Bristlenose Pleco Upside down for days

[CFPig]

HI all,

A couple of days ago I found my bristlenose pleco upside down on my sand substrate and he is still upside down. He is not latched on to anything and is still breathing. We gently touched him to see if he would react and he did move a bit but still remained upside down. We also put an algae tab in front of him to see if he would go for it, but he did not move. Can anybody tell me what is wrong with him and how to cure it.

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 60
How long has the tank been running? 1 year
Does it have a filter? Yes, Aqueon Quietflow 300g
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 77.7 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
6 fancy tailed guppies, 6 x kuhli loaches, 12 x crystal red shrimp, snails, 1 x bristlenose pleco

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? once a week
How much of the water do you change? 10%
What do you use to treat your water? N/A
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No
What do you use to test the water? API master test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 7.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1x day, 1x small algae tab/ week
How much do you feed your fish? small pinch of flakes and a small pinch of small sinking sticks
What brand of food do you feed your fish? TetraMin pro flakes, softline America sinking sticks, hikari algae wafers
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1 year
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? see above
Have you started any treatment for the illness? no
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? see above

 

[AvalancheDave]

Are you using a liquid carbon product (Excel or similar)?

 

[CFPig]

Are you using a liquid carbon product (Excel or similar)?

No carbon is being used

 

[DoraCory]

What happens if you try to turn the pleco over?

 

[mattgirl]

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? once a week
How much of the water do you change? 10%
What do you use to treat your water? N/A
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes

This is a big red flag for me. If you are only changing out 10% of the water each week you are leaving 90% of the old water in there. Your nitrates look good but there is more to water changes than just lowering the nitrates. There are things we don't normally test for that gradually build up in the water if they aren't diluted with water changes.

I see you put N/A as to adding a water conditioner. Does that mean you are using maybe well water and it has no chlorine/chloramines in it? Do you know the chemistry of the water you use for water changes? Do you know what minerals/metals it has in it? Is it possible that there is something in the water that may not be bothering your other fish but may be affecting your pleco? Constantly laying on its back doesn't sound good. My pleco occasionally lays flat on his back unattached to anything but it normally doesn't last long.

I highly recommend you gradually build up to doing much bigger water changes each week.

 

[CFPig]

What happens if you try to turn the pleco over?

I just moved him, he swam away and found another spot to hang upside down. He eventually unlatched and sank to the bottom on his back. It is weird that he has been on his back in the same spot for days.

This is a big red flag for me. If you are only changing out 10% of the water each week you are leaving 90% of the old water in there. Your nitrates look good but there is more to water changes than just lowering the nitrates. There are things we don't normally test for that gradually build up in the water if they aren't diluted with water changes.

I see you put N/A as to adding a water conditioner. Does that mean you are using maybe well water and it has no chlorine/chloramines in it? Do you know the chemistry of the water you use for water changes? Do you know what minerals/metals it has in it? Is it possible that there is something in the water that may not be bothering your other fish but may be affecting your pleco? Constantly laying on its back doesn't sound good. My pleco occasionally lays flat on his back unattached to anything but it normally doesn't last long.

I highly recommend you gradually build up to doing much bigger water changes each week.

I do use water conditioner to dechlorinate. Just out of curiosity, what percentage do you use?

 

[mattgirl]

I do use water conditioner to dechlorinate. Just out of curiosity, what percentage do you use?

If you are asking how much water I change each week, I change out no less than 50% of the water in each of my tanks each week and then once a month I change out even more. That may be going overboard but I have to think it is the reason I've never had to deal with any of the many fish diseases I read about here every day. Fresh clean water is the very best thing we can give our fish.

 

[CFPig]

Still no change in my pleco, any help would be well received. Should I be using an antibacterial? If so what kind?

 

[ttltrashmammal]

Still no change in my pleco, any help would be well received. Should I be using an antibacterial? If so what kind?

Is he showing any other symptoms of illness other than not eating and laying on his back? He may be eating and swimming while you arent looking- they're nocturnal creatures and they're known to lie on their back when they feel comfortable, like cats. My pleco wont go for algae tables when I drop them in, but I'll walk by 30 minutes later and he's nibbling at them.

