# Bristlenose pleco not acting what I would say is normal.



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

I bought two bristlenose plecos labeled Ancistrus 4 days ago. THey are about 3 1/2 inches long. One is obviously a male, and the other I think is a female. The make has long bristles. The other one has very few and short bristles.

The male seems to be doing fine. THey are eating at night so I dont know which is eating what. The zuchini is gone when I wake up.

All the parameters seem to be in order. The tank is a heavily planted tank, CO2 injected 29 gallon. Canister filter, biowheel filter. Florabase 1 1/2 substrate. I have 6 threadfin rainbows, a couple livebearers, some red cherry shrimp, and some amano shrimp somewhere in there. The tank has been running for 2 years.

The female BN pleco seems to just lie on her side at random places. Once she was laying on her side propped up against a plant. Once against the glass. Once just laying in the plants. I dont see anything wrong with her. I picked her up to check her out and she struggled a bit until I got her out of the water. When I put her back she swam off and hid inthe java fern.

When she lays around it looks like soemthing is wrong with her. Her respiration doesnt seem under or over normal. Occasionally I see her on the glass.

I acclimated her and the male for about 20 minutes and drained about 1/4 of the water and replaced that with tank water. Then about 15 or 20 minutes later did the same thing. Did that three times and picked them out and put them in the tank. THey seemed okay but the female was hidden for about a day or two before she decided to start coming out. Now the male is hiding. The female has a plump looking body like she is eating or there is something expanding. I dont know a lot about BN plecos to start with but *** never had plecos that just laid over and rested if you know what I mean.

What else should look for? The nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, ph 6.5, is all fine. The GH might be just a tad low but I dont think its anything out of parameters. I use aged tapwater. I havent done my weekly water change ywt bnecause the BN is acting strange. What should I check and is it okay to do my 50 percent water chagne. THis will be the first water change withthem in it.


----------



## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

well i would do a WC anytime one of my fish is acting strange as a precaution....it cant hurt only help :wink: .....as far as what its doing im not sure im drawing a clear mental picture.....maybe since she is fairly new to the tank she just needs some more time to settle in.


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

It may be possible that she needs to settle in more.

Its hard to describe it, as it isnt common to me to have a fish that behaves like this. Its like it just lays on stuff. Youd expect it to be dead or dying but its breathing. It moves around periodically. But it just plops into the plants and hangs there wheter its oriented on its side or upright. *** not seen it in its back.


----------



## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

intersting....maybe wait up one night after the lights have been out for a while and see if shes acting normal then?....do u notice this only when the lights are on?


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Were they bagged together?

It sounds like she may have been injured. That isn't normal behaviour for a pleco, but it's very hard to determine what is going on with new fish. Since they are overly sensitive to many meds, I would try removing her to a tank of her own and doing daily water changes. Can you do this?


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

I dont have another tank set up right now. Im cycling another ten gallon but Im not comfortable putting her in there right now. I can do water changes on the tanks he is in frequently.

Hers some other info about my tank that the pleco is in.

I have municipal water.

I use a water conditioner when I do water changes.

The canister is a magnum HOT underneath the tank.. Also Theres a HOB with a biowheel on the back of the tank.

Theres a rather large piece of driftwood with structures and hollows that serve as caves. THeres a lot of plants so thers a good bit of places to hide and stay comfortable.

I had been doing 50% water chagnes in the the planted tank. I dont have a problem doing two or three a week but I havent done any water changes since I got the plecos. I did a 30 percent last night.

I thought about the possibility of the fish being gravid. However its as fat as the male. I thought about the possibility of them having bloat from the LFS maybe feeding them regular food sticks or pellets but the male is perfectly normal.

The O2 level does get lower in a co2 tank. I havent seen any signs of the other fish being affected by low o2 levels. *** seen no surface breeding or abnormal breathing inteh other fish. The other pleco, the other small fish.

