is our common bristlenose lonely ?

Hi we have a slight concern over our 5 inch common bn (spencer)
As many of you will know yesterday we moved our fish into our large tank in doing this we had to catch our clowns ,odessa barbs and pictus that were in the tank with spencer during the chase spencer stayed well out of the way under the fiter and the whole chase and capture of the fish was very quick and fairly easy (two nets made a big difference) spencer seemed fairly untroubled by the whole thing but he has been even more reclusive today than normal he has never been very active in the tank spending most of his time during the day in his cave which he shared with the two pictus.

He would very often look a little stressed with the pictus by displaying his little spikey things behind his gills (sorry dont know what they are called :huh.

At night when the lights on his tank would go out and his food went in he would come straight out and start feeding ,very often having to defend it from the other fish but he always came out ,he very often comes out a little too quick for bubbles and has bumped into her hand a few times :lol:

Tonight he has not come out even though he does not have to defend his food its all his, i know it has only been 24 hours but we are a little concerned he is the only fish that didn't get moved last night and yet he is the one fish who seems the most affected by it all :wb:

The rest of our fish are all doing fine the clown loaches and odessa barbs didnt show any signs of stress at all really they settled in so well and our two common plecs have been a bit stressed last night and today but both are feeding well tonight and seem fine.

Would he be missing the pictus ? we only moved them out because they seemed to bother him in his cave and obviously they need a bit more meaty diet than they have been getting (didn't want to give spencer bloat) but if he is going to be too lonely on his own i might have to consider moving them back.

hi i have just tested the tank just to make sure all is ok and the temp is the normal 26 and water parameters were
ph 8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
ok many thanks

any advice would be very much appreciated many thanks

I wouldn't think he is actually missing the other fish but maybe a little stressed by the fact that they have all disappeared. Personally i think he will be fine, give him a bit of time.

What are you planning to do with the tank he is in?
Could be worth getting a few dither fish that would make him feel safer.

I would personally just keep an eye on him for the next few days and see if he improves. Even though he was not physically moved from the tank everything in the tank has been changed. To him all the inhabitants have vanished, the decor disturbed etc. He may just be taking his time to become comfortable again. I've had fish that have gone a few days after i've moved things around or removed fish before they show themselves again. So I wouldn't worry yet.

Just keep an eye on him to make sure that it is nothing more. If anything changes let us know.

Doodles said:

I wouldn't think he is actually missing the other fish but maybe a little stressed by the fact that they have all disappeared. Personally i think he will be fine, give him a bit of time.

What are you planning to do with the tank he is in?
Could be worth getting a few dither fish that would make him feel safer.

Click to expand...

:hi: Doodles

Thanks for the kind reply.

After Chris posted we realised that lonely probably wasnt the right term to use, i am pretty sure he is aware that his environment has changed and this has caused him some stress. I checked on him this morning and he has eaten which is a relief. He did poke his head out of his cave and sat there half in and half out for a while. I am trying to stay away from his tank as much as possible and only check briefly once in a while.

We are looking to get some lively tank mates for him but dont want small fish, we will be paying a visit to a MA at the weekend. Fish that are about the same size as Ticto Barbs.

Sorry what are dither fish?

The plans we have for the tank is to focus on his needs now,he has a cave and bogwood but we will re plant it as the clowns uprooted the plants we had in there and in the future change the gravel to a darker colour.

bre said:

I would personally just keep an eye on him for the next few days and see if he improves. Even though he was not physically moved from the tank everything in the tank has been changed. To him all the inhabitants have vanished, the decor disturbed etc. He may just be taking his time to become comfortable again. I've had fish that have gone a few days after i've moved things around or removed fish before they show themselves again. So I wouldn't worry yet.

Just keep an eye on him to make sure that it is nothing more. If anything changes let us know.

Click to expand...

:hi: Bre

Thank you for your kind reply.

I will do.

Recommended tank mates for Bristlenose

Ok can anyone recommend suitable tank mates for a Bristlenose that arent as small as tetras or rasboras, the tank is 106 litres.

Would other bottom dwellers be suitable for a recluse, for instance? Like Cory's.

Many thanks in advance.

