# Bristlenose Pleco keep dying



## IMCL85 (Sep 4, 2007)

hi all, today I just lost another bristlenose. I just cant seem to keep my Bristlenose alive for some reason. for the past 2 year I have purches 4 different genes of Bristlenose Plecos and they all died with in 6 months. they r house in a bared bottom 75g with 5 discus/5 electric ram/7 cory/8 roseline shark water perimeter are all fine with daily water change of 25% aged water. other fish are all fine and eat like pigs, any one else got similar experience with this fish?


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Do you feed them? Is there hiding spaces? I've had rubbernose and regular bristles and they seem bulletproof, if they died with a concaved stomach, then food would be issue - although unlikely unless your tank is crystal clean with zero algae.
Perhaps you should find a different source


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## IMCL85 (Sep 4, 2007)

default said:


> Do you feed them? Is there hiding spaces? I've had rubbernose and regular bristles and they seem bulletproof, if they died with a concaved stomach, then food would be issue - although unlikely unless your tank is crystal clean with zero algae.
> Perhaps you should find a different source


I got them from different stores, I'm gonna try one more time if it still wouldn't make it probably swap to some other pleco for algae control instead of bristles.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

IMCL85 said:


> I got them from different stores, I'm gonna try one more time if it still wouldn't make it probably swap to some other pleco for algae control instead of bristles.


Well, something's wrong then. Just don't buy any large ones - under 2" is best, and since it's bare bottom, drop a few wafers in at night every few weeks and you should be fine. Just make sure they have places to hide as well.


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

Do you have caves for the plecos? Do you feed them food that is specific to plecos? They need a variety of foods lettuce, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots and algae pellets. What is the temp of the water, they do not like above 26 - 27c from what I have experienced?


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

bob123 said:


> Do you have caves for the plecos? Do you feed them food that is specific to plecos? They need a variety of foods lettuce, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots and algae pellets. What is the temp of the water, they do not like above 26 - 27c from what I have experienced?


+1 I bet the temp is too high because of the discus.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I too would concur that the temp may be a problem. Perhaps Charlie will pop in a confirm that. I keep mine in an unheated tank. I have also found they need a lot of food.


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## IMCL85 (Sep 4, 2007)

bob123 said:


> Do you have caves for the plecos? Do you feed them food that is specific to plecos? They need a variety of foods lettuce, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots and algae pellets. What is the temp of the water, they do not like above 26 - 27c from what I have experienced?


I dont have a caves but I do have a small piece of driftwood down there that it like to hide behind. I feed algae tablet once a week, but the pleco dont seem to be too interested on it. most of the time the tablet was eaten by other fish, but there should be plenty left over from discus. I feed 5 times a day with different food, my cory cat grow so fat by just eating all the left over. as for the temperature, I kept mine around 29c due to discus. but over on simply discus many kept theres over 30c and still fine


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

What kind of lighting does the tank have? Is there visible algae on the glass for the pleco to eat? It might be the wrong light to promote algae.

How large are the plecos when they die? It could be that as they grow, they need more food, and it is taking them 6 months to out grow their food source. I find plecos in low food tanks tend to remain small until they perish.

I'm currently redoing all the tanks in my fishroom so I put 4 Bushynose plecos into a bare bottom 50 gallon tank. I am amazed that they will devour a complete Brussels sprout in less than a day. (House reeks of soggy sprouts).

Lee


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