I just bought a bristle nose catfish and need some help.

I just got a bristle nose catfish and my Qu. is what do you feed them and what temp. do they like, what are their prefered water parametres and finally how do you check their gender. Thanks

 

I think this link will set you up with some good info on your BN pleco questions:

 

Cool thanks for the link mate

 

I've found out I have the Ancistrus Sp. L107. Thanks for the link and thank for the help. The only thing I don't know now is how long it takes until their mature and what they eat. I've read about cucumber and algae wafers?

 

HI Commodore. Here's a really cool link on feeding suckermouth catfish:
Oh, and here's what I fed mine:

• Algae on the tank walls. If you have algae, don't even feed your BN for a little while, that way, he'll get rid of it.
• Scavenged pieces of food (he'll eat the uneaten stuff from the substrate). Don't overfeed your other fish on purpose, though.
• Algae wafers (treat only)
• Long slice of cucumber weighed down with plant weights (only leave it in for 24hrs, or it will decompose in your tank - and stink; leave a long slice to start with so he finds it easily). It might take you a few attempts before he gets that it's food

Oh, and leave the food out for him at night, just before lights out.

What tank mates is he sharing with - to determine competition for food? And what sized tank will he be in - to determine whether he'll have enough room to swim around and find algae?

 

He's sharing with my fighter Commodore in a 28L tank filled all the way up and it has a lid attatched but it was open while I was taking photos :;D
This is it here:

 

Ooooh John. Am afraid that's a little on the small size for a BN. I am sorry. For 28L, I'd say only a cory would fit, or a couple of otos. Is there any possibility of re-housing him? Could be kick-starting your already very healthy MTS.

 

I just got a bristle nose catfish and my Qu. is what do you feed them and what temp. do they like, what are their prefered water parametres and finally how do you check their gender. Thanks

They live in aprt of the amazon river area...so whatever angelfish's water parameters are it's the same as the BN pleco/catfish.

Ooooh John. Am afraid that's a little on the small size for a BN. I am sorry. For 28L, I'd say only a cory would fit, or a couple of otos. Is there any possibility of re-housing him? Could be kick-starting your already very healthy MTS.

BNs get up to 5" at most...so ya it needs at least a 10 gallon or more.

 

Is there a chance that it won't grow full size in a smaller tank. I know it's a stupid question but just in case.

I'm not sure where I can rehouse it cause mum said she doesn't want any more tanks in the house. I've hot two 28L tanks and a 160L tank that will soon be a salt water aquarium. Any ideas on how to fix this?

 

I just got an ancistrus on Sunday. Right now he's about 2" long and in my 20 gal tank with algae, old driftwood and hiding places. I'm planning to get a big tank sometime in the new year and he'll go there after he grows bigger.

You cannot keep this fish in that tiny tank and there's no way of "fixing" it I'm afraid.

You'll have to either get him a bigger tank or take him back to the petstore.

It's really important to do research before buying fish. This is not a criticism, since I'm sure we've all done the same thing once upon a time.

 

Yeah, there's really no fix for it, other than MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome). I feel for ya though...We've all done the same thing, at some point. But, since then, it's all about the research.