Hi, a few months back i bought a tiny Bristlenose, it turned out to be a male and then when he looked like a miniature version of a full grown male i bought a female, there are now 2 females in the tank but one is about 2 inches and the other about 3.5 to 4 inches, i know she is big enough to breed but the male is only about the same size as the small female.

The male does not have a proper breeding cave because i don't have another tank to breed them in yet but he has made a hole in some bogwood his home, and in there he is fanning, although there are definately no eggs, and surely he is too small to breed?
I know there was a post about a male fanning with no eggs and Doug said he was advertising, but that is in a male ready to spawn.
My male also behaves differently, he sometimes chases the females and kind of looks like he is trying to get them to go under the Bogwood or in the hole in the wood with him.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

James

Just been looking at the BNs, looks like he is persuading the larger female into his hole in the wood?! when she was facing away i was sure that i saw something orange drop into the hole, but myy eyes may be deceiving me

We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks

'Something orange' sounds like an egg. Eggs all seem to orange at first and as they hatch the colour differences begin to show.
How exciting. :bounce:

I don't think there is anything there, the male would stay there the whole time wouldn't he? and he has left the hole in the wood a couple of times after the 'incident'
I am extremely doubtful, because of his size, but you never know
I did do a routine water change today so if they did spawn, that could have triggered it.

But as i said before, very doubtful because of his size and the size of the hole he is in, the female can't even get halfway in :P

Thanks

James

Bristlenoses can start breeding at 2 inches (5-6cms).

Here is a picture of my original male with his first clutch of eggs, he was only 2 inches and as you can see he had hardly any bistles and the female was slightly smaller.



If your pair were trying to mate it could have been that the female was probably not happy with the males choice of cave or just a bit of inexperience from the male.

the female doest 'drop' the eggs, she sticks them to cave wall.

Young males will fan too, practicing and advertising. he may be just starting to mature and as such will be trying to get females. failing at it, but he will be trying.

OK thanks everyone, he about 2 inches long and as Jim said, that is when they can start breeding and my male is about that size. I will try to get hold of a fry saver, just incase, because there are a lot of hiding places and caves under that bogwood for them BNs, even though i don't have a proper cave.

Thanks again

James