# Help ! Bristlenose keep dying



## tifflau501 (Nov 27, 2015)

I have a 90 gallon tank and have lots of guppy and around 20 bristlenose ( many juvenilers. It's been lots of generation of the guppy and probably around 3rd generation of the bristlenose. My house was under renovation not too long ago(around 2 months ago). And my bristlenose started dying one month ago. 4 have died now in approximately 10 days gap in between each death. What could be wrong with my tank?


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm not sure, but it is worrying. Is it possible that your power was turned off during the renovations at some point and your tank is cycling again? Could there be a dead fish someplace, spoiling the water?


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## Thaim (Feb 6, 2015)

tifflau501 said:


> I have a 90 gallon tank and have lots of guppy and around 20 bristlenose ( many juvenilers. It's been lots of generation of the guppy and probably around 3rd generation of the bristlenose. My house was under renovation not too long ago(around 2 months ago). And my bristlenose started dying one month ago. 4 have died now in approximately 10 days gap in between each death. What could be wrong with my tank?


It could be a number of things. Firstly I would closely watch their behaviour in the tank. 90g might be small for 20 plecos. I know some plecos can get territorial so they might just be stressed causing them to not eat.

It can also be water quality. What are the water parameters. Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? They may be irritated from something in the water.

Whenever I notice something wrong with my fish, I immediately do daily water changes of 25% and keep a very close eye out for certain behaviors like sluggish movement or darting. In this case because of the reno something may have gotten into the water.

Keep us posted!!


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## barvinok (Nov 20, 2011)

Second to what Thaim sad
Could be something from reno that got into your tank slowly poisoning your plecos. Did you try big water changes?


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## cpat83 (Sep 1, 2015)

Let us know what your water parameters are.

What do the dead ones look like? I had a few die recently that all had really black/dark bellies and i'm not sure of what the cause was, POSSIBLY an ammonia spike but not sure.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Do you have any real wood in the tank? I used to lose plecos here and there when I didn't have wood but after I got a piece I never lost a pleco again.


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

That is an interesting comment about the wood. 
Were those snails on the substrate in the pics from the original post? I couldn't really tell. There seems to be a lot if them...or just a lot of shells. I could be mistaken. Any water test done?


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## Thaim (Feb 6, 2015)

Steve said:


> Do you have any real wood in the tank? I used to lose plecos here and there when I didn't have wood but after I got a piece I never lost a pleco again.


I've had plecos before. They love real wood because it gives them more to eat off of. The more surface area the better. The wood is soft and makes it easier for them to eat.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

How are the guppies? If the guppies aren't dying, then it is probably not a toxin introduced during the renovations.


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## Rogo (Mar 1, 2015)

Plecos gnaw on the wood to get fiber. Without it, they essentially become constipated to the point of their digestive system shuts down, at which point their bodies are filled with toxins and they die.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I agree with the wood 

Some Plecos require wood to survive 

I rased several hundered BNPlecos from a 15 gallon tank filled with 12 gall due to cack on top.

I had 2 Male adult L144 Plecos
and 3 F ABNP

I had plecos hatching almost constanly, and would remove the eggs/fri when possible.
I invariably had 20 or more fri/babies hidding out in the wood and plants.

Hint the best way to capture fri is to syphon them up, I do it when water changing
or catching fish.

I also feed them algea waffers.


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## tifflau501 (Nov 27, 2015)

The guppies are doing fine ! I just did a 25% water change and will see what happens after. There isn't any real wood in the tank, but there is a lot of hiding spot for them. One died yesterday again! I have noticed that all dead ones are youngs around 1.5-2 inch.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

They should be almost bullet proof by 1 1/2" - 2". Real wood is a must in any tank with pleco's, as it aids in digestion.


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## cpat83 (Sep 1, 2015)

tifflau501 said:


> The guppies are doing fine ! I just did a 25% water change and will see what happens after. *There isn't any real wood in the tank*, but there is a lot of hiding spot for them. One died yesterday again! I have noticed that all dead ones are youngs around 1.5-2 inch.


I think that is your big problem at the moment, I would get some driftwood in there asap and see how it goes


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## Thaim (Feb 6, 2015)

Thats interesting. I did not know that


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## tifflau501 (Nov 27, 2015)

I will go get some driftwood asap !


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

It's my understanding that's it's the cellulose in the wood, not the wood itself that the plecos actually need. That's why they can be healthy without it, as long as they're given plenty of other plant-based foods to munch on. I personally have kept and bred them with no wood. However, there is a chemical called lignin in bogwood that may be beneficial to them, and they do seem to really love hanging out in driftwood, plus there's the added benefit of constantly being able to graze.

I would still add a variety of vegetables for them in addition to the wood though... When I have experienced die offs of my bristlenose fry, it would either be several all at once, (water quality) or one at a time, gradually, once a week or so like you describe. That's starvation. They need to be eating constantly... I learned that lesson the hard way!

Here's a good link for some good info on their diet.PlanetCatfish.com - Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus â€¢ Loricariidae â€¢ Cat-eLog

Good luck,

George


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