Bristlenose Immitating Corydoras?

[fee de mer]

My bristlenose keeps coming to the surface as if for air whats going on?

 

[Iiriva]

Is there enough air in the tank, as in is your filter strong enough to keep the surface moving fast enough, giving the fish enough oxygen?

The reason for that usually is a lack of oxygen in the bottom areas of the aquarium. The water should move around in the whole area. Do you have a separate air pump? They are quite cheap and usually help a lot.

 

[fee de mer]

No i dont and my diffuser seems to be playing up could this be the cause?

 

[Iiriva]

You should have a proper filter in your tank to both keep the water clean and make the water move around so there is enough oxygen. I have no idea what you mean by diffusor when speaking about aquariums.

Air pumps pump air to water, making bubbles, which are more oxygen for the fish to breathe.

 

[fee de mer]

lol yeah i have a filter too its like an attatchment to the outside of the filter which produces bubbles, this isn't running as fast as usual

 

[Iiriva]

Have you cleaned your filter lately? It slows down when dirty, obviously...

 

[fee de mer]

ill clean out the spounges and filter now and hope there is improvement thanks for the advice

 

[Geoff-]

Not enough air, too hot, stress, or some other change that makes the water undesirable.

My BN only came to the surface when I did a water change, obviously the change was enough to make it want to gulp air. But never saw it happen in between times.