One Beby Pleco Dead - The Other? Who Knows?

[stoneagedinosaur]

Just come home to find my baby bristlenose pleco dead. Yesterday, it had what looked like long, thick,green poo coming from it's bum and a red mark from the anal area. My other one is now showing the same thick green poo. Tested levels last Sunday and they were all fine. Ammonia at 0.2 but all else very low. Did 10% water change on Saturday and all other fishes look fine. (Harleys still being a bit feisty but that's been for a while) ANY IDEAS???

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank.

When you say ammonia 0.2 do you mean the test kit goes from 0. to 02 for a 0 reading.

The green poo is normal if the plec had been eating algae tablets and veg.

A red inflamed anus can be constipation, internal parasites, dropsy.

Was the baby plec thin or bloated in appearance.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

It's 160 litres Ammonia at 0.2g per litre. It's been eating up all the algae in the tank with odd occasional flake that it manages to steal

Seemed perfectly happy this afternoon - the other one does now... most perplexing

Just doing a water test now

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Always research plecs diet needs to see if they need veg, frozen foods, or even wood in there diet.

Was the anus red and inflamed.
Did the baby plec look bloated or thin.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

Ammonia 0.1 mg/l
Nitrite 0.1 mg/l
Nitrate 50 mg/l (Due to rubbish water supply)

Anus was red and inflamed - but fish wasn't bloated or thin - seemed quite perky

LFS said to let it eat all the algae then supplement with Aquarian Sinking Pellets

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

LFS less than helpful - said it was 'One of those things!' Didn't even offer a replacement fish. I'd only had it for 10 days. Not telling tales but it was the nearest LFS to Verwood in Dorset

Maidenhead aquatics near Ferndown from now on then!

 

[GrubbyGirl]

LFS said to let it eat all the algae then supplement with Aquarian Sinking Pellets

Not good advice, it's not about just suplementing the diet, you need to feed them properly. If they have eaten the algae they have nothing to eat except what you feed them. What pellets are you feeding them? BNs don't do well with a lot of protein in their diet, nice for them occaisionally but their diet should be predominantly vegitarian. You should also give them fresh vegetables like courgette, cucumber, squash etc. get a screwcumber or weight it down with a fork or teaspoon.

As Wilder said you need to do your own research on what your fish need, never trust your lfs, any lfs. BNs definitely need wood in their diet to aid digestion and it looks like your tank doesn't have any. You need to get youself some bogwood.

How old is your tank as it looks like it isn't cycled? No amount of ammonia ir nitrite is safe for any fish so you need to be doing at least 50% wayer changes daily until your tank is cycles - and definitely do not add any more fish until it is.

 

[JenCliBee]

LFS said to let it eat all the algae then supplement with Aquarian Sinking Pellets

Not good advice, it's not about just suplementing the diet, you need to feed them properly. If they have eaten the algae they have nothing to eat except what you feed them. What pellets are you feeding them? BNs don't do well with a lot of protein in their diet, nice for them occaisionally but their diet should be predominantly vegitarian. You should also give them fresh vegetables like courgette, cucumber, squash etc. get a screwcumber or weight it down with a fork or teaspoon.

As Wilder said you need to do your own research on what your fish need, never trust your lfs, any lfs. BNs definitely need wood in their diet to aid digestion and it looks like your tank doesn't have any. You need to get youself some bogwood.

BN's don't need wood to aid digestion, they are not a wood eating species so therefore it's not an essential part of there diet, however wood is always a good thing to have with plecs netherless.

how long has the tank been setup?, how did you cycle the tank?.

If the BN is literally only a baby the bouncing ammonia and nitrite is probably whats caused the symptoms and ultimately led to it's death. Other possibilities of what wilder said are also a factor.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

BN's don't need wood to aid digestion, they are not a wood eating species so therefore it's not an essential part of there diet, however wood is always a good thing to have with plecs netherless.

