Bristlenose Pleco prefers to hide behind filter intake and sponge, but not the caves??

Hi guys and gals of fishlore! Recently I just got my hands on 2 wild bristle nose starlight places L183, Before I added them to the tank I purchased multiple cholla woods and driftwood. I went ahead and started treating the wood and cleaning it, and let in soak in my bucket fo0r an additional day. When the places arrived I hadn't ate placed the wood inside the tank yet since it was very dirty and I wanted to go ahead and clean it one more time. So I went ahead and place the places in the tank, they immediately went to hide inside my sponge filter and HOB intake tube. After a day of cleaning the wood I placed it in the tank and they still have not gone inside the wood caves at all. I'm afraid they are not eating, but I was told by the previous owner that they ate repashy soilent green.

How would I even go about trying to feed these guys? With my previous plecos I usually just place an algae wafer in the tank and they go right for it. These guys seem much shyer, I don't weans them to starve.

TL;DR Got 2 new Bristlnose plecos who are hiding behind the filter, don't know how to feed them since they are too close too the filters and I don't think they can smell the food. They also do not want to go near the wood I had purchased for them, they seem to prefer the filter over the wood caves. HELP!!

 

Hi guys and gals of fishlore! Recently I just got my hands on 2 wild bristle nose starlight places L183, Before I added them to the tank I purchased multiple cholla woods and driftwood. I went ahead and started treating the wood and cleaning it, and let in soak in my bucket fo0r an additional day. When the places arrived I hadn't ate placed the wood inside the tank yet since it was very dirty and I wanted to go ahead and clean it one more time. So I went ahead and place the places in the tank, they immediately went to hide inside my sponge filter and HOB intake tube. After a day of cleaning the wood I placed it in the tank and they still have not gone inside the wood caves at all. I'm afraid they are not eating, but I was told by the previous owner that they ate repashy soilent green.

How would I even go about trying to feed these guys? With my previous plecos I usually just place an algae wafer in the tank and they go right for it. These guys seem much shyer, I don't weans them to starve.

TL;DR Got 2 new Bristlnose plecos who are hiding behind the filter, don't know how to feed them since they are too close too the filters and I don't think they can smell the food. They also do not want to go near the wood I had purchased for them, they seem to prefer the filter over the wood caves. HELP!!

Edit: I just unrealized I posted this on the freshwater general forum too, I'm so sorry mods please forgive me, I don't know how to take then other thread down.

Make sure if your driftwood that’s new. You’ll need to boiling it for a few hours to remove all the tannins from the wood. This is a much faster way. Soaking it in water can take up to a year. Keep boiling the wood and re filling the water until it runs clear. I only did this myself a few weeks ago

 

Make sure if your driftwood that’s new. You’ll need to boiling it for a few hours to remove all the tannins from the wood. This is a much faster way. Soaking it in water can take up to a year. Keep boiling the wood and re filling the water until it runs clear. I only did this myself a few weeks ago

Ah I see, okay, at this point I think I'll just keep them in the tank since I want a little bit of tannins and I only boiled and let them soak in a bucket to get them to sink.

 

Ah I see, okay, at this point I think I'll just keep them in the tank since I want a little bit of tannins and I only boiled and let them soak in a bucket to get them to sink.

By the time you finish boiling them, they will sink

 

By the time you finish boiling them, they will sink

Yup it already sunk yesterday since I have access to lead weight alloys, I mainly boiled them to get them sterilized and weaken the wood a bit, since I want tannins in the water for my discus

 

These are wild caught? You'll really want to mimic their natural environment and feed them more naturally occurring foods. Is the tank an established tank, with plenty of algae and bio-film? - this is important for wild caught fish. As juveniles, they should be nibbling on the bio-film and algae around the tank, having a sponge filter will definitely help - it's a good food source too.

