Tolerable Ph/temp for Bristlenose?

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Omniskies

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Oct 2, 2010
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I've started from scratch with my 55 gallon aquarium to convert it into an experimental "aquafarm." Most of what I want to raise in this aquarium like nice warm, hard waters. After doing some research on Bristlenose, it doesn't seem as if they really appreciate these conditions.

I've been a huge fan of Bristlenose for ages and would really like to have a breeding pair in the tank, but I have very little wiggle room when it comes to getting them what they want.

My question is, will they breed in warm hard waters?

I am raising (on a very small scale) Blue Tilapia, Australian Red Claw Lobsters, and Briggs Snails. I have a few Platies and Swordtails to add a little color. My Ph is around 7.5-8 and the temperature hovers around 80.

The Tilapia are pretty forgiving, but the snails and lobsters may get crabby if they don't have hard water. Plus I'm on well water in an area with water so hard you could practically walk on it.

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'd rather find out in advance if I can put Bristlenose in the aquarium and have them successfully breed, or if they will just barely tolerate the water and struggle to not die for a few months/years.

Thanks in advance.
 
pH - like most fish, anything between 6.0 and 8.5 fine, and probably a good half point either way from that. Temp 70-80. At the higher end [O2] is the limiting factor. Fish care far less about these than people imagine, especially pH. You ought to ask about water hardness, which is far more important for most fish.
 
i've got hard water (ph is always 7.8 to 8.0 and i get hard water spots on air dried dishes, lol) and my female bn is in perfect shape and growing like a weed. now i just have to find a husband for her........
 
Yep, your bristlenose will be fine in your water. I raise the Longfin L144's in ph 7.6-7.8 at 78-80F. At least for the L144's, they don't like the water cooler than 78F.
 
pinkertd said:
Yep, your bristlenose will be fine in your water. I raise the Longfin L144's in ph 7.6-7.8 at 78-80F. At least for the L144's, they don't like the water cooler than 78F.
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The ones I got from you seem to be ok in 72F temp. Well right now its 80F but when we were having our cold spell the temp got to 70-72 in my tanks and they seemed ok. Not as active but they were still out looking for food. Thats actually about the time they had the babies I didnt even know about. As for PH my PH is 7.4
 
I think the tank raised ancistrus do a lot better as far as water parameter variance than the wild strains of ancistrus so the harder water should be fine. As far as temps go, I like to keep my L-144's at 74ish degrees and Pinkerd likes hers to be kept at 78 degrees and higher and GEV83 likes his water temps in between and outside temps others keep them at. :rolleyes: The bristlenoses are generally a hardy bunch that are greatly adaptable.

However, your Australian Red Claw Lobsters are most probably Cherax quadricarinatus. These are crays that should be in their own tanks away from your fish as they will occupy the same strata as the bristlenose plecos. The Cherax quads will need warmer, hard water to do well and they will also probably actively seek out a nice pleco for dinner as they get larger. A 55-gallon footprint is not really that large when you have a cray or two or three or four that will easily grow to 8-10 inches or larger. Also if you are going to breed the crays--all the aquarium fish will eat the baby crayfish as they fall off the tail. Some fish may even pluck the babies from the mothers tail increasing her stress leading to more problems for the mother cray.

I'd love to see photos of your Cherax quadricarinatus!!!!:dance2:
 
Bubbles2112 said:
I think the tank raised ancistrus do a lot better as far as water parameter variance than the wild strains of ancistrus so the harder water should be fine. As far as temps go, I like to keep my L-144's at 74ish degrees and Pinkerd likes hers to be kept at 78 degrees and higher and GEV83 likes his water temps in between and outside temps others keep them at. :rolleyes: The bristlenoses are generally a hardy bunch that are greatly adaptable.
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Hey I just like my fish being different ok. Its a free country and my fish have rights. They also like being different lol. Nah actually I dont own any heaters since our temp is normally warm and I dont got an AC unit in my room so they normally stay warm but when the temp drops then so does the tank temp but the fish dont seem to mind one bit. Very adaptable fish those BN's are.
 
My albino bristlenose pleco's thrive in very hard water. The water hear in Columbia, TN. is the hardest water I've ever seen. It's so hard that you don't have to add anything for cichlids to thrive in it either. Here's some pictures from one of my breeding tanks.

IMG_0869.jpg
 
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