britlenose at the surface of the water.

[squid]

is this normal?
noticed my 1 of my newly bought 1 inch albino bristlenose near the surface of the water...
should i be concerned?

[MatsP]

Ehm, what exactly is it doing "near the surface of the water".

Mine certainly sits on the glass at all levels and sides.

If it's swimming near the surface, like a shark or something, then I'd worry.

Likewise if it's "gulping air". They like fairly well oxygenated water, so if you don't have a lot of circulation, or the tank is quite warm, it may need more oxygen than the water contains, and one way to achieve that is to gulp air, and to do that often it would probably sit near the surface.

--
Mats

[squid]

here's a picture of my fish at the surface...
the waters quite warm about 32 deg celcius..
but my cories seem to be fine?

[MatsP]

here's a picture of my fish at the surface...
the waters quite warm about 32 deg celcius..
but my cories seem to be fine?

32'C is VERY warm for common bristlenoses. They prefer a temperature around 24'C.

If it is 32'C in the tank, I'd say you should at the very least make sure you have a good air-pump with a large air-stone to circulate the water from bottom to surface, and thus get more oxygen in the water. If you can lower the temperature, it would also help.

As to the cories being OK, that depends on which cories they are. Some of them live in quite warm climate, and others in cooler places, so using them as an indication as to whether your water is OK for a different genus (and family) of fish isn't particularly useful.

--
Mats

[squid]

thanks! i don't have much surface agitation in my tank .
my tank has plants and co2. maybe i'll transfer them into another tank so that i can provide more surface agitation... or will they be ok in a planted tank without much surface agitation>?

[MatsP]

thanks! i don't have much surface agitation in my tank .
my tank has plants and co2. maybe i'll transfer them into another tank so that i can provide more surface agitation... or will they be ok in a planted tank without much surface agitation>?

I don't see a conflict in having surface agitation and plants, but then I'm not a "planted tank" type of person (yes, I've got plants in my tanks, but if the plants suffer from my activities of keeping the fish happy, I'll take that hit).

If you put an 15cm (6") air-stone with suitable air-pump (medium to large), you should be able to get a pretty good circulation, and more important than anything else, you'll be pushing the water from the bottom of the tank up, and that will make it more even in oxygen content. I don't think your plants will suffer much.

As to CO2 injection, that will not help matters. CO2 in the blood of any animal creates a breathing reflex. That means that CO2 in the water will increase the feeling in the fish that it needs more oxygen, and will make it more inclined to sit at the surface and/or go up to gulp air. Add to that the high temperature in your tank, and it's quite clear that the situation isn't particularly good for the fish.

If you have another tank with more surface movement, then that's a better place for this fish, for suce. But I personally don't think it's impossible to improve the conditions in the tank it is in. But I'm not a plant expert (or any other aquarium expert for that matter).

--
Mats

[squid]

thanks:) i'll be moving them to another tank soon.
btw any way to lower my tanks temperature?
its summer here and its really warm.

[MatsP]

thanks:) i'll be moving them to another tank soon.
btw any way to lower my tanks temperature?
its summer here and its really warm.

It's not trivial to lower the temperature of the tank.

You can use fans to ventilate the top of the tank, which makes more sense if you have a enclosed hood on the tank than if it's "open" at the top. Blowing air across the surface of the water will somewhat help too, as it will increase the evaporation, which cause it to cool off, but that probably works better with less humidity than what I imagine you have in Singapore [I haven't been there, so I don't know].

Air conditioning the room that has the fish tank is of course a solution, but it's not particularly easy, and it can be quite expensive both to buy and to run.

If your room temperature is lower than 32'C, you should get some sort of change if you get some air-flow over the water in the tank. This too will work better if you have more bottom to surface movement in the tank, otherwise the top will cool nicely, but the bottom is warmer (of course, temp difference will cause the cooler water to drop in the tank, but that's a pretty slow process).

--
Mats

[squid]

thanks!! .
i'll try to move them . i'm worried since these bn's are just half inch i think.

thanks:) i'll be moving them to another tank soon.
btw any way to lower my tanks temperature?
its summer here and its really warm.

It's not trivial to lower the temperature of the tank.

You can use fans to ventilate the top of the tank, which makes more sense if you have a enclosed hood on the tank than if it's "open" at the top. Blowing air across the surface of the water will somewhat help too, as it will increase the evaporation, which cause it to cool off, but that probably works better with less humidity than what I imagine you have in Singapore [I haven't been there, so I don't know].

Air conditioning the room that has the fish tank is of course a solution, but it's not particularly easy, and it can be quite expensive both to buy and to run.

If your room temperature is lower than 32'C, you should get some sort of change if you get some air-flow over the water in the tank. This too will work better if you have more bottom to surface movement in the tank, otherwise the top will cool nicely, but the bottom is warmer (of course, temp difference will cause the cooler water to drop in the tank, but that's a pretty slow process).

--
Mats

[squid]

just found 1 of my bn dead must act quickly and transfer them..
problem is thet are hard to catch because i have huge driftwoods in the tank.

[MatsP]

just found 1 of my bn dead must act quickly and transfer them..
problem is thet are hard to catch because i have huge driftwoods in the tank.

Sorry to hear that.

Did you say that they are only half an inch long (13mm)? That's just about the time they go out from the cave where dad is looking after them. From the picture, it looks more like a few centimeters at the least, but it can be hard to tell.

--
Mats

[squid]

just lost another one they are about the size of my thumbnail.
i've setup another 75 gallon tank with a huge driftwood and rainbar for more oxygen.

but haven't been able to transfer them yet... they are really hard to catch..


but 1 thing i notice is that when they die they seem to be bloated?

also how often should i feed bn's this size?
they are still quite young..

[MatsP]

just lost another one they are about the size of my thumbnail.
i've setup another 75 gallon tank with a huge driftwood and rainbar for more oxygen.

but haven't been able to transfer them yet... they are really hard to catch..


but 1 thing i notice is that when they die they seem to be bloated?

also how often should i feed bn's this size?
they are still quite young..

I've found that moving bristlenose babies that are that young can be difficult (when I tried it I lost three out of three, but I was desperate to try to save some from a certain death in the form of breakfast to a goldfish).

Moving them now may be causing as much problem as keeping them there (but then, it may be worth trying, your choice).

When they are small, they need constant supply of food to be able to grow, pretty much like human babies, they eat "all the time". If you have algae in the tank, that would be a help, but if not, you could feed a small piece of zucchini(courgette) that has been boiled for about a minute (still firm, but a bit softer than raw), or cucumber. As they grow bigger, you can start feeding raw courgette. Once every other day, give them part of a algae wafer (maybe a quarter or so, depending on if there are any other fish eating it too).

--
Mats

[xinguinsis]

Could try putting a airstone on a timer in there .Have it come on when your lights are of may help your fish while maintainig you co2 levels during the day

[squid]

thanks mats, xinguinsis
i now have squash in the tank for them to munch on
i also added a bottle of ice to lower the temp

[xinguinsis]

You don't by chance have metal halide lighting on your planted tank?

[squid]

nope my lighting is just compact flourescents

[xinguinsis]

That shouldn't be giving you much heat.