Common Bristlenose Questions

[sli1]

Ok, im kinda new to bristlenose catfish and have a few things i need to know.
The recommended teperature i am not sure of as many sites arent the same.
My temperature still exceeds the maximum i have seen. I have my water at 29c. Have 4 young bristlenose about 3-4cm each.
I am preparing my tank for Discus and would like to find out if anyone thinks there might be any conflicts. Only confilct i could think of is the temp as discus are better in a slighly higher temp. Is it bad to have these bristlenose in 29c? They are you so i assume they could adapt. They breath pretty fast and hang around the incoming water from my filter and sit in the current. The breating fast thing becuse of the temp or are they just a hypo fish?
Also need to know what is best to feed them? They clean the tank non-stop LOL
Should i be feeding them if they constantly eat anyways? lol
Sorry for some silly questions.

Anyhelp and advice would be much apreciated.
Thanks in advance...

[davidkozak]

29-30 degrees is fine(and even a little higher if you need to treat the discus for something-you most likely will)
the higher the temperature, the less dissolved oxygen in the water-make sure you have an airstone or air-driven sponge filter to aerate the water...
they'll eat what the discus will, but you'll want to supplement that with things like algae wafers and perhaps zuchini or cucumber...
david

[sli1]

wow , great.
thatnks heaps for your advice. exactly what i needed to know.
if anybody would like to add some advice for me plz do me

thanks again...

sli1

[Kokak]

I just purchased 2 and may be getting a third for my 120 gallon tank. I have a ton of brown and green algae growing on the back of my tank. Will this be enough for the Albino Bristle Nose, or do I still need to supplement their diet (even though there is lots of algae for them to eat)?

[Alan_au]

My fish room often sits at 33*C or a bit more during Summer and the bristle nose population survives, they just don't breed in the warmer conditions in my experience. Then I have also had bristles survive a two week power strike in the middle of Winter when some of my tanks got down to 11*C. Pretty tough little beasties. I don't know if they would have survived the whole Winter unheated, I have never tried that.

I do have Common plecos, G gibbiceps and G joselimaianus that live in out door ponds all year here and the temperature of the water gets down to the mid teens.

Alan

[davidkozak]

I just purchased 2 and may be getting a third for my 120 gallon tank. I have a ton of brown and green algae growing on the back of my tank. Will this be enough for the Albino Bristle Nose, or do I still need to supplement their diet (even though there is lots of algae for them to eat)?

You will truly be amazed at how fast they eat the algae...
With 2-3 of them, even in a 120 gallon tank, I would be surprised if the algae lasted out the week, if even a few days...So, yes you'll need to feed them algae wafers, or vegetable matter like zuchini or cucumbers...some driftwood is also very important...
david

[yhbae]

Do bristlenose needs wood? I was under the impression that they are few of the plecos that don't need wood in their diet?

[davidkozak]

I've read in many different places that wood is important for their digestion...
one example:page 53 of "Bristlenoses-Catfish With Characte-by Kathy Jinkingsr"--"the tank should include at least one piece of bogwood because bristlenoses enjoy chewing on this. It is thought that the wood supplies lignin, which may be a vital part of their diet"<----not exactly proof, but it makes sense..they must be chewing on it for some reason...
david

[sli1]

oh yeah i forgot to ask...
people say cucumber is good for them too.
this may seem funny but i want to know.
i went to the supermarket to get cucumber and to my surprise i was a bit startled LOL
there were a few types of cucmber
any particular type ok?
from what i remember there were continetal cucmber and lebonese cucmber LOL
any diff?

sorry if it seems like a joke but i wanna know LOL

[pleco_farmer]

Whoa, be leery of store bought produce. Pesticides can really put the hurt on your fish. Shop organic, you don't have to buy that much, and zuchinni (courgette) have much more protein than cucumber. Buy a few, cut them into long wedges and you can cut off most of the seeds, if you buy small ones even this is not necessary. Then, freeze them. At feeding time, drop a wedge into some hot water to soften it. I use non-toxic plant weights to hold them down. Freezing softens them up enough to eat, and they last longer in the tank than blanched. Helps lot with maintenance.

[metallhd]

The thing with cucumber is that it goes bad quickly, and the seeds are a fiddle - better off with zucchini IMO - I try to get the smallest ones I can, usually no more than about 15 cm or so to avoid them going bad in the fridge. Good luck!