You can try supplementing the diet with Shelled peas, cucumber, or zucchini. Live foods like bloodworms may be accepted too, though you don't want to feed bloodworms too often to these guys. What are you trying to feed them initially? - repashy is a good brand, so I've heard. If these guys are wild, they may not eat prepared foods too readily because they don't recognize them as 'food' like normal plecos would, it could take some time before they accept a pellet, but I would continue to try what the (where you got them) said. (it could also be they're still acclimating, and will act 'shy' until they're comfortable in their new home).

It could also be, that in their wild habitat, they're used to a more constant flow? which might give rise to why they're hanging out around the filter (if it's the out-take they're near too). You could use a circulation pump through the caves so the flow reaches in and through them, but this is a shot in the dark (as to why they might be hanging near the filter).

 

Put some fresh vegs in and leave it during the night. They will definitely smell it.

Llet them adapt and find places to hide.

 

These are wild caught? You'll really want to mimic their natural environment and feed them more naturally occurring foods. Is the tank an established tank, with plenty of algae and bio-film? - this is important for wild caught fish. As juveniles, they should be nibbling on the bio-film and algae around the tank, having a sponge filter will definitely help - it's a good food source too.

You can try supplementing the diet with Shelled peas, cucumber, or zucchini. Live foods like bloodworms may be accepted too, though you don't want to feed bloodworms too often to these guys. What are you trying to feed them initially? - repashy is a good brand, so I've heard. If these guys are wild, they may not eat prepared foods too readily because they don't recognize them as 'food' like normal plecos would, it could take some time before they accept a pellet, but I would continue to try what the (where you got them) said. (it could also be they're still acclimating, and will act 'shy' until they're comfortable in their new home).

It could also be, that in their wild habitat, they're used to a more constant flow? which might give rise to why they're hanging out around the filter (if it's the out-take they're near too). You could use a circulation pump through the caves so the flow reaches in and through them, but this is a shot in the dark (as to why they might be hanging near the filter).

Yep they are wild caught, maybe I'll try to give them more flow. I went ahead and purchased a wave maker to give more flow, I don't know iff I should add more wood since they are in with discus and they might be too scared to come out since the fish are so big?? I just got the rep[ashy food right now and I've set made a small batch. Should I try feeding them the rep ashy right now or should I wait a bit after lights out?

Thank you o much for the informative advice! I really appreciate it!

Put some fresh vegs in and leave it during the night. They will definitely smell it.

Llet them adapt and find places to hide.

Yea, I've only had them for 2 days in total. I guess I should give them more time.

 

I recommend zuc - they love zuc. I am curious why you purchased wild ones ? I doubt they are scared of the discus. I think they are just disoriented. My L204 (L204 are almost always wild) adapted after a day or so. BN will suck wood but they don't require wood like L204; though wood is always good since it develops a pleasing biofilm for them to suck.

 

I recommend zuc - they love zuc. I am curious why you purchased wild ones ? I doubt they are scared of the discus. I think they are just disoriented. My L204 (L204 are almost always wild) adapted after a day or so. BN will suck wood but they don't require wood like L204; though wood is always good since it develops a pleasing biofilm for them to suck.

Oh, they only had wild L183 available, I would have gone for tank bred specimens, but none were available at the moment. Are there major differences between tank bred and wilds besides water conditions? Also I purchased these little fellas from the Wetspot Tropicals.

 

Well water condition is probably the major thing and in a community tnak - fish density but to be truthful bn are super hearty. They can take a punching and keep on ticking - as oppose to - for example - wild discus. All you have to do is look at them cross eyed for them to go belly up.
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Oh starlight bn pleco - nice ! If you have a male and female be sure to breed them then give the young ones away to everyone who replies to this thread

Oh, they only had wild L183 available, I would have gone for tank bred specimens, but none were available at the moment. Are there major differences between tank bred and wilds besides water conditions? Also I purchased these little fellas from the Wetspot Tropicals.

