Hey guys, just wondering if you could give me any advide on my adult female. I bought her off a breeder 2 weeks ago and she is packed full of eggs. She is huge! the guy i got her off told me that she lays 170 eggs at a time and she does it every 3 weeks. He told me her last spawn was 3 weeks before i bought her so she was due any day. So i put her in my tank and she looks happy as larry. ( or sally because shes a girl =P ). I have 3 adult males. all of which are bigger than her. and all 3 of these males have their own cave that they look very content in and fan their fins all day. The problem is that she is getting even bigger and she hasnt even been interested in the males or their caves at all. She is getting so fat that im worried about her. shes almost as wide as she is long. lol. should i be worried about this or should i just let her sort it out?
-Zane

can anyone help me here?

High zane ,ooohhhh I've never heard of a bristlie being as wide as it is long- could
turn out to be an issue. As for getting her to spawn try throwing in some blood worm ,
and think about moving 2 of the males leaving the best guy for the job( less competition)
then hit the tank with a cool water change , these things should all help providing the size of
your fish is not a medical issue. What about your males , have they ever spawned a batch
of youngins before?
Hope it sorts itself out for you.
Cheers J

Kurosaki J - Thank you so much for your help.

I did the things you advised and they spawned within a week for me. the mother looks EXHAUSTED!!!! she is about half her size. lol. I cant tell acurately how many eggs the dad is fanning but the pile is so high it is holding him up in the air. I will get pics as soon as i can.
thanks again. =)

I know my advice is a bit late now as they have already spawned, but if i notice the female getting large i feed her on courgette and bloodworm to condition her also i do every other day a cold water change until they breed, also i agree with the others i would remove two of the males as the breeding male my feel threatend and eat the eggs if one of the other males tries to enter his area.

Nice one - Congrats on the spawn Zane
Sounds like a good one to if the male is suspended well above the eggs .
Glad to hear it wasn't a medical issue aswell.
J

Great Advice all, and good to see all your hard work has finally paid off a massive WELL DONE ZANE

Great advice guys.... exactly what i do to trigger a spawn just for future reference if you are worried that it could be bloat feed crushed peas this cures it 9 times out of 10

let us know how many little ones you get mate