# Ancistrus BN Pleco Acting Strange



## Apaa (Jul 21, 2006)

I bought two bristlenose plecos labeled Ancistrus 4 days ago. THey are about 3 1/2 inches long. One is obviously a male, and the other I think is a female. The make has long bristles. The other one has very few and short bristles.

The male seems to be doing fine. THey are eating at night so I dont know which is eating what. The zuchini is gone when I wake up.

All the parameters seem to be inorder. The tank is a planted tank, CO2 injected 29 gallon. Canister filter, biowheel filter. Florabase 1 1/2 substrate. I have 6 threadfin rainbows, a couple livebearers, some red cherry shrimp, and some amano shrimp somewhere in there. The tank has been running for 2 years.

The female BN pleco seems to just lie on her side at random places. Once she was laying on her side propped up against a plant. Once against the glass. Once just laying in the plants. I dont see anything wrong with her. I picked her up to check her out and she struggled a bit until I got her out of the water. When I put her back she swam off and hid inthe java fern.

When she lays around it looks like soemthing is wrong with her. Her respiration doesnt seem under or over normal. Occasionally I see her on the glass.

I acclimated her and the male for about 20 minutes and drained about 1/4 of the water and replaced that with tank water. Then about 15 or 20 minutes later did the same thing. Did that three times and picked them out and put them in the tank. THey seemed okay but the female was hidden for about a day or two before she decided to start coming out. Now the male is hiding. The female has a plump looking body like she is eating or there is something expanding. I dont know a lot about BN plecos to start with but Ive never had plecos that just laid over and rested if you know what I mean.

What else should look for? The nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, ph 6.5, is all fine. The GH might be just a tad low but I dont think its anything out of parameters. I use aged tapwater. I havent done my weekly water change ywt bnecause the BN is acting strange. What should I check and is it okay to do my 50 percent water chagne. THis will be the first water change withthem in it.


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## Apaa (Jul 21, 2006)

Here is some more info about my tank.

I have municipal water.

I use a water conditioner when I do water changes.

The canister is a magnum HOT underneath the tank.. Also Theres a HOB with a biowheel on the back of the tank.

Theres a rather large piece of driftwood with structures and hollows that serve as caves. THeres a lot of plants so thers a good bit of places to hide and stay comfortable.

The reason I had been doing 50%waterchagnes is the the planted tank. Id ont have a problem doing two or three a week but I havent done any water changes since I got the plecos. I did a 30 percent last night.

I thought about the possibility of the fish being gravid. However its as fat as the male. I thought about the possibility of them having bloat from the LFS maybe feeding them regular food sticks or pellets but the make is perfectly normal.

The O2 level does get lower in a co2 tank. I havent seen any signs of the other fish being affected by low o2 levels. Ive seen no surface breeding or abnormal breathing inteh other fish. The other pleco, the other small fish.

So far the only thing that I can see or think of is the temp. Im going to work on lowering the temp a few degrees today. Maybe thats the problem or part of it.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Contact the place where you got the plecos and see if there is a return policy, and try to replace her. It does not sound good, when plecos come in like that they can hang around a few days and then die. If it is a LFS expect to bring the fish, reciept, and sample of water separate from the fish.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Having had BN Pleco's for about 2 years now; mine will often lie attached to the bottom of some bogwood, a must for their diet, and sometimes on their backs underneath the bogwood. Not heard of them laying on their side though.

She could be gravid as they are really easy to breed. Regular water changes, enough food and somewhere for the male to protect the eggs and raise the fry, a cave of some type, and you are away.


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