What's Wrong With My Bn

[Randi]

My bristlenose pleco has spent the last 3 days hiding behind the filter. He is moving his tail so I know he isn't dead and there is room for him to come out so I know he is not stuck. He used to hide in a log, but came out regularly. Also, the tank is getting algae growth so I think he is not eating (although, before he went into hiding he did steal my loach's bottom feeder pellets regularly). I give him half an algae wafer twice a week when there is no algae visible in the tank. Water params are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate, 78 degrees. What is going on?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

What type/size and how many loaches do you have? What else is in the tank? The fish is likely hiding because it is threatened or sick. Since loaches and plecos like to inhabit the same spaces, my first bet is he is trying to stay away from the loaches. I lost 6 bn in my clown loach tank before I finally understood what was going on.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would also like to add that you should feed the BN an algae wafer everyday even if there is algae in the tank- algae wafers contain more than just algae and are enriched with vitamins & minerals etc, so for a healthy happy pleco you should still feed him his own food. If you got him purely for algae control then there are other ways to get rid of algae (just depends on what type of algae it is).

But anyhoo, tank measurements/gallons, fish stocking & numbers etc would be very useful to know .

 

[Randi]

It's a 30 gal tank, it has the BN, 1 dojo loach (about 3 inches), 5 dwarf neon rainbowfish, and 5 guppies. All the fish, except the guppies are juveniles. Also, the rainbows have only been in the tank for 2 1/2 weeks. The others have all lived together for at least 6 months.

edit: tried to lure him out with some zucchini, didn't work

 

[Randi]

I am considering wedging a filter sponge behind the filter. Would this be OK, or is it wrong to take away his hiding spot?