I can NOT for the life of me get any BN and keep them alive for more than a few days!! I do everything correct when it comes to introducing them to my tank, but within a couple of days, they are dead and covered in a jelly/white moldish stuff. I have also tried algae eaters and they die also. I have boiled my stones, everything in my tank, do regular water changes and stone vacs. I have driftwood in their which my 4 loaches hide under (they are fine). So what is going on?? When I first started out with tropical fish, I had a male and female who spawned twice (then unfortunatly they died). Should I just give up on any sort of algae eater? How do I keep the algae down in my tank if I dont have any BN or algae eaters? Cheers.

white jelly seems to imply a fungal problem, do you know your water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc? How long has your tank been set up? BNs are pretty hardy so its a bit strange

what fish did they live with , do you purchase from the same store ?

What else are you putting in your tank i.e. fish food, plant food. Do you salt your tank? What sort of driftwood.

Thats really weird...

I have never lost a pleco, I now have 8 (including 2 BN) and the oldest is about 6 years. They are the hardiest fish I have ever kept. If your loaches are happy in the tank then there cant be a serious problem with the water.

Whats your tank pH and hardness like?

It's almost as if it's a shock water change thing. Your loaches have adjusted to your water, but it's a big change to the new plecos?

I'm only guessing, but thats what I would check first.

Ian

I will get the kids off to school and so some water tests today. In the meantime, is there any way to control algae with out these fish?? Cheers.

We could try and work out what is causing it in the first place instead of trying to find a way to get rid of it once it is already there.

What colour is you algae? brownish? blueish? or greenish? Light green or dark green?

Is it long and furry or is it slimey looking?

Is your tank near a window?

Does it get any direct sunlight during the day?

Do you have plants in your tank? Are they growing well? Are there lots of plants or just a few?

Planting your tank with a couple of hungry plants could be enough to compete with the algae for food and reduce it's presence in your tank

Try getting some BN's from a local breeder/hobbyists. You may have better luck with them.

Algae is brown, slimy-ish. Just done a water change and gravel vac, and the kuiloe (sp) loaches are feisty and well. I have 5 neon tetras, one siamese fighter, one dwarf gourami, 3 harlequin raspi(cant spell it sorry), and 4 lemon tetras. Oh and 4 loaches. Water test levels came back all good. (threw the stick away tho sorry so cant post results on here until I get some more). Its a very frustrating problem as I LOVE the sucker fish, and my husband is getting sick of me wasting money on fish that die days after we get them.

I had huge issues keeping them a while ago too I went through probably 15 or so of them they had everything the right food, they were in with other fish that were all fine had driftwood etc etc etc, they were big fish when I got them too so who knows what happened to them?

All I can say is that I perservered and eventually they started living and since them they have started breeding and I have 100's of them

I know this doesn't help but is some assurance that you are not alone and it does pass.. I was convinced that bristlenoses were "my nemesis" and the fish that I just couldn't keep and I was destined to having algae filled tanks

Thanks for that. I just hope the pocket can keep on persisting LOL. My first two BN were male and female and spawned twice. Only had 1 little survivor out of them. Then all of a sudden the male died, closely followed by the female, and then maybe 2 months later the baby. Do you think I just buy one at a time instead of getting 2 or 3??

DEFINETLY ! buy one at a time also look at yr heaters wood and any caves these guys get evrywhere yr other fish cant a cracked heater that emits electricity when hot into the water may only effect yr plecos as they are sucking ON the heater, caves and bogwood may contain some thing that only these guys come into contact with i have 35 tanks and thousands of plecos one tank in particular killed off every BN pleco i put it in for weeks but discus and all other fish were fine ended up found a small piece of glass from mercury vapour lamp had fallen in tank and since removal BN plecos are all good in that tank

really need parameters posted as ammonia and nirtates start from the bottom of the tank up (more concentrated at lower levels ) this will effect bottom dwellers more than top swimmers )pls post might be nothing but worth posting

check everything before risking any more money it aint a matter of persisting ,something isnt right for these wonderful hardy fellas ,

Hi Hannah, I hope you get it all sorted out. I have some baby Bristlenoses which are big enough to rehome. I am coming down to Tauranga for Easter so could pop them in the car - staying in the Avenues.

My BN babies are pretty tough - they sit on an unheated tank on my kitchen table (fish being more important than eating at the table). I could bring a few down and see if they are any tougher than the ones you are getting from your LFS if you can't find any others locally. Happy to give them away - have heaps more growing in fry tank.

