Bristlenose Murder

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 30 Dec 2005, 04:32

I went away and had some one feed my fish and plecos' I have different L's and I have never had this problem. I have 6 bristle nose males and I HAD 4 females. I come back tonight and two females are gone ( Bones are at the bottom of the tank) One female is fine and the other looks to be blind now in both eys and she had the crap beat out of her. No one had any eggs and the males and other breed plecos are all find with not a scratch on them. THe temp in 78 and the ph is 7.8 and the water is soft. I have a 75 gallon tank with plenty of places to hide. Any clues?

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 30 Dec 2005, 14:50

Any other occupants in the tank besides the BNs?

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 30 Dec 2005, 15:26

Yes chiclids and other peaceful plecos.

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 30 Dec 2005, 18:31

HI!

What type of cichlids?? they may be the source of the problem!!!
Cheers
Yann

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 30 Dec 2005, 20:49

They are the parrot kind. I have never seen any of them ever fight each other or pay any attention to my pleco's. I guess they know if they are to die the pleco's will make a fast meal of them

. MIKE

Post by **Shane** » 31 Dec 2005, 00:24

My assumption would not be that the loricariids met with murder most foul, but more likely died of some other cause and the corpses were scavenged by their tankmates.
-Shane

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 31 Dec 2005, 05:15

I had to put one of the females in a sick tank. Both of her eyes are messed up and her face. She pissed someone off. I don't think she's going to make it,

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 31 Dec 2005, 20:40

Got dang it

she died last night. One out of four left and she find. I'm lost

nightowl1350 · Post by **nightowl1350** » 01 Jan 2006, 19:18

Strange, but this is not the first post I've seen on this problem. On some other forums I'm on (for angels etc) they have had the same thing happen....all but 1 of their BN plecos have died off overnight. The remaining one is fine but 2 or 3 died off during the night. Some with signs of fighting, others not.

Sorry for your loss. Wonder if there was a full moon??

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 01 Jan 2006, 22:21

I just read in one of the pleco books that when a female bristle nose is interested in a male and his cave she'll try to enter it. If he's not interested he'll kick her out of beat her up but most of the time it's not that bad. Well about 15 mins ago I just notice one of my male bristle nose plecos is dead. Everything is perfect

No signs of injurie or anything. Also last night one of my whip tail plecos got weak (I guess) and I caught the other pleco's eating him alive. I moved him to another tank but he didn't make it. I've had tanks for over 6 years but nothing has ever happened like this. It's sad and costly... I'm so dang lost

powerfulpumpkins · Post by **powerfulpumpkins** » 01 Jan 2006, 22:53

I presume you have carried out a battery of tests also on the tank as these deaths are somewhat strange and happening rather to often. I really do feel for you as its quite shocking.

PP

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 01 Jan 2006, 23:01

my PH is good and so is every thing else, My tank upstairs is ick, But my big 75 gallon in lost. When I went away every one was fine so I thought

Post by **Barbie** » 02 Jan 2006, 00:15

When you say the tank is "good", exactly what were you testing for? There's a post at the top of this forum that outlines what information can help us give you the best help possible. If you could fill in those blanks for us, it might help solve your problem. Thanks!

Barbie

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 02 Jan 2006, 00:21

My water is soft, temp stays about 78 degrees, ph is stable 7.2 Nitrates and trits are in the norm. MIKE

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 05 Jan 2006, 01:15

Now I've lost about 12 different deaths with no answers.

Post by **Barbie** » 05 Jan 2006, 01:28

Read that post that's the forum sticky again. I don't just need the response of "in the norm". There is no such thing as acceptable nitrite levels in a cycled tank. They're a sign of a real problem. If you can give us actual levels of the things requested in that thread, there's more of a chance we can help you.

With that said, until you figure out what's going on, do a 30% water change and don't feed the tank for a day or two. If you are getting ammonia or nitrite's building up, food will just amplify the problem, rather than help the fish at all.

Barbie

mmcm1997 · Post by **mmcm1997** » 06 Jan 2006, 04:32

I figured out my pleco's have the bacterial hemmoyadda septicemia, I'm treating with tetracycline. I hope it's not to late.

Kana3 · Post by **Kana3** » 06 Jan 2006, 05:08

Do you mean Haemorrhagic septicaemia?

What led you to the diagnosis? Are you able to post a pic of an infected fish - to aid early identification, should someone else get it?

Post by **Barbie** » 06 Jan 2006, 14:53

That can also be a symptom of a water quality issue. Remember to do 30% changes daily before adding the next dose of tetracycline (which is also killing the GOOD bacteria in your filter to some extent btw). Keeping the fish on short rations can also help them have more chance for survival.

Barbie