Bristlenose Pleco And Sand

[Neal]

Well, I own two baby Bristlenose Plecos, and then my brother was looking to get rid of his adult, so I got it, and yes I know three bristlenoses in one tank is bad news, but i'm getting it sorted soon when I get my new tank. Anyway, to the point. My adult bristlenose moves about in the sand and get's it all over the plants, and onto my java moss which is tied onto slate, therefore the moss dies. He always digs and I mean I don't mind him digging, it's just when he destroys the plants whilst doing it that annoys me, is there any reason why he is doing this and is there any solution to stop him doing this apart from changing to gravel, if not then i'll just have to stick to lots of stem plants, as I don't want to deprive him of his fun, but if there is something that is causing this then i'd like it to stop.
All help, advice and criticism appreciated.

Neal

 

[KathyM]

He's a plec, that's what they do *lol*. Plecs are bottom feeders, so you have to expect disruption of substrate and/or plants. Comes with the territory

 

[Neal]

Oh well, i'll leave him be, maybe i'll have to think my substrate out at some point so it's not as noticeable, and I might be getting some MTS for the tank too, so they should enjoy it. Thanks Kathy.

Neal

 

[nmonks]

My Panaque uproots new plants from the sand all the time. But, once the plants have a decent set of roots, they're fine. In the meantime, try:

1. Putting plants in pots. I know some people hate them, but in this particular situation, a potted plant is safer than a free stem. This is especially true where the plants have twiggy stems, like Nomaphila and Bacopa. Bury the pots deeply in the sand so the catfish can't dig the pots out.

2. Put lead weights around the plants. This helps with things like Cabomba and Vallisnera, which quickly grow their own roots, they just need a week or two's grace from being dug up. Healthy, well rooted Vallisneria is difficult even for an adult Panaque to drag up, let alone a little Ancistrus.

3. Plant things in bulk. Individual hairgrass gets destroyed or uprooted, but big thick stands of the stuff 4-5 cm in diameter are too much work for her to dig up.

4. Use alternate plants, that either float or are attached to other things, like wood. To be honest, I've never found Java fern much good with plecs (they destroy it while scraping off the algae or wood). But Java fern and Anubias should be fine (though my Panaque certainly eats Anubias).

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Neal]

It's not necceseraly the stem plants and things, it's mainly the java moss on the slate that get's destroyed, he likes to kick sand all over the slate and then that burys the slate under the sand, he's a little bugger I tell you!

Neal