Heir Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 Hey guys. Just curious, A guy from WetPets in Palmy told me there was an algae eater that does fine in cold water with goldfish. its not BN... it was a small silvery looking one. He wasn't particularly fond of it though. But anyway was curious if anyone knows which one he was talking about because I can't seem to remember.... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyandrea_ Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 I wouldnt know sorry, but funny you should ask. I went into a pet shop while in auckland and they were selling "cold water bristlenose catfish", they were twice the price as the other bristlenose catfish that were in another tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 I wouldnt know sorry, but funny you should ask. I went into a pet shop while in auckland and they were selling "cold water bristlenose catfish", they were twice the price as the other bristlenose catfish that were in another tank! thats really funny how pet shops market things to try and make money when they're the same species just acclimatised to colder water as we all know you can't get coldwater BN in NZ. maybe not even anywhere in the world? think theyre all tropical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 They may have been referring to the Chinese algae eater. Neither it nor the BNs are true cold water fish though can cope with temps down to 18C. That doesn't mean it is ideal for them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 I have ottos in with my goldfish. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 But the chinese algae eaters can be quite aggressive right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Oh yes! :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 But the chinese algae eaters can be quite aggressive right? I did some research and turns out they are the algae eaters he was talking about. And it says they're aggressive when they're larger towards fish of their same species or fish that resemble their own species. Anyway I really don't these with my goldfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I have ottos in with my goldfish. Caper What temperatures is your goldfish tank? The weather doesn't get super cold in Tauranga so they may work. Do they eat snails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carla Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Here we go again talking about coldwater fish and ponds. There is a HUGE difference between pond fish and coldwater tanks! Which I always try to stress to the LFS when I sell them some fish. You cannot keep BN's in a pond over winter, but they live very happily in a unheated tank in your house, provided you heat the house! If you don't they will not be happy to find that the temp has dropped to 12 degrees on a cold mornig and will simply die. So yes - we really have to make a distinction between unheated tanks in a house and ponds outside. Currently both is classed as "cold water". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Here we go again talking about coldwater fish and ponds. There is a HUGE difference between pond fish and coldwater tanks! Which I always try to stress to the LFS when I sell them some fish. You cannot keep BN's in a pond over winter, but they live very happily in a unheated tank in your house, provided you heat the house! If you don't they will not be happy to find that the temp has dropped to 12 degrees on a cold mornig and will simply die. So yes - we really have to make a distinction between unheated tanks in a house and ponds outside. Currently both is classed as "cold water". Just so we are clear.. This entire thred I have been talking about an indoor tank and not a pond! And yes I heat my house in winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 borneo suckers? I am reasonably sure they are cold water... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I bought borneo suckers and recently some bristlenose for my 'cold' tanks (different tanks) and because I know my house gets cold over winter I will have heaters in them to make sure they don't drop below 20-21. I suspect most coldwater fish will be pretty content at 20 and it just keeps it safe for the algae eaters. I was adamant when I started that I wouldn't bother with heaters but it just keeps my options open. The heater with the lowest temp range I could find was the new jaeger heaters (bought mine from petplanet.co.nz). I also have a juwel heater but that one I can't really get below 23 in a small tank so I'll have to move it to the bigger tank to compensate. But I feel comfortable that I won't have to worry about very cold nights...the heaters will only turn on when they need to so if yo uheat your house enough.. then they'll last you a very long time as they won't be running much at all The alternative is wait one winter and keep a close eye on how cold your tank gets and decide what to do then. I watched mine last winter (with no algae eaters only true coldwater fish) and the tank was at 12!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 thanks jn I watched a video of borneo suckers on youtube. kinda cute wee things that look like a vacuum cleaner :bounce: . i don't really like BN... they're kinda weird looking to me i was watching one in the doctor surgery's fish tank today. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 My goldfish tank is 72 degrees. Do what eat snails? I don't have snails so I don't know if either do :-? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 I wasn't keen on bristlenoses either...but the borneo suckers REALLY need to have a fast current to be happy. They also have very high oxygen requirements which might be hard to achieve on tanks with slower water flow. I intended to put my borneos in my bigger tank (less flow)... but then reading more about them I decided they wouldn't be happy. In less suitable tanks they spend alot of time hanging around the inlet apparently to get some current. And you end up never seeing them. So I bought the bristlenose just last weekend. They'll probably grow on me.. you know...kind of like 'they're so ugly is't cute??!! I asked about ottocinclus (that's what Caper has) and I was told by forum members that they aren't really hardy...and they still need 21'ish degrees to be safe. So.. if they're just meant to be housekeepers.. and you want an easy care fish .. maybe you can forgive the bristlenoses their looks (the gold ones are even worse I reckon!!) :roll: I bought 2 regular ones (very little ones) so I can't sex them but deep down I hope they're female so they don't develop so much nose gear !! Maybe you can buy one old enough to sex and make sure its female? Also the Borneo suckers don't techincally eat algae.. they do.. but they don't ...they're after the goodies that live in it.. so they end up cleaning it up.. but once you run out of algae, they need something other than algae tabs to feed them. Folks here recommended I feed them JBL Tabis...it's expensive and was another factor in not putting them in my bigger tank! Whoa - to think that all my regular fish would be dining on food that cost about the price of GOLD!!! No way! The bristlenoses can happily be fed pleco chips and algae discs etc and need some wood fibre either from driftwood, or formulated into their food (ie: pleco tabs have wood in them). Give in Resistance is futile :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Picture of adult female: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... ge_id=1315 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfish Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 I have a borneo..... wanting to get another one... I'm totally sold on them!.... mine's got friendly ... will come to say hello most of the time... clean's up my tank VERY well.... They are a really cool fish to watch... I've got a spray bar that gives some extra flow on one side of tank ... but I've often seen him around the rest of tank as well.... If you want a nice bottom fish.. and one that helps clean up algae then this is SO the fish to get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heir Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 BN females are ohk... The males with all the bristles don't appeal to me i really like the borneo suckers but I wont have any current in my tank so they probably won't like it a great deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djay Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi Guys , My nephews have cold water tank all year round and they have bristlenoses in it and plus they have spawned, there are loads of the little guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Congratulations djay :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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