Bristlenose Pleco

[raptorrex]

I'm not sure if I completely understand what you mean. Sorry!!!

Do you mean 'give the Pleco cucumber that is slightly old'.

got it in one. they often don't have the bacteria in their digestive tract to break down the veg, letting it go soft not only helps but also some of the bacteria on the veg will help with digestion. don't worry too much about the water, unless you have a really duff set up, no problems will come of it.

 

[WillyRBeek]

I'm not sure if I completely understand what you mean. Sorry!!!

Do you mean 'give the Pleco cucumber that is slightly old'.

got it in one. they often don't have the bacteria in their digestive tract to break down the veg, letting it go soft not only helps but also some of the bacteria on the veg will help with digestion. don't worry too much about the water, unless you have a really duff set up, no problems will come of it.

That's something I didn't know. I've always fed my plecos fresh cucumber and zucchini, and when it started to get old, I just threw it out. I'll keep that in mind for the future, thanks.

 

[ALW]

The bristles start to grow when they are about 6 months old!

 

[Ally555]

Thanks for telling me when BN Pleco's start to develop their bristles!!!
I'm really looking forward to identifying my Pleco cos it's the first one I've ever had.
If mine is about 2 to 3 cm long how old would it be (roughly)

 

[WillyRBeek]

Thanks for telling me when BN Pleco's start to develop their bristles!!!
I'm really looking forward to identifying my Pleco cos it's the first one I've ever had.
If mine is about 2 to 3 cm long how old would it be (roughly)

Just a baby. I got mine at around the same size, and that was about 4 months ago.

 

[electric yellow]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for answering my question.

I bought some driftwood today. I heard that it helps BN Pleco's digest their food. I think my BN likes it cos he was sucking on it before.

I'll get some cucumber soon and see if he likes that.

Are BN Pleco's meant to sit on the gravel of my tank?
cos mine never seams to sit down, he's always sucking on the glass or filter.

I have three bristol noses in my 3ft tank. They all get along fine. I find mine are more nocturnal now they are older. We have 1 male and two females. We feed them a mixture of algea wafers and normal trocial pellets. They also get blood worms. If you have them in a mixed tank be carefull who they are in their with. As lil and cute as they are can leave horrendous bite marks and devour a fish before you can say: where'd that fish go??

But they are great for keeping green algea at bay

 

[Ally555]

So does that mean that I can find out if my pleco is a boy or girl in about 6 months?

I put some cucumber in my tank this morning and my BN Pleco had absolutely no interest in it. It was not blanced but I took it out after about 7 or 8 hours. Tonight I tried de-shelled peas. My BN sucked on them a little but didn't seem to excited. x 2
I just put another piece of cucumber (not blanched) in for the night. I put it near the piece of driftwood cos he seems to spend a bit of time around there. He was swimming around and found it and started to suck onto it. I'm really happy now cos he hasn't been eating much!!!

 

[seangee]

So does that mean that I can find out if my pleco is a boy or girl in about 6 months?

I put some cucumber in my tank this morning and my BN Pleco had absolutely no interest in it. It was not blanced but I took it out after about 7 or 8 hours. Tonight I tried de-shelled peas. My BN sucked on them a little but didn't seem to excited. x 2
I just put another piece of cucumber (not blanched) in for the night. I put it near the piece of driftwood cos he seems to spend a bit of time around there. He was swimming around and found it and started to suck onto it. I'm really happy now cos he hasn't been eating much!!!

I wouldn't worry too much. I used to when I got my 4. They have grown like crazy in the last 8 months. Now I just feed the tank . Combination of flake, bloodworm, catfish pellets, algae wafers, veggies (although not all at once and not even every day). Everything in the tanks seems happy with this arrangement but I have still never actually seen the BNs eat except off the glass or bogwood.

 

[Ally555]

Thanks for the replies but if possible can you please answer my other question.

Can I find out if my pleco is a boy or girl in about 6 months?

 

[Corleone]

Probably before that, since he's likely a couple months old when you got him. I don't know much about their growth rate, but mine's gone from 2 inches to 3.5 in about 3 months. He was just barely getting bristles when I got him, and I still can't be 100% sure it's a male, but I am pretty sure he is now. The females still have bristles (most species anyway), but they're smaller. I've read that in some species, the male gets a distinctive "ridge" down the middle of his head with a denser row of bristles than the rest of his head, which mine seems to have.

 

[Ally555]

My BN Pleco is eating pretty well now. As long as I put the cucumber around my driftwood it tends to find and suck on it. It also doesn't mind bloodworms. I still don't think it's getting any of the shrimp pellets, but thats cos all my other fish eat it first.

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks for the replies but if possible can you please answer my other question.

Can I find out if my pleco is a boy or girl in about 6 months?

already been answered, in the first ten post of the thread. see below

After the bristles develop?

The bristles start to grow when they are about 6 months old!

 

[Ally555]

I have some bad news.
Today when I got home from school I found my lovely Bristlenose Pleco dead.

I don't know what happened cos there are no obvious signs of the cause of death and none of my other fish have died or had anything wrong with them.

Does anyone have any explanation to why it may have died?
It's sad cos I was really looking forward to keeping my BN and seeing it grow and change.

I'm not sure if I'll get another one, but if I do I'd like to know what went wrong and if I could prevent it from happening again.

If anyone can help, please do!!!

 

[seanie112]

have you tested the water lately could be that or something

i lost some fish in one of our tanks we had high ammonia
if u havent got a test kit ask your lfs to test the water then u wld know if your water is ok
or not .someone else will tell u something else abt it
good luck

 

[Ally555]

I'll test it today, but I only have ammonia and ph test kits. I might be allowed to go to the pet shop to get the water tested but I'll have to see. But if it was something to do with the water then wouldn't other fish have died as well?