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Hi everyone, i have a female bristlenose a bit over a year old, about 2 weeks ago i bought a male bristlenose from the markets, he was fully grown, he died last night and im not sure why, he was on the bottom with his raspy things out the side fully out, could they have had a fight? He did have any damage, was eating well and his tummy was good so i can't see any health problems, was he just old? or Should i not put a male in with my female that has grown up for the last year by herself? my water is fine, amonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20 ph 7.5

HOw long has the tank been set up for. They might have not been enough food for them both?? Unless you were feeding them Algae Waffers in which case this would not be the problem.

If he was fully grown (about 6" long), it is quite possible that he was pretty old when you got him, and that his immune system was weaker than that of a juvenile. Also, he was probably wild-caught in very soft, acidic water, and fish that live that long in those conditions oftentimes cannot adapt to our harder, more alkaline water. How did you acclimate the fish to your tank?

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Ancistrus are found in many hard water habitats. That being said, hardness did not likely contribute to this mystery death.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 10-May-2005 18:13

Hence the "probably".

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

i got him from a local market, im in australia i would doubt he's from the wild, the tank has been setup for quite a while, i posted my tank water conditions above which seem fine to me.

When i got him i did the usual thing, float the bag for about 20mins, then open it and add some water from the tank, then after 5mins put him in the tank, there was no problems with him or any of the other fish that i can see and was fine for about the last 2-3 weeks, all the other fish are still fine including my female pleco, he was just on the bottom this morning dead and with his side spike things out, looks like he had a heart attack lol, so yeh im thinking he was old, so should i be ok to get another male to try and mate? try and get one that isn't as big and old.

Last edited by the1 at 10-May-2005 22:54

Yeh for sure.

Try to get another that is maybe the same size as your female or a little bigger.

What size tank are you keeping these guys in? I have found mine tend to be a little territorial so a small tank wont be enough for a pair. I wouldnt put a mature pair in less than a 30gal.

As a side note, BN plecos are not on our import list so I highly doubt it was a wild caught one that died. Probably old age as was mentioned above.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

there in a 2.5ft tank 90litres, with a angel fish, only small about the size of a 20c australian coin

Lindy,

You mentioned an import list. Is this published somewhere? It would be interesting to know what we can and can't get here in Australia.

I'll try and dig it up for you. I recently lost all my bookmarks so it may take me a while.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Thanks Lindy