Just a thought,

Sam

Hey Sam. Thanks for that offer. I might take you up on it if thats ok. Im going to get some test sticks this next week so will do a water test and try and get things sorted with the water. Its just not fair as they are cool little fish and my kids love watching them on the side of the tank LOL.

Sorry to read of your losses Hannah ..

We had a couple of BN that only lasted a day or two despite good water readings etc .. And when I went back to the lfs where I go them the other week, the owner mentioned that they had a really poor batch and had been dropping like flies - as had the silver sharks that came from the same supplier .. Just thought I'd mention it ..

I'm hoping to pick up some gba's from mikefish when down in Christchurch next week - hopefully we'll have more success with them :roll:

My BNs were surviving for a number of weeks and then turning belly up. They all seemed to get a fat belly and I ended up suspecting constapation. When I was given a fully grown male I also got a piece of drift wood, he's still with me. Have you tried a different type of wood? maybe they don't like the type you have at the moment. They use it for fibre so maybe yours isn't very tasty? Also try zuchiny and cucumber.

Well, Suba Sam kindly gave me 5 cute baby BN. I put 3 in my community tank (the one with issues) and two in my daughters 28 ltr tank with her siamese fighters. Daughters ones are still alive (day 3 now) but the morning after I put the 3 in my community tank they were belly up *SCREAMS* what am I doing wrong?????? Soooo, today I took out all of my pebbles and ornaments. Left a few pebbles in the corner with an upturned little pot for my Cooo Cooo Loaches (as my daughters affectionatly call them). So I have a very bare tank. I will buy new pebbles, and see if that works. My friend suggested Cory Dorys?? (hope thats the correct name). I just feel really un easy about buying algae eaters. I got 2 flying foxes last week, and they too, died within a few days.

I would almost wonder if there is some residue of some sort on the glass of your tank. How old is your tank and was it new when you purchased it.

Could it be something like the type of silicon used on the glass. Maybe its toxic when they graze over it or something.

You don't have to have any type of algae eater in your tank, sometimes it just means a little more work.

Apart from that I really can't help.

I am beginning to think that I dont need an algae eater. The tank was bought second hand. My first two fish were a male and female BN who spawned several times. No live fry were able to be raised apart from one. Then all of a sudden (perhaps 9 months after I got the tank and original fish) my female BN died, followed by the male Bn, and then the only surviving baby BN. Its just that I really LOVE these fish, and would love to be able to keep them. The only major change I have made to the tank is by not using the original in built filter and purchasing a aqua one CF1000 and using that. I had a really bad algae problem, and was loosing a lot of fish (not the BN). Once I hooked the new filter up, my fish were ok, but not the BN.

How often do you clean your filter and do you have the media that comes with it i.e. ceramic noodles, bioballs and sponges in it or do you have something else.

I'm beginning to wonder if Adodge is right about the residue thing. If the silicon is starting to break down, or if the tank was build by someone who used the wrong kind of silicon, then it would be those fish that scrape algae of it that get affected.

What sort of algae have you got in your tank? I am just wondering if perhapes it is a type that BN don't like to eat?? Do you try putting other foods down for them too or just hope they will get by on the algae in your tank?

another thought i had was about your water. I was told that BN are a lot more sensitive than other fish to ammonia levels (i think that was it) and with you doing lots of water changes and gravel siphons and distubances to the tank i was thinking perhapes your bio filter and cycle stc is being disrupted and thus causing ammonia spikes?

Wold be keen to hear what others have to say on those ideas?

The algae is brown. The filter is a canister filter. Sponges, black balls, and ceramic noodles. The Tank is an aqua one, not sure on the age of it as I purchased it second hand. The original filter was the carbon things that you buy from pet shops with ceramic noodles in there also, they all sat in the top of the tank. I fed them bottom feeder tablets, they had wood, so I did not expect them to rely on the algae alone. If it is the silicone Im guessing that my loaches may die soon as I have taken all the gravel out so they may come into more contact with the silicone that is around the bottom of the tank? I was unaware that the silicone can break down. Does this mean I might have to buy a shiny (and bigger) new tank??? 8) Thank you all for your help on this situation.

I know that the silicon that plumbers use (which is poisonous to use in tanks) will last about 7-10 years before it starts to break down. However the aquarium silicon is designed for different conditions and is not exposed to the same environmental variations as plumbing silicon.

I will confirm that I have heard the same about ammonia tollerance of a BN, and if it is true then Loopy might be onto something.

Ivé just reread the whole thread, and one question you never answered was how long your tank has been set up. could your tank still be cycling?