Bristlenose pleco fin ripped off in a fight

[Laurabhspt]

Hi, I have two male brsitlenose in a 450litre tank (came to me in a 80ltr tank) they’ve been in a big tank now for ages and only since moving g them did they start to show territorial behaviour, but there are plenty of caves etc so I just thought they are figuring out who’s cave would be whose. Well over a year on and every now and then they will scrap again, and today it looks like one has broken the other one’s pectoral fin…does this need intervention? I’m not sure if this is an emergency or not, he’s hiding a lot…should I separate them and put one back in the other tank? They’ve been together their whole lives, and I honestly thought in such a big tank with so many hiding options it would be fine… I’m pretty sure they are both males as they have bristles up between their eyes…
Any help as always I’m very grateful for! Thankyou!

 

[Myrkk]

I’m sorry to hear of your plight. Someone with more experience will be along shortly no doubt. I had a similar experience with a German ram pair, the male became aggressive to the female and damaged the left pec fin. I kept an eye on it to ensure no infection took hold. The fin eventually dropped off and the fish seemed no worse for having a missing pec. The male (aggressor) was taken out of the tank so the female could live in peace.

It will be interesting to read others opinions as my breeding pair of bristlenoses have left me with two extra male young in the same tank. I think they really need to be rehomed soon as they are starting to get bristles on their noses. Maybe the lfs will give me a shop credit for them

 

[Laurabhspt]

I’m sorry to hear of your plight. Someone with more experience will be along shortly no doubt. I had a similar experience with a German ram pair, the male became aggressive to the female and damaged the left pec fin. I kept an eye on it to ensure no infection took hold. The fin eventually dropped off and the fish seemed no worse for having a missing pec. The male (aggressor) was taken out of the tank so the female could live in peace.

It will be interesting to read others opinions as my breeding pair of bristlenoses have left me with two extra male young in the same tank. I think they really need to be rehomed soon as they are starting to get bristles on their noses. Maybe the lfs will give me a shop credit for them

Thankyou for your reply, since I posted he has now indeed ripped it off as I’m guessing he caught it on something. I think as I have the means to move the aggressor out I will, probably safest, and the other tank could do with a pleco anyway to be honest… still interested to hear what others think especially as this will leave single plecs - do they need to be in groups or are the ok on their own?

 

[Laurabhspt]

As you can see he’s now ripped the whole bony part off and seems ok…

 

[Fishmanic]

They're perfectly fine on their own.

 

[Laurabhspt]

They're perfectly fine on their own.

Thanks - and would you recommend it in this situation? And when I move one I literally do exactly as I would if I were to buy a new fish - float and climatising and slowly add the new water before popping him in?

 

[Fishmanic]

You would want to cycle the tank before putting him in another tank. You could move some media from the first tank filter to the filter in the new tank so speed up the cycle.

 

[Laurabhspt]

You would want to cycle the tank before putting him in another tank. You could move some media from the first tank filter to the filter in the new tank so speed up the cycle.

The other tank is already up and running - it’s my smaller community tank…

 

[Fishmanic]

oh..ok. That shoulld work out fine for the Pleco if tank is large enough. How big is it? Plecos need a larger tank footprint.

 

[Laurabhspt]

It’s the one the came in, so 80litres ish?

oh..ok. That shoulld work out fine for the Pleco if tank is large enough. How big is it? Plecos need a larger tank footprint.

 

[Fishmanic]

how wide is the tank?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Meet lefty. Born in my tank and I thought with all fins when it went into a grow tank with other fish. Then I needed to upgrade them to a bigger tank and I discovered the fish on the right side of the bucket. The pictures below were taken in Aug. of 2008.

A solo shot

Lefty is no longer with me. I have mostly sold off all of my zebras and Lefty went out with them last fall (2023). I estimate it was at least 16 years old at that time. I am not certain, but I think Lefty is a lady. She lived all of her life with me in the company of other zebra plecos of both sexes.

There is no reason you pleco can not live a decent life. The injury need to heal without becoming infected and it should be OK. Until it has healed monitor it. If you can, put it into its own small tank. A 10 gal. would be fine. Male plecos are territorial and males will fight, occasionally there are more serious inhuries and ebery now and then even a death. But that is not common.

This fish now knows it will never be aan Ajha male because it is missing finnage. What it needs now is the chance to heal in peace.