I read today that male bristlenose have more chance of finding a mate if they have an abundance of bristles as its been suggested that the males use the bristles, which wave gently to and fro in the gentle current in the breeding cave, to imitate the presence of larvae.The females of many fish species prefer already- brooding males as breeding partners, as they can be sure he is fertile, it goes without saying that the more bristle "endowed" the male the more advantage he has over less well endowed males.
So basically the female sees the bristles waving around in the cave, thinks they're fry, thinks future mate and "bingo" more baby bristlenose.
Bristlenose, ain't they great!

NICE bit of info ken and if that's the case then my male will have no probz...nice post ken

Yup bigger bristles and bits gets the ladies
Cheers J

It seems like my normal bristle nose will have no problem with the ladies , but my albino bristle nose doesn't look like he has too much of a chance right now

My dominant male is the preferred male for the females to leave eggs with despite my attempts to spread them around. He doesn't so much have bristles as horns like a triceratops. Only three of them and they don't branch and aren't bushy at all. My lesser males are incredibly bushed up compared to him and they don't get a look in.