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I've got two chunks of driftwood, not especially made into a cave but she dug it out and lives under there with one of my pictus, doesnt seem bothered about territories, although she wont move for anyone hehe

she's always grazing on the drift wood, so i would def recommend that, and i would suggest making a cave or somewhere that it could make a cave im sure it would make it feel safer.

yep eats anything even grapes

good luck!

Last edited by chrism at 13-Oct-2004 05:26

BNs poop.... alot


just my two cents

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Back in the saddle!

wow, well I keep 2 of them in a 20 gallon high tank. 6 inches and 5 inches long. m/f

As far as hardiness mine have been at 96 degrees F+ when a tank heater broke and were the only fish out of 20 or so in the tank to survive. They have also been kept as low as 68 degrees on a perm basis as an unheated tank in a heated house.

I would call them indestructable.

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

awwww my BN's being held ransom !
*out pop the maternal instincts* guess I'm gonna like it after all...I made her a cave yesterday on my day off .

And shy is good...it'll give me time to get used to it .

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

I have your BN and I m holding it ransome no but seriously I have it for you and it looks really good its just really shy compared to the one I got for myself but its doing good. I'll try to get some pics if it ever comes out fromo hiding onthe underside of the rocks

i have 2 f 1 m in my 254l tank. the male hides constantly while the girls like to get into anything and everything. i feed mine on bloodworm(i thiught that to) and a high protien crushed pellet. hoping to breed them one day. would like any pointers on this

i have three males!! thats right 3 males all in one 50 gal tank. i used to have them in a smaller tank, round about 40-50 ltrs and they just used to make holes under everything, and one just loves the amazon swords leaves, they even have a nibble sometimes. i feed my algae tabs every second day and i think they are satill hungry because they grab flakes from the surface lately (a 20 inch swim up) ohh well. they just like to hide and if there is nowere to hide they dig burrows

MY experience with BN's are that they really like to have wood in the tank. Mine loves Cucumber and i also feed botom feeding tabs and alge waffers. she also eats left overs.

would it be best to go with female over male?

Aparently males tend to hide more than females so if you want to see your BN i would go with a female. I have a female and she doesnt hide all day and comes to the front of the tank when she smells flake food being fed to the tetras.

Also i hear that they tend to hide more when they get older.

Edit:I dont have any caves in my tank but she does have places to hide, such as under the wood, in the wood and under some slate.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by nitro at 13-Oct-2004 14:47

you're not kidding. what brought this sudden change of heart on babel?

Adding nitrAtes daily to combat cyno even though you have 6 white skirts, 6 wcmm's and 3 zebra danios ] !

great pics theresa and jdubs I had sorta rememberd what theresa had mentioned when we were @EA.....or was it about the loaches :%)...anyway you all seem to love them lots.

Up to 86F...YIPPIE home tank got up to 82/84 this summer and it wasnt' even a very hot summer . That was one of my biggest concerns over them.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

Mine go to an extreme to keep my tank clean here is proof

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"and the incident when my step-kids fed the fish Cocoa Puffs"
rofl

Would've been funny if they'd been told many, many, many times to never feed the fish, tap the glass, etc etc. Topped if off by denying it happened. I lost two kuhlis and my favorite male platy to that incident

i would suggest making a cave or somewhere that it could make a cave

I agree, even if there isn't exactly a cave in the tank BNs will utilize whatever is available. The strawberry pot in my 29g is propped up on another pot, the BN made her 'home' underneath that. My other BN's favorite spot is a corner underneath some amazon sword leaves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Okay read the profile, but what are YOUR experiences with them.
Caves are a must I take it How big of one?
How hardy would you consider them
Which algae are they best for eating, how readily will they take to sinking wafers, what's the highest temp you've had them @.

I'm looking to add one to my 20 gallon, I was a bit concerened about how small a tank that is but from a poll on the temp site people seemed to think one would be okay. Other occupants are currently 6 white skirts, 3zebra danios, 6 WCMM's and plants that are sucking up the nitrAtes like anything.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

and the incident when my step-kids fed the fish Cocoa Puffs

rofl.

Anyhoo, BNs are some of the hardiest, most useful fish around, and are, IMO, very pretty.

As for sexing, even at a young age, males should have more ounced foreheads and thicker build.

Almost all forms of live and prepared food are accepted.

When I first started keeping fish and was researching what I wanted to have I decided I was a no-plec person. I guess I thought they were kind of creepy looking, just didn't like them

Fast forward some months...my 29g had lots of nice terra cotta, basically covered in green algae. I tried a pair of otos, but they didn't make it and I didn't want to risk them again. Chatting with the owner of a lfs about algae eaters and he mentions BNs I thought 'eeewwww' but let him show me the tank...

I now have two, in two different tanks. And I've fallen in love They really are interesting looking fish. I believe I have one male and one female. The male is dark chocolate colored, the female looks like milk chocolate. They're both 3-3.5" long now.

