Sick Bristlenose

[thecichlidpleco]

My bristlenose is sick, I assume. But I do not know what to do to help it. It has bloating around its stomach and face. Not swelling, bloating. Help!!!!

[Barbie]

At the top of this forum is a post that says to read it first before posting these questions. Please do your best to fill in the information requested there and we'll have a much better chance of being of real help to your fish.

Barbie

[thecichlidpleco]

1. Water parameters
a) Temerature range. 80 degrees
b) pH. 8.2
c) GH.
d) KH
e)Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, levels. 0,0,0
f) Water change frequency once/week 25%
(Most LFS's will check your water and give a list of readings).

2. Tank set up
a) Size. 20 long
b) Substrate. argonite
c) Filtration. aquaclear mini, and whisper for 20 gallon
d) Furnishings. rocks and shells
e) Other tank mates. 4 leleupi
f) How long has it been set-up? week
g) When was the last new fish added? that was it
h) Foods used and frequency? alge wafer every three days

3. Symptoms / Problem description

4. Action taken (if any)

5. Medications used (if any)

[Barbie]

A nitrate reading of 0 means you have a faulty test kit or your tank isn't cycled. Any uncycled tank is definitely no place for a pleco. Do you have other tanks or is this the first one?

Because of their shape, when they have internal organ failure or anything that causes them to retain fluids, plecos swell and bloat. How long ago did you buy this one? How did you acclimate it when you introduced it to the tank? I'm sorry for all the questions but this sort of thing is really difficult to guesstimate and be of much help.

Barbie

[thecichlidpleco]

actually, made a typo, 5ppm nitrate level

[pictus_man_77]

Could the shells be anything to do with it? are they sea shells? he/she could have been rasping on those. Im not sure if that would damage the BN, but its just a thought

[thecichlidpleco]

I always thought the shells could be doing it. I know it was a bad idea for a pleco, even though I created the tank for the cichlids, the shells keep the pH high. I am going to mix in some fine argonite, so s/he won't scrap the body.

[MatsP]

Bloat is of course just a symptom, like "head ache" - it can be caused by several different things, and whilst you can "relieve" head-ache with pills, if they are actually caused by a tumor, it's unlikely to go away by eating ibuprofen... If it's caused by drinking too much beer/wine/spirits the day before, then it will eventually go away, as long as you stay sensible with the alcohol consumption the next day.

So depending back to bloat, it can be caused by a huge number of things, one of which is bad diet. In particular not enough fibre and too much protein. What have you been feeding it? Any fresh vegetables in the diet?

It's quite possible that it's "beyond help", but try giving it plenty of courgette/zucchini.

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Mats

[CoryCatLover]

Could you possibly supply some pictures of the Bristle Nose?

[funkyj1313]

If its bloat, which it could be, because of the diet, you could try an Epsom salt bath. Its a natural laxative and should help with bloat.

Like matsp said, the diet needs some veggies in it. Bloat is also called 'boring diet syndrome'.

[MatsP]

Like matsp said, the diet needs some veggies in it. Bloat is also called 'boring diet syndrome'.

I wouldn't say that "boring diet" is the right word here... More like "wrong diet". There are MANY species of fish that can get a VERY VARIED diet and die almost immediately from bloat - because it's the WRONG diet.

When it comes to bristlenoses, yes, a varied diet is certainly a good idea. Also, limit the amount of meaty food (INCLUDING algae wafers - they have 30-40% protein, which is quite a bit!). And make sure it's got plenty of fibres in whatever the food is.

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Mats