With you not changing your water, he may also be going around and munching on leftover food/algae while you arent there and then just flipping back over to nap.

However, it could also be a sign of malnutrition- especially if he doesnt like the algae tablets. Do you have any cucumbers or zucchinis? Try giving them a slice of that.

Is he showing any signs of bloating, swimming weird, abrasions, discolorations etc.? How is his breathing?

 

[mattgirl]

Still no change in my pleco, any help would be well received. Should I be using an antibacterial? If so what kind?

Can you tell us what you have done so far? Have you started doing bigger water changes? If I was to see anything out of the ordinary the very first thing I reach for is my water changing equipment.

 

[CFPig]

Is he showing any other symptoms of illness other than not eating and laying on his back? He may be eating and swimming while you arent looking- they're nocturnal creatures and they're known to lie on their back when they feel comfortable, like cats. My pleco wont go for algae tables when I drop them in, but I'll walk by 30 minutes later and he's nibbling at them.

With you not changing your water, he may also be going around and munching on leftover food/algae while you arent there and then just flipping back over to nap.

However, it could also be a sign of malnutrition- especially if he doesnt like the algae tablets. Do you have any cucumbers or zucchinis? Try giving them a slice of that.

Is he showing any signs of bloating, swimming weird, abrasions, discolorations etc.? How is his breathing?

No other symptoms that I can see, he's just always laying on his back in the same spot. If I disturb him he does swim away, it seems normal. He eventually goes back to his usual spot and lays on his back. We will try a cucumber and see if that entices him.

For water change 10-15% weekly, but I'll up it and see if it makes a difference.

 

[ttltrashmammal]

No other symptoms that I can see, he's just always laying on his back in the same spot. If I disturb him he does swim away, it seems normal. He eventually goes back to his usual spot and lays on his back. We will try a cucumber and see if that entices him.

For water change 10-15% weekly, but I'll up it and see if it makes a difference.

Definitely do a water test, make sure your levels are okay. If they are, try the veggie and then just keep an eye on him. My little guy (he's still a juvenile, 2") is mostly active at night, but the cucumbers are too big for him right now lol

 

[mattgirl]

It is also possible your little guy isn't getting the proper nutrition. All I can do is tell you how I feed my plecos. If yours has never had fresh veggies it may take time and patience to show him veggies are good food. All of my BN plecos love their zucchini. I feed it to them raw. Just wash it well and remove the seeds. Put a piece of it in the tank close to where he spends most of his time. By putting it in there raw you can leave the piece in there up to 2 days without it fouling your water. Remove it and put another fresh piece in the same spot. If he ever decides to taste it you can put it anywhere and he will find it. My adult plecos seem to enjoy the skin so I leave it on. The fry go for the meat first.

Along with the fresh veggies I also feed mine shrimp pellets, hikari mini sinking wafers for bottom feeders, Omega One Veggie rounds, occasional blood or tubifex worms and algae wafers. Not all at once of course. They need a variety of food to end up getting the proper nutrition.

If your little guy was fine for a while and then started acting this way I have to think something is building up in the water and it is now affecting him. It could be something that requires medication but in my humble opinion more harm can be done from adding medication when we don't know which one to use or even if one is needed.

 

[ttltrashmammal]

It is also possible your little guy isn't getting the proper nutrition. All I can do is tell you how I feed my plecos. If yours has never had fresh veggies it may take time and patience to show him veggies are good food. All of my BN plecos love their zucchini. I feed it to them raw. Just wash it well and remove the seeds. Put a piece of it in the tank close to where he spends most of his time. By putting it in there raw you can leave the piece in there up to 2 days without it fouling your water. Remove it and put another fresh piece in the same spot. If he ever decides to taste it you can put it anywhere and he will find it. My adult plecos seem to enjoy the skin so I leave it on. The fry go for the meat first.

Along with the fresh veggies I also feed mine shrimp pellets, hikari mini sinking wafers for bottom feeders, Omega One Veggie rounds, occasional blood or tubifex worms and algae wafers. Not all at once of course. They need a variety of food to end up getting the proper nutrition.