So far the only thing that I can see or think of is the temp. Im going to work on lowering the temp a few degrees today. Maybe thats the problem or part of it.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It's not the fish being 'comfortable' that I would be concerned about. It's exposure to your other fish, just in case this is something more than an injury!

An uncycled hospital tank is fine, as long as there is only one fish involved and you monitor the water.

This way, you can drop algae tabs in there and see if she's eating, plus you can watch for further symptoms.


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

I am going to move it into the 10 gallon and go from there.


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

Today I can see a small red spot that looks like a round ulcer or abrasion on the side near the tail. It is about 1.5 or 2 mm across. It doesnt look all that bad and I cant think that this is the reason for the weird behaviour but I suppose that it could if it were getting infected.

What to put on a fish wound. Old school would be put methialade or mercurochrome on it. I dont know whats recommended now. Guess Ill be googling that now...

She is quite plump and I did see the make cozying next to her and following her around until they went into a hidey hole and I could no longer see.


----------



## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

If you "can't" set up a hospital tank, then I would make sure that you keep offering the zucchini, but I would do daily 10 percent water changes (or 25 percent every other day). Make sure that temperature and pH match your aquarium's. You need to keep the aquarium very clean. You could also try a gentle, natural tonic like Melafix.

If you need something stronger than that, you really need to setup a hospital tank.


----------



## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

you may try some melafix?....u can dose the whole tank if uve returned her or the 10G if shes still there....i beleive its seven days and then a 25percent WC and continue if needed.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Actually, daily water changes are okay with Melafix, and better than the 7 day 'marinade, I find. You can just redose the tank daily with the recommended amount of Melafix.

Are these albino BN? (They tend to show red areas now and then...) Is the area raised?


----------



## Aura (Oct 29, 2005)

I have several bristlenose and I do have an odd one that exhibits similar behavior. I often find it lying completely upside down on the bottom of the tank, usually underneath decor, but not attached in any way. The first time I saw it like that, I thought it had died, but it was fine. I've had it for at least a year and a half now.

I hope yours will be okay and is just a little different like mine. :thumb:


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

Its not albino. It still appears in the same condition. Im beginning to suspect that it may either a. be sick, or its just lazy. *** never had a fish that looked ill that wasnt. Im sure something is wrong with it, or should be the way its acting.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Aura said:


> I have several bristlenose and I do have an odd one that exhibits similar behavior. I often find it lying completely upside down on the bottom of the tank, usually underneath decor, but not attached in any way. The first time I saw it like that, I thought it had died, but it was fine. I've had it for at least a year and a half now.
> 
> I hope yours will be okay and is just a little different like mine. :thumb:


I had one that behaved like that, too, Aura. Remember the pics? :lol:

The scary thing is that it's also the way they behave right before they die!


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

Its been about a week now and it acts the same. If I pick it up and inspect it and let it go it swims off normally and will attach to the side lik ea normal fish would. However it will just plop down on the bottom, or in the plants and just lay there. Hopefully its just lazy and isnt too concerned about being comfortable.


----------



## Aura (Oct 29, 2005)

I do remember that now that you mention it, Kim! 

Bntbrl, mine would never let me pick it up; that doesn't sound right at all.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If it were mine, after this much time, I'd probably try an antibiotic...

Sulfa would be a good choice, since we really don't know what's going on. I'd also continue daily water changes just prior to adding the meds. :thumb:


----------



## tankhead (Aug 8, 2008)

I would also not pick it up for inspection too often. That is a good thing about a small hospital tank - you can inspect it more easily w/o putting your hands on the fish or even having to net it for observation.


----------



## bntbrl (Apr 23, 2009)

That one I dont have to net. I can just pick it up inthe tank. I try not to pick it up very often. I picked it up three times. I seems to be okay. It still lays there like it passed out from binge drinking or something. It seems okay I guess. Perhaps its just different.


----------



## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

perhaps it is :wink:


----------

