Albino Bristlenose

[Lexus]

OOOOOOOOO I want!! I want!!!!
http://angelsplus.com/g/2cab.htm

only $3.75 a peice....

Anyone have these?

[MB75]

I have a couple of them.
As regular bristlenoses, these guys prefer at least a 20 g tank and spawn continuously if you have a couple in your tank.

[Lexus]

are they good algae eaters?

[LaurenE]

From what I have heard, they are great algea eaters. I plan to get a couple when I set up my tank.

[MB75]

Just like regular bristlenoses, very good algae eaters especially when young.
Also they don't grow as big as common plecos so you don't need a giant to tank to keep them all their life - a 20-30 gallon will do well.
But again, word of caution - they breed like rabbits, so only 1 per tank.

[o2cats]

I had 6 small Bristlenose, one spotted, two albinos, and 2 long fin albinos. They were doing real well for about a month, but 1 died each of the last 3 days so now I am down to 3. There is plenty of alge in the tank plus other feeding, including the beefheart they were raised on. There were no signs of trauma, and the water testing shows perfect. Anyone have ideas on what could be wrong.

I am new to the message board and wondered if this should be included in this thread, or if I should have placed it in a seperate thread?

[DavidDoyle]

I just finished unbagging 5 lovely small albino long fin bristles. that brings my total to 6 and they will be setup to spawn when they are big enough. For now they can just pig out on algea and veggies and grow.

*doing happy fish dance*

[MB75]

o2cats, how big is your tank? Did you only feed them beef heart? Usually it is suggested that bristlenoses are fed veggies, such as cucumber, zucchini, green algae wafers etc.

[Fishnut2]

o2cats,
You posted in the right area. BN love beefheart, but need a variety in thier diet. I've seen them eat beefheart, with a slice of zuchinni sitting right next to it. But an all beefheart diet isn't good for any fish.
Are you adding any salt to your tank? BN aren't very happy with salt in the tank. Also; what other fish are in the tank? BN are very hardy fish, and seldom get picked on by other fish. The Long Fins will be picked on more often...due to thier elegant finnage. It's unlikely, but worth asking.
The last thing to look for is a brownish/black stomache. This could be a sign of internal parasites.
Best of luck!

[o2cats]

Thanks for all the suggestions, but now I am down to may last one of six and it is killing me. I have a 30 gallon tank with some Discus. I have not added salt yet the the guy I got the Discus from said to add some. I feed the tank Beef heart, tetra bits, some small pieces of zucchini, frozen brine shrimp and there is plenty of algae and I added algae wafers last week. I noticed when I brought them home that their stomachs looked silver. They spent most of the time on the glass, but went to the bottom to feed on the BH. Now he spends more time on the filter and the stomach looks more clear and so I am worried that they are starving. I am going to see if the guy I bought him from will take him back and try to save him, but I would think he would be worried about bringing something into his tanks.

[Fishnut2]

No salt is good. Thier diet seems fine. And the silver belly is normal. Did you get these from a private breeder? What is the temp in your discus tank? Also, how big were they?

[o2cats]

The silver belly is gone which seems to worry me. I got them from a local breeded, the same guy I got the discus from, keeping all parameters the same 83 deg, PH 6.8.

[o2cats]

I found the last one dead this morning. I feel really bad.

[Fishnut2]

Sorry to hear about your loss o2cats. It sounds like you were doing everything right. Don't be afraid to give them another try. They are relatively hardy fish. Start with the regular finned BN, as they are cheaper. You can get the Long Fins after you've had some sucess. I keep (and breed) both types. They are fun to have and help with the maintanance in all my tanks.

[joe kool]

Originally Posted by Fishnut2

No salt is good.

I hate to contradict BUT ... I've got my group (3 tanks worth) all in african cichlid habitat which means PH is buffered up to about 8.6ish and water is so hard I almost have to karate chop it to get my net in the tank best of all I run close to 2 TBS of salt per 10gal to replicate the tanganykian habitat.

Mine are doing great and I have a pair guarding a pleco breeder log so maybe babies soon .. who knows

[pureplecs]

Lexus, I would definietly suggest the bristle nose species (but don't like salt)!

o2cats, I am curious as to what temperature you keep your tank... given that you have discus in there I would imagine that the temp. is pretty high. The bristlenose in general really doesn't like high temps above say 78 degrees F or so unlike some of the black water sp. like L183 that doesn't mind and also needs meatier foods. The regular bristle nose really should receive protein sparingly as it clogs up their digestive system. I keep a black water species of bristle nose with my discus and it does fine but I severely doubt if my regular (albino, regular, calico) one would survive....

Edit: I see you said your tank is 83 degrees I didn't notice that at first...

[violet]

When I received some baby bristlenose with very persistent ich I had to use 5 tablespoons of salt in 10 gallons and while they may not have been happy I would think if they were very sensitive it would have wiped them out. That's a lot of salt.

The commonly available BN is a tough fish. I would say one of the biggest risk factors is not enough veggie matter/fiber for the amount of protein they are eating. Swamp wood, coconuts with coir still on them and veggies to graze on seem to help a lot. Mine demolish zucchinis like there is no tomorrow.