 

Well water condition is probably the major thing and in a community tnak - fish density but to be truthful bn are super hearty. They can take a punching and keep on ticking - as oppose to - for example - wild discus. All you have to do is look at them cross eyed for them to go belly up.
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Oh starlight bn pleco - nice ! If you have a male and female be sure to breed them then give the young ones away to everyone who replies to this thread

Ah I see, yeah I decided to put the starlights in with my discus since the water condition and specs are almost close to black water.

Yeah wild discus are a mixed bag haha, they're fine one day and the next they just go belly up. I've only been able to successfully keep 3 from a batch of 7.

I'm hoping I do have a pair since one of them has bristles that go all the way up to the snout and the other one has small bristles near the lips only. If I get them to breed I'll definitely host a giveaway on fishlore and give some away! I hope they do well, I only purchased 2 so far to test the waters, if they do well I might purchase more to get them to breed. Wish me luck!

 

How long did wetspot have them? The L204 i got (they were wild); had been at the store for 3 months and by the time i got them they were already 2 inches and very tame and robust. (It was a small store and nobody knew they were there ). I realize l204 are not bn but i think they are certainly not more robust. Unfortunately they are next to impossible to sex. I have 4 so hopefully when they reach adulthood they will inform me what their sexes are so i don't have to guess
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Good luck with them. Btw i use those weights that come on plants to hold the zuc down (if you still have one). I just slice the zuc; rinse it and drop it in - some of the fishes eat during the day others wait till night (i have 6 lemon bn; a male plain bn; 2 L333 (they are not big vegie eaters); 10 mystery snails; 5 clown loaches (clown laoches are BIG zuc eaters) and a couple of angels that will poke at it (angels are not very angle like). Oh yea the yo yo loach will shred it but i don' think they actually eat it i think they just like annoying the clown loaches when they are trying to eat.

Ah I see, yeah I decided to put the starlights in with my discus since the water condition and specs are almost close to black water.

Yeah wild discus are a mixed bag haha, they're fine one day and the next they just go belly up. I've only been able to successfully keep 3 from a batch of 7.

I'm hoping I do have a pair since one of them has bristles that go all the way up to the snout and the other one has small bristles near the lips only. If I get them to breed I'll definitely host a giveaway on fishlore and give some away! I hope they do well, I only purchased 2 so far to test the waters, if they do well I might purchase more to get them to breed. Wish me luck!

 

How long did wetspot have them? The L204 i got (they were wild); had been at the store for 3 months and by the time i got them they were already 2 inches and very tame and robust. (It was a small store and nobody knew they were there ). I realize l204 are not bn but i think they are certainly not more robust. Unfortunately they are next to impossible to sex. I have 4 so hopefully when they reach adulthood they will inform me what their sexes are so i don't have to guess
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Good luck with them. Btw i use those weights that come on plants to hold the zuc down (if you still have one). I just slice the zuc; rinse it and drop it in - some of the fishes eat during the day others wait till night (i have 6 lemon bn; a male plain bn; 2 L333 (they are not big vegie eaters); 10 mystery snails; 5 clown loaches (clown laoches are BIG zuc eaters) and a couple of angels that will poke at it (angels are not very angle like). Oh yea the yo yo loach will shred it but i don' think they actually eat it i think they just like annoying the clown loaches when they are trying to eat.

I ordered them online, shipping wasn't too bad for overnight since I live in California. I did however request to get larger specimens, but they ran out when I had ordered L-204 flash plecos look so cool! It reminds me when I went to a chain pet store and they had mislabeled a candy stripe and it was actually a flash pleco. Does L-204 come out often?

Right? Bristlenose are so easy to sex, but others are near impossible until you actually see them breed, unless you get a good belly shot for some species.

If I'm able to successfully breed my starlights I might give L-204 Flash plecos a try.