They do an absolutely fantastic job with the algae. Feeding algae or veggie wafers is no problem, they claim a piece and will defend it by chasing away any fish that try to take it. Mine also really, really enjoy broccoli

Definitely hardy...they've survived ich, fungus, a filter crash, and the incident when my step-kids fed the fish Cocoa Puffs ]:| They've tolerated 86° when I was treating ich.

I keep them with various loaches and cories with no problems. Ummmm...I have no wood in either tank No caves in the 29g, just terra cotta and the other tank just has rocks. Both seem very happy

My first, still acclimating:



I don't have a 'before shot', but this strawberry pot was covered in algae not even 24 hours prior:



The BN broccoli limbo:


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Last edited by Theresa_M at 12-Oct-2004 17:43

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

(Babel getting a pleco??? ...Never thought I'd see the day...)

you're not kidding. what brought this sudden change of heart on babel?

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

T'anks for everyones input so far

Yes I'm really thinking of getting a BN!

The wood...there are two pieces in there...ones the length of the tank 24" but only an inch diameter...the others the same thickness but only a few inches long. I'd been planning on removing the longer one since it doesn't really look good in the tank (the only place it works is in the front which means you cant see the tank :%)).

Right now I'm most concerned about making a cave.....I've heard they insist on two entrances .

^_^
Invalid use of Null: 'CBool'

My BN is a big boy. He has hugh bristles on his nose. He shares his tank with a very big gold CAE and he holds his own. Loves pumpkin and Zuchini. My fella doesn't really like algae wafers. Blood worms, shrimp, vegies and fruit is mainly his diet. When I do a water change and clean the inside of the front glass, he will later on be found sucking on the front glass. I have mind in temp of 26-27 and ph of 7.2 - 6.6 no problems. My fella started to grow his bristle around 1.5".
When he get threaten, he will puff up and stick his jaw sprikes out. These are not the bristles on his nose, but a group of spikes located along the side jaw. These are hiden, but will extract when they are getting annoyed. At the same time his dorsal will stick straight up and his fins will stick out at his side.

Last edited by TigerAngel at 12-Oct-2004 17:34

Last edited by TigerAngel at 12-Oct-2004 17:53

i really can't believe your looking to get a BN babel
anyway BNs are very hardy and they are not fussy with food. Once when i was cleaning decor, i put the wood on the ground and scrubed it and then it was dinnertime. so then after dinner i go back to my tank to put the wood back in, and there's this BN lying on the ground he must of been out of water for over 30mins, so i but him back into the tank, and i've still got him today. so i rate BNs as being VERY hardy.
a BN would be fine in your 20g coz even though they are very messy your plants that are sucking up nitrAtes, so it will be fine.
and how much java fern is on this piece of wood? can how big is this piece of wood?

cfd

--------------------------
Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

I agree, bristlenoses are very hardy and helpful fish. They'll eat most green algae, clean up leftover flake foods, and it's difficult for other fish to kill them.
While they do love having driftwood in their tanks, it isn't absolutely necessary for them to survive. Basically, driftwood just aids in digestion.
As for the gender of the bn you pick, it doesn't really matter. The biggest difference between a male and a female bristlenose is the number and size of the bristles. Which one you go with depends on how much you like bristlenose bristles!

(Babel getting a pleco??? ...Never thought I'd see the day...)

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Heya Babelfish,

I've found that when they're small, at least after the first few days, they are into everything, so the cave is more a "I know it's there if I want it" type thing (or if you plan on breeding 'em I hear). My last one, who passed on for unknown reasons, ignored a purpose-designed cave, in favour of parking itself under a bit of driftwood, which it "dug" under to enable itself to fit. When spooked (which is quite rare) they just seem to dive behind the nearest plant.

The loss of that BN, it been raised from a teeny smidge of a thing to a fat lump, 5 inches plus, was so sad, that it took me almost a year to get up the heart to purchase a replacement.

I finally took the step a month or two back, picking the teeniest one in the tank that was on offer and it's going great guns (hoping I'd get a female this time, as the last one was male).

It LOVES the sinking plant chips I drop in twice a day, and (quite against my own advise) will fight off a CAE twice it's size that it shares the bottom with to claim them as it's own. Mind you, it sucks down flakes etc at will, and my driftwood shrunk ALOT when the old boy was in the house

These fish "grow on you" like nothing I can describe (maybe it's the ugly factor which I relate to). They are just SO endearing.

They are hardy as anything I've ever kept, tough (they take no BS from anyone else), and are forever grazing (especially when smaller).

So far as the algae goes, I find it's the general, short green type of build-up they like. They have always ignored black, as well as the odd beard outbreak for me. I keep the rear of the tank unscrubbed behind the plants as a sort of "pasture" now I have a BN back in residence, and it keeps it dutifully "mown" (the rest of the tank is algae free one way or the other).

I can not recommend them highly enough

Dex