Quarantine

[railer20]

Yes, but you could also look at real wood too. Some plecos need or at least like wood to graze on. BNs are a bit iffy in that way; some say they "need" wood. Or do a combo of wood & the ceramic tube, give it a choice. Might be hard to break his sponge filter hiding habit...

My local fish store carries Manzanita so may get some of that since it supposedly doesn’t stain the water.

 

[fishorama]

Suppose on my friend, lol. I'm not saying anything against manzi or any other wood. It may or not stain your water but that's not a big deal...it'll depend on your BN's preferences for grazing & if you can make a couple caves. Maybe Mopani or Malaysian instead of manzi? Manzi tends to be thinner sticks. Mopani seems very hard & smoother on it's upper tan surface. I prefer Malaysian slightly...but there are other woods too..soft woods like pine are not the best choice. They tend to take a longer time to