Id: Anybody Know Who This Little Thing Is?

[Phoenixfish]

its under an 1inch at the moment and was told to have a max growth of about 5 inches
is black with white spots,

 

[Bloo]

Looks like a very young common bristle nose

 

[littlelegs]

Yeh it looks like mine, mine is the same size, bristlenose plec.

 

[Phoenixfish]

ah man poor thing found upside down this morning dont know what killed it, checking water now, no sign of bullying
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PH: 7
N03(Nitrate): between 0-5.0 but closer to 0, about 2 ish
No2 (Nitrite): 0
Ammonia:0

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no obvious signs of infection or difference in behaviour (but i had only had it since saturday )

sigh could a pleco eat to death? it ate a whole cucumber ring in 1 night but it wasnt that thick


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wow that sucks it hasnt been a good day, it was my favorite too
oculd it have just been a freak occurance?
i was thinking of buying a replacement but..

 

[Breeze7050]

Oh no, thats awful. Are you sure it was dead? I only ask this because my bristlenose (and a few other peoples from what Ive heard) will fall asleep on a rock/driftwood ect and then fall to the bottom - looking quite dead, but I think he is sleeping. Once he wakes up he goes back to his spot or swims around.
Maybe he was just sick from the LFS... not too sure. But, very sorry for your loss.

 

[Phoenixfish]

no quite dead im afraid, first i upturned it to check but he wasnt breathing, ( I also found it upside down on the bottom)
anyone know what caused it?
i spent like 10minutes with it to make sure ... it was such a nice fish too i may get a replacement,
do you recon its worth taking up with my local? o got it on saturday althoguh tbh it looked fine last night at 10

 

[dwarfgourami]

I have heard that baby bristlenoses are harder than adults to acclimatise; it may be that he was too young to be moved and that the shock was too much for him. Looking at him he only looks a couple of months old, particularly if you say he was under an inch.

 

[Phoenixfish]

I have heard that baby bristlenoses are harder than adults to acclimatise; it may be that he was too young to be moved and that the shock was too much for him. Looking at him he only looks a couple of months old, particularly if you say he was under an inch.

yeh unfortunatly i think that he was too young and died from shock, so im now got my eye out for an older plec

 

[Breeze7050]

Phoenix -
If I were you, I would think about taking it up at your LFS. I know mine has a 2 week life guarantee on fish purchases. They do require a water check though, so you may bring some in if you do decide to return it. Both of my BN's are very young. 1 is a 1/2 inch 1 is about an inch. I spent quite a while acclimated them to my tank. Especially since they had been mailed to me. I floated the bag for 30-40 minutes and then did the drip method for another 30 min. before actually releasing them. Maybe try that if you get a 2nd?? They are quite social little guys. I would try another one! Best of Luck and keep us updated!

 

[Phoenixfish]

yeh im deffinitly going to get a new plec, im looking for a 2nd one thats larger, i may try my other local when mum is next free (lifts ^^) but i dont think they had any noticable plecs except some v large Gibbs(?!?)

 

[Breeze7050]

Just make sure it will be small enough to not have to be re-homed. That's what's nice about the BN, they stay fairly small. There are several other varieties that stay small, but I notice that they can get QUITE expensive! Also, they are usually hard to find! Best of luck, let us know what you get!

 

[Glod]

When I added my BNs they were both tiny, about an inch excluding tails. One died in about 36 hours with no signs of any cause, the other is now nearly 2 inches long and very happily settled in. I did consider replacing one but all I can get are tiny specimens around here so decided to leave it until I find a larger fish

I think as others have said sometimes the stress is just too much for a small BN.

 

[littleme1969]

Hi.. sorry to hear the little guy didnt make it, but it does sound like a classic case of stress due to been moved at such a young age. I breed bristlenose myself in common brown/albino and gold and all of my fish get posted royal mail But they all do great, mainly because I only sell them when they are about 2.5 -full grown. I often see them in shops tiny little specs of fish, its so sad as you know only about 50% at the most will make it. Chances are he could have already been moved a couple of times before you got him and your move was more than his little body could take I see them on e.bay being sold at this age in bags of 10. Poor little guys, People who dont have the space to grow them on shouldnt really be breeding them.
As mentioned before I wouldnt buy a plec thats is under 1.5inch if you can help it.

 

[Phoenixfish]

yeh, i went into my other local to see the stock (the one i mentioned above)
and they had quite a few different variety of plecs, including ottos (if they count) some commons and some twig catfish i think and some gibbis.
but to be honest i might look into some more uncommon plecs on the internet. but im in no hurry to get one, so lots of research ^^

 

[Breeze7050]

Great idea phoenix! Ive really had to stop myself (SEVERAL times) from picking up one of the rarer ones on the internet!! I know its a little different here in the US, but you can try EBay - The UK version and Aquabid.com <---- I believe this is an USA site, but some of the breeders will ship to the UK and some are located in other countries too. Just a helpful hint! Keep us updated.