Hi, he may have been quite becasue in all the disturbance stale water/debris gets kicked about and water chemistry changes. Actually its good to have a move about and disturb the sand/gravel under wood/stones/caves etc regularly, than do a good water change. rearranging gives a bit of stimulus too IMHO.
yes cories would be good company.
dither fish is a general term for small fish at a higher level in the tank added to give confidence to shy fish. they are often tetras, guppies,etc.
if you are not fond of tetras (are are some quite interesting ones about) how about a dwarf cichlid -apistogrammas or Kribs?

Irene0100 said:

Hi, he may have been quite becasue in all the disturbance stale water/debris gets kicked about and water chemistry changes. Actually its good to have a move about and disturb the sand/gravel under wood/stones/caves etc regularly, than do a good water change. rearranging gives a bit of stimulus too IMHO.
yes cories would be good company.
dither fish is a general term for small fish at a higher level in the tank added to give confidence to shy fish. they are often tetras, guppies,etc.
if you are not fond of tetras (are are some quite interesting ones about) how about a dwarf cichlid -apistogrammas or Kribs?

Click to expand...

:hi: Irene

We did have some dither fish and tbh we rehomed them with a friend and they are now happier i am sure, in a bigger shoal of other dither fish.

Thanks for your help i will get hubby to look at the info given when he gets home from work

Irene0100 said:

yes cories would be good company.

Click to expand...

I second that
Deffo on the Corydoras, peaceful, active, very interesting and good characters a great package.

Also Danios are ok or Rainbow fish, Madagascar (Bedotia geayi) are beautiful Parkinsons (Melanotaenia parkinsoni) or Banded (Melanotaenia trifasciata) grow a bit broader top to bottom but are just as colourful. If Rainbows are a little over budget Tetras will do or to really get your moneys worth Mollies or Platies will reproduce like mad giving you lots for the price of a few starters

:hi: also if you get species that don't fin nip and are safe for Guppies then you could add a Male Betta to really add a flash of colour.
I didn't notice have there been new pics added?

Terry Got Hip kissed said:

I second that
Deffo on the Corydoras, peaceful, active, very interesting and good characters a great package.

Also Danios are ok or Rainbow fish, Madagascar (Bedotia geayi) are beautiful Parkinsons (Melanotaenia parkinsoni) or Banded (Melanotaenia trifasciata) grow a bit broader top to bottom but are just as colourful. If Rainbows are a little over budget Tetras will do or to really get your moneys worth Mollies or Platies will reproduce like mad giving you lots for the price of a few starters

:hi: also if you get species that don't fin nip and are safe for Guppies then you could add a Male Betta to really add a flash of colour.
I didn't notice have there been new pics added?

Click to expand...

:hi:

I am checking out several types of fish for him as company, but i am really keen on Corys <3 I have seen Madagascar rainbowfish at a MA and fell in love with them to, also looked at Congo Tetra and Bosemans so there is a choice :woohoo: sooooo many fish :lol:

Hi Chris & Marcia,
If you want your dither fish back its not a problem! Also, pop round & have a look at our Congos, they are growing well now & may help you decide if they are the sort of thing that you're looking for

Bubbles said:

:hi:

I am checking out several types of fish for him as company, but i am really keen on Corys <3 I have seen Madagascar rainbowfish at a MA and fell in love with them to, also looked at Congo Tetra and Bosemans so there is a choice :woohoo: sooooo many fish :lol:

Click to expand...

Get some corys<3:yes:

I can't remember what size your tank was but if its big enough, i would get at least six. They are great and very active.
Im going to get some more soon:yes:

Smeagol said:

Hi Chris & Marcia,
If you want your dither fish back its not a problem! Also, pop round & have a look at our Congos, they are growing well now & may help you decide if they are the sort of thing that you're looking for

Click to expand...

cheers smeagol we will pop round again soon. marcy quite likes your congos we are maybe going to get some of those and some corys and maybe some rainbow fish for the big tank :yes:

Thanks to all for the advice about our bn i'm pleased to say he seems a bit brighter tonight i'm not so worried about him now i may have been a bit quick in thinking something was wrong :wb: :wb: hopefully he will be his old self soon and maybe if we get him some new tank mates he might not be such a recluse :clap: :clap:

many thanks again everyone