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I had heaps of suckermouth catfish
BN catfish
Whiptails
but after about 3 months almost all of them died.
from an unknown cause?
the water was fine weekly partial waterchanges
but they ended up on the bottom of the tank where the other ate the rest of it before I could discover what caused it?

Not to be offensive, but if you can't keep a BN alive, I wouldn't reccomend that you try and keep whiptails. Causes of death could be either starvation or stress, possibly even water temperature, that is, provided your tank paraeters are perfect. Ancistrus sp. are VERY tolerant, and having one of them die is kind of like killing a white cloud.

Then again, it could possibly have something to sdo with internal diseases/parasites hitching a ride from the LFS.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 25-Nov-2004 01:05

bn and other suckers benefit from a bit of wood in the diet. Something I only learned from this site after losing a whiptail after having him for 6mths or so.

If you have mostly rocks and gravel but not drift wood consider getting some driftwood from the lfs. Soak it in a bucket,changing the water regularly until the tanins don't make the water look like weak tea.

Then put it in your tank.

If you choose to have no wood because you dont want it affect your ph then a small piece shouldn't have too big of an impact.

Small bits of algae build up on leaves of plants and the cgravel, the fish also scavenge for uneaten food but do need some food put in just for them. eg sinking pellets, veggies or algae growing on wood

Good luck and don't be disheartened.



Last edited by wish-ga at 30-Nov-2004 21:38

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Wood is beneficial, but not completely necessary. I keep a bristlenose without driftwood, and he's a happy little critter.


Did these fish die all over the three month span, or at around the same time? Did they show symptoms of anything? And, how much did you feed them?

I'm curious as to the reason why these catfish died. I agree with Jon, bristlenoses are built like tanks. They are very tough fish.[/font]

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