I've found that my cichlids generally won't eat them, but it certainly won't harm any of yours if they do decide to try them out.  The wood fibre is no problems for an omnivorous fish to digest, and Sev's do better on a higher veggie diet anyway.

[Antonia]

oh that's good then,thanks Tracey.

[Antonia]

I've changed my tank from black gravel to sand,BN is doing a lot of toilet things. Hopefully it will now be faster to clean the tank.He seems to like the sand,hes been coming out more for a walk around the tank.