According to bristlenose world "...driftwood containing lignin and cellulose which are important nutrients and needed by this pleco species for healthy digestion."

Care of bristlenose in full http/www.bristlenoseworld.com/the-bristlenose-cave-f4/the-bristlenose-pleco-info-t4.htm

 

[JenCliBee]

BN's don't need wood to aid digestion, they are not a wood eating species so therefore it's not an essential part of there diet, however wood is always a good thing to have with plecs netherless.

According to bristlenose world "...driftwood containing lignin and cellulose which are important nutrients and needed by this pleco species for healthy digestion."

Care of bristlenose in full http/www.bristlenoseworld.com/the-bristlenose-cave-f4/the-bristlenose-pleco-info-t4.htm

It also says that BN's don't usually reach above 3 inches aswell, they don't need wood in there diet, im not saying the nutrients/bacteria that may grow on wood isn't a good thing but the wood itself wont be digested by the plec, therefore the wood itself isn't a essential part of there diet. Most plecs will benefit from having wood within the tank becasue they will rasp on it but not eat it. Aucwitz (sp) i think it might be which is beneficial to plecs and very much young baby/juvenile plecs. Again the wood itself isn't essential though people use it for aesthetic reasons rather than for a food source unless the plec specifically needs wood to aid digestion or for part of the food source.

I have brought up hundreds of BN's in a tank with no wood with all be very healthy and very active, ive kept one from all the BN's i have raised and it still going strong without wood, I would always advise to add wood but it wont be for them to actually eat more rasp and basically enjoy and play.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

Well, I guess we just have 2 viewpoints here - yours and a site specialising in bristlenose plecs. No wonder people get confused.

 

[WILDER]

Bad water quality can soon finish plecs off.

Immediate water change.
Red inflamed anus can be constipation, dropsy, internal parasites.

Keep a look out for when all your fish go to the toilet.

 

[indigoj]

Bristlenose Plecs definitely do not NEED actual wood in their diet however it is recommended as a good addition as the aufwuchs that grows on wood and the plant fibre is good for them, these days with modern foods and fresh veg then the dietary requirements of BN's can easily be met without wood.

I'd say that with poor water quality and no real specific feeding then a young BN would probably not last long. How big was it? Anything under about 2" can be very vulnerable to ammonia and nitrite even in small ammounts.

 

[JenCliBee]

Well, I guess we just have 2 viewpoints here - yours and a site specialising in bristlenose plecs. No wonder people get confused.

Your quite right there, people do get confused and what doesnt help are when sites which are suposed to specialise in a specific fish are wrong or wrong to a certen degree.... where do you drawn the line.

Sorry but i really dont care what you or that sites says, BN's DO NOT need wood for there diet, as i and indigoj have quite correctly mentioned the reasons why wood is always a better option to add than not.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

Well, I guess we just have 2 viewpoints here - yours and a site specialising in bristlenose plecs. No wonder people get confused.

Your quite right there, people do get confused and what doesnt help are when sites which are suposed to specialise in a specific fish are wrong or wrong to a certen degree.... where do you drawn the line.

Sorry but i really dont care what you or that sites says, BN's DO NOT need wood for there diet, as i and indigoj have quite correctly mentioned the reasons why wood is always a better option to add than not.

Like I said there are 2 viewpoints and was happy to leave it at that, but you clearly needed to insist you were right.

So, I throw down a challenge. Find me a site that says they do not need wood in their diet? I've just looked through 8 pages of google results and could find no site that says that they don't need wood, but I did find the sites below that say they DO need wood in their diet. And when I say find me a site - I mean an article on a site not a forum message.

http/www.e-aquarium.com.au/bristlenose_catfish.htm

http/www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=bristlenosecatfish

http/badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile117.html

http/en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/2008/4/feeding-bristlenose-catfish-mixed.htm

Mind you even if you do find even one article, I still hold with what I said - clearly there are 2 views, and I'll leave it at that.