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Hey guys,

During the evening feeding time I noticed my bristlenose in my 4ft Discus tank is dead.
He's been in the tank for 2 weeks now.

Temp: 32 degrees C
pH: 6.6
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: not known

4ft 55Gal, 7 small (5-6cm) discus + 1 small bn (current dead)

It looks to me like external wound, would discus have killed him?
I'm more worried about my discus now.

JQW,

I know very little about BNs, sorry about that and your loss.

The wounds look very intriguing, from the photos it is hard to tell their nature though. Do they look like bite marks?

BNs, having a plated body, make it hard to detect when there are fungal etc. issues. Can it be that these marks are a break through the plated and originated inside the fish?

Also, you say it was in the tank for 2 weeks. And before that? Is that when you got it? The BN may well have been sick all the time, it may just have taken 2 weeks for the issue to become visible, with the plates and all.

When did you see the BN the last time before it died? Did you notice any marks, or abnormal behaviour then?

In any case, I would recomment and immediate water change with vacuuming right away, maybe followed by another one tomorrow. Keep an eye on the Discuss, in case anything seems off with them.

Sorry again,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The fish was normal up till this afternoon.
I saw him eating the algae off some of my amazon sword plants before dinner time.
He was the most active bn I've ever had.
It looked as if there is a hole in the stomach, as if it was done from the outside.
But since BN stays flat all the time, I can't think how the discus would have bitten him in the abdomen.

I'll certainly keep on eye on the discus.
Thanks a lot Ingo, appreciated!

I'm not sure that the hole in the stomach indicates an attack from another fish. I have noticed that some fish die and are found with a bloated belly. I have even found dead, hole in the belly fish, and there is nothing in the tank that could of attacked. (at the shop)

As for cause of death it may remain a mystery. Sometimes fish just die with no obvious reason, and as your water quality is good we cant even blame that.

All I can suggest is to keep a close watch on the other fish for a few days and report back if there are any strange symptoms

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