I have fed them both the raw zucchini again since my last post, and they both loved it. The calico ate even more than he did the first time. I began steaming the veg because they wouldn't touch anything raw, only when it was steamed. :-?? Not to mention by steaming then freezing it, it kept me from ...

My male albino bn, almost 5" TL, is out and about his tank all the time. Moving between his pvc cave and driftwood. Only occasionally hides for long periods on the backside of his driftwood. He also eats like a pig. There usually isn't much left for me to pull out of his tank in the morning.

Last ...

I'm really hoping it will develop more bristles eventually. Will have to wait and see.

I put in a piece of fresh/raw zucchini last night, and he ate a lot more of it than usual. Typically I've been giving them blanched, then frozen zucchini. They barely touched the fresh/raw stuff before. Well, I ...

I have been questioning if it's a male. It has a few bristles around the lip, and one or two potential bristles up the snout and that's it. I got "him" from a fellow hobbyist, who bought a bunch of them as males from a breeder in a different forum.

I was anticipating "him" to be like my other bn ...

OK so now it's March and he's STILL hiding and the pieces of his tail still haven't grown back. Yet his tail doesn't look worse either. He's about 3" TL or so. The only time I actually see more than his head is if I happened to get up in the middle of the night and happen to see him on the tank ...

I think water around New York is pretty hard.
Edit: wrong state. Florid is between "Very hard" (on the western side) and "extremely hard" (eastern side), according to this map:
http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com/city_water_guide.htm

--
Mats

That's funny that you first mentioned New York ...

I honestly don't know the hardness. Never tested for it I don't think.

I've never heard of the hardness effecting the growth of the bristles before. Interesting.

hey andy! :-H Both tanks have platies and some sort of shrimp. Those are the only similar tankmates between the two tanks.

Both tanks have driftwood of some sort and live plants, as well as a piece of pvc to hide in. However the calico doesn't use his pvc. He prefers to hide at the base of the ...

I have 2 bristlenose in 2 different tanks. One is an albino about 4" tl in my 25 g, and the other is a calico about 3" tl in my 20g. My albino is out and about the tank occasionally during the day. At dinner time he comes out and sits patiently waiting for his food. My calico however is constantly ...

I finally found one. Thank you!

Yeah I did, unfortunately they won't do singles or don't have any calicos. I knew when I was looking for an LDA08 it was going to be hard, but thought a calico was going to be much easier. I guess I was wrong LOL

I have been searching for months. When I did finally find one, it wasn't in good shape and passed. If anyone has a male around 3" they would be willing to part with, preferably in FL, please let me know. By trying to keep it in state, I hope to lower the shipping cost and lessen the chance of ...

Wish I even knew what was wrong with him. Maybe I could have saved him. I've never seen Ich look like that.

He died today.

Day 6 of treatment...
this morning no real improvement except for the redness in his fins going away. Spots are still there with no visible decrease in amount. The spots don't seem to be going away like I thought they would have by now.
This morning when I checked on him, there seems to be a slight ...

This is a pic of him today. I used flash for this one so you can really see the spots more now. They seem to have gotten more but smaller. At least to me.
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz172/Karen_Robinson/100_1186.jpg
I did a 25% wc today and added salt back in for what I took out. Still ...

It's still alive so that's a good sign!!

As far as I know I don't have a water quality issue. My water tests all come back fine. As I mentioned I have been doing 50% changes almost every other day, but that was before I started the RidIch+/salt treatment. Just nervous I am going to screw up the salt amounts and kill the lil fella. Not to ...

So far so good. Checked on it this morning and seems ok. It's hanging out in the little cave thing. I was worried the combo of the Rid Ich+ and the 1tbsp salt in the water would stress it. Temp is still at 86.

RidIch+ says to do a 25% wc before dosing. Do I really need to, or as other instructions ...

1. Water parameters
a) Temerature range. currently 86
b) pH. 7.6
c) GH.
d) KH
e)Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, levels. A-0, NA-5ish,NI-0
f) Water change frequency 50% approx every other day now with illness
(Most LFS's will check your water and give a list of readings).

2. Tank set up
a) Size. 5g ...

I am pretty sure it's Ich since I can't think of what else it could be. However, the spots are not as white as I know Ich to be. I've had the bn only a couple weeks. The first 2 pics are when I got the bn...
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz172/Karen_Robinson/100_1164_00.jpg
http://i825 ...