You have L-333s too?! They're my most favorite pleco of all time! Unfortunately I was only able to get my hands on 1 specimen so far. I found a couple at my LFS 2 years ago and I regret not buying a group (they were super expensive at the time) It's sad that you don't get to see them outside often, unless I give him beefheart from my discus lol They really are carnivorous

 

L-204 used to be really common. The problem is that they are mostly wild and with the panademic very little new wild fishes are arriving. Before the panademic i could get petco to order them (that is where i got my first). I knew wetspot had a couple but i wanted more than 2 so i passed - also i'm on the opposite coast and wetspot wanted both my arms to ship it. I found a small online store - they told me they had these since Jan (before the panadmic) and when i asked for more they said things were mostly shutdown -they normally order several hundred at a time since they are popular with their clintel.
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anyway the fishes were normal going rate but shipping was pia. The only store with cheap overnight shipping is aquaticarts but they mostly deal with tank raised fishes and L204 are nearly all wild since they are hard to breed.
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I suspect it will be another 6 to 12 months before wild caught fishes are readily available - there is probably a small trickle but even common stuff like pygmy are getting pretty rare or are 3x what they were last year.
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What some stores have to do is have fishes shipped to EU and then shipped again from EU to usa, which is really expensive, to get wild fishes.

I ordered them online, shipping wasn't too bad for overnight since I live in California. I did however request to get larger specimens, but they ran out when I had ordered L-204 flash plecos look so cool! It reminds me when I went to a chain pet store and they had mislabeled a candy stripe and it was actually a flash pleco. Does L-204 come out often?

Right? Bristlenose are so easy to sex, but others are near impossible until you actually see them breed, unless you get a good belly shot for some species.

If I'm able to successfully breed my starlights I might give L-204 Flash plecos a try.

You have L-333s too?! They're my most favorite pleco of all time! Unfortunately I was only able to get my hands on 1 specimen so far. I found a couple at my LFS 2 years ago and I regret not buying a group (they were super expensive at the time) It's sad that you don't get to see them outside often, unless I give him beefheart from my discus lol They really are carnivorous

 

L-204 used to be really common. The problem is that they are mostly wild and with the panademic very little new wild fishes are arriving. Before the panademic i could get petco to order them (that is where i got my first). I knew wetspot had a couple but i wanted more than 2 so i passed - also i'm on the opposite coast and wetspot wanted both my arms to ship it. I found a small online store - they told me they had these since Jan (before the panadmic) and when i asked for more they said things were mostly shutdown -they normally order several hundred at a time since they are popular with their clintel.
-
anyway the fishes were normal going rate but shipping was pia. The only store with cheap overnight shipping is aquaticarts but they mostly deal with tank raised fishes and L204 are nearly all wild since they are hard to breed.
-
I suspect it will be another 6 to 12 months before wild caught fishes are readily available - there is probably a small trickle but even common stuff like pygmy are getting pretty rare or are 3x what they were last year.
-
What some stores have to do is have fishes shipped to EU and then shipped again from EU to usa, which is really expensive, to get wild fishes.

Yeah, shipping would been cumbersome for me if I were to order fish from the other coast too, especially since I heard some store online had L-333 and other Rio Xingu fish, but shipping really was too much to justify the price of the fish.

Anyways, I'll let you know in the future how my breeding projects comes along. Thanks for all the amazing insight and advice!

 

Aquahuna frequently has l333 for very little and their shipping is a flat $13 regardless of location. Only negative is their l333 are yellowish - the white ones can be hard to find and (imho) are a bit nicer.

Yeah, shipping would been cumbersome for me if I were to order fish from the other coast too, especially since I heard some store online had L-333 and other Rio Xingu fish, but shipping really was too much to justify the price of the fish.

Anyways, I'll let you know in the future how my breeding projects comes along. Thanks for all the amazing insight and advice!

 

Aquahuna frequently has l333 for very little and their shipping is a flat $13 regardless of location. Only negative is their l333 are yellowish - the white ones can be hard to find and (imho) are a bit nicer.

Wow thanks for the awesome website! But yeah the white ones are a bit harder to find. My only king tiger is yellow as well, this was before I knew there were 2 color strains (my LFS said it would turn white later on, but it looked white in the lfs, so maybe it's my water??) I'll definitely look into it thanks!