Bristlenose Not Eating

[Shedeivl]

bristlenose not eating Hi i feel like i have tryed everthing i have one bristlenose not eating in a of about 5 gal tank of 2 swards 1 male one female 3 feeders not sure of the sex and my baby bristlenose
i have tryed cucumber one a plastic fork to try to keep it one the bottem i try zuquiini i dont think i spelt that right and now I'm trying Alguy pellets I think that what there called but I have not seen bristlenose eat a thing and I have had the bristlenose for alittle over a week and now I worryed I'm only new to this and like most newbis i only know what i read and have alot of Q and A PLEASE HELP

 

[Ripley]

How big is this baby? A 5 gallon is too small for a BN. Is there any algea in the tank? I usually never supplement my Plecos, I find that they will have a full time job cleaning the tank.

 

[three-fingers]

A 5 gallon tank isn't really suitable long term for a fish that gets the size of a bristlenose plec, especially since these guys produce so much waste, I hope you know that since you specifically said baby bristlenose anyway .

When you say swords I presume you mean swordtails, they aren't suitable for a 5 gallon tank either.

You also mention 'feeders', which are most likely rosy red minnows but could be anything really. If they are rosy reds I'm afraid they also aren't suitable for such a small tank . In addition to this, 'feeder' fish often carry diseases and parasites that can spread to tank mates.

Combine the fact that by most peoples standards your tank is over stocked with the fact that your tank is home to feeder fish, and you have a possible reason to why your plec isn't eating. Keep checking for any possible symptoms of anything (other than not eating).

For future reference, you should always quarantine feeder fish before introducing them into an aquarium .

Can you get water stats? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

Try putting the algae wafers in after lights out to see if the bristlenose eats them then, as they are also night active.

And be careful when feeding cucumber and zucchini as it can foul the water quite easily in such a small tank .

 

[Shedeivl]

ph is 7 i only have a ph kit and it reads 7 yes all my fish r as three-fingers says 2 swardtails 3 rosy red minnows and the baby bn

in order of astublishing my tank i got the rosy red minnows frist i had them for 1 month then added the 2 swards and the baby Bn u see i had trubble making it work making all the normal mistakes for a biginer so i only got the rosy red minnows as tests to see if i got it right this time around i have had no trubble untell the baby Bn is not eating the Bn is proble 2-3 cms long

so what r my options should i get rid of the fiders do u think that may make the baby bn eat as I said i only got the rosy red minnows as test fish so i dont mind selling them off


if my tank is over crawed then what would b good in this size tank ? and Y is it to small for swardtails ? oh and my tank is 20l in Austraila i think thats 5 gal but i just cheak it nilly 6 if that makes any diffrents

 

[three-fingers]

pH is relatively unimportant here, what you really need to get are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings . If you can't buy a test kit, you should bring a sample of your tank water to an lfs to see if they will test it for you . Where I live, getting your water tested at an lfs costs £0.10, or AUD $0.24 .

so what r my options should i get rid of the fiders do u think that may make the baby bn eat as I said i only got the rosy red minnows as test fish so i dont mind selling them off

At this stage, any diseases or parasites the feeders had will have already had a chance to spread to the other fish, and without water stats I cant say for sure whether or not removing the minnows will make any immediate difference at all.

A 20 litre tank is too small for the swordtails and minnows because they are both species that should be active and can reach 10cm if properly cared for. Many places actually state a 60 litre to be the minimum tank size for swordtails, just do a quick search for them on google

Given that the 20 litre (which is only 4.39 imperial gallons) tank is too small for all the species of fish you own, a better option would be to buy at least a 45 litre tank (20" long) , that way you could keep all your fish .

If you go for a new tank, you should ask about setting it up (and specifically 'cloning' the filter) in the beginners section.

 

[Shedeivl]

ok i will try to find a place to test my water i dont have many fish shops close buy I normal have to travel for about 45mins or more to get to one and i'm thinking this could effect the test results do u think I could buy a kit of ebay ?

All my other fish r fine. 45 litre tank so something like a Aqura one ? 'cloning' the filter ? as I said i get all my stuff of ebay so I might just go look there for the things u sugest so if i got A 45 litre tank

Given that the 20 litre (which is only 4.39 imperial gallons) tank is too small for all the species of fish you own, a better option would be to buy at least a 45 litre tank (20" long) , that way you could keep all your fish .

I could keep them all would I also b able to add like a betta depending on the betta's temperment of cause

 

[Shedeivl]

A friend of mine said I can get a 47.25 liters tank of him for free that's right FREE Yeah but b4 I say yes I want to know if that will b the right size

a better option would be to buy at least a 45 litre tank (20" long) , that way you could keep all your fish .

and this is a 47.25 liters but that is without anything in it what do u think should i go get it and start a fish less cycle or maybe just add someof my tank water that is already ?

 

[Scunny]

I've got 1 Snowball Pleco, 1 Gold Nugget Pleco, and 8 Pitbull Plecs. The Pitbull Plecs tend to be stuck to algae wafers, and the Gold Nugget (only got today) is already stuck to the side of my middle sized tank eating the algae.

My snowballs quite alot like your BN, as i've never seen her eat. Infact i've never seen her out before 11pm (shes nocturnal ). And i havent cseen her at all today as she goes into hiding alot. I've never seen her eat. And all the algae wafers etc i put in tend to be devoured by my convicts . Then again, on the rare chance i see her she seems perfectly healthy, so i rekon your BN might be doing fine on the algae in your tank.

 

[Scunny]

after saying that i've just noticed my Snowball out and about