If your little guy was fine for a while and then started acting this way I have to think something is building up in the water and it is now affecting him. It could be something that requires medication but in my humble opinion more harm can be done from adding medication when we don't know which one to use or even if one is needed.

If its malnutrition it can seem to happen instantly like this as well, but under the skin its been happening for a while. I feed mine small pieces of algae wafers, a blood/tubifex worm here or there, i have brine shrimp but the blocks are massive, and I've cut up cucumbers into small pieces to feed him and he loves it!

The lying on the back isn't neccesarily *bad* for bristlenose plecos, its more the fact that they're doing it a lot, which since there is no other symptoms I'm thinking the malnutrition. They feel safe, but dont have as much energy so they're conserving it until they get food. It's how they act in the wild as well.

 

[CFPig]

If its malnutrition it can seem to happen instantly like this as well, but under the skin its been happening for a while. I feed mine small pieces of algae wafers, a blood/tubifex worm here or there, i have brine shrimp but the blocks are massive, and I've cut up cucumbers into small pieces to feed him and he loves it!

The lying on the back isn't neccesarily *bad* for bristlenose plecos, its more the fact that they're doing it a lot, which since there is no other symptoms I'm thinking the malnutrition. They feel safe, but dont have as much energy so they're conserving it until they get food. It's how they act in the wild as well.

Daily, we put flakes, small sinking sticks that have krill and stuff in it, and algae tabs (1 x week). We haven't been putting in veggies, so I may start incorporating it into feeding routine. This seems like a good variety, so I feel like it may not be malnutrition.

 

[ttltrashmammal]

Daily, we put flakes, small sinking sticks that have krill and stuff in it, and algae tabs (1 x week). We haven't been putting in veggies, so I may start incorporating it into feeding routine. This seems like a good variety, so I feel like it may not be malnutrition.

I would bump up the algae a bit more and split the amount in half. Tanks themselves don't produce enough algae for plecos themselves, and one algae tab a week wouldnt be enough especially since thats their main food source. Not to mentio , your snails will also consume the algae and not leave much for your pleco.

Your 6 loaches and 6 guppies would go for the flakes and the pellets (for the most part), which would leave a little for the pleco, but that's not a lot especially when you have other fish that will try and target their food.

Best advice I can give is try the veggie and make sure that he gets enough to eat over time. Fish in general are aggressive over food given they naturally don't eat daily in the wild, so when they get a chance to eat, they'll eat until they're bloated. They also don't have a sense of being full.

I have a pleco and snail, and I've seen the snail horde the algae wafers from the pleco. It's funny but also terrifying. So try the zucchini or cucumber (like said above, you can leave a fresh one for 2 days) and try it.

Another question I have is do you have any driftwood in your tank?

 

[CFPig]

Another question I have is do you have any driftwood in your tank?

We have 6x 6" cholla logs

 

[ttltrashmammal]

We have 6x 6" cholla logs

Okay, that *should* work. Plecos in general, but especially bristlenose need driftwood to help digest food. The main concern with cholla is it isn't really wood- it's the inside structure of cacti. So over the course of a few months it breaks down easily and has to be replaced often.

Both snails and plecos like it as it breaks and dissolves easily, but if you can later on down the road, I would look into even a small piece of driftwood to help the pleco. Cholla isn't bad and it doesn't rot, but it doesn't grow algae as well nor does it help plecos digest as well. It's great for a lower budget option, but if you get the chance I suggest snagging at least one piece of driftwood. ^^ Both your pleco and snail will love you forever for it (and so will your filter!)

 

[CFPig]

Okay, that *should* work. Plecos in general, but especially bristlenose need driftwood to help digest food. The main concern with cholla is it isn't really wood- it's the inside structure of cacti. So over the course of a few months it breaks down easily and has to be replaced often.

Both snails and plecos like it as it breaks and dissolves easily, but if you can later on down the road, I would look into even a small piece of driftwood to help the pleco. Cholla isn't bad and it doesn't rot, but it doesn't grow algae as well nor does it help plecos digest as well. It's great for a lower budget option, but if you get the chance I suggest snagging at least one piece of driftwood. ^^ Both your pleco and snail will love you forever for it (and so will your filter!)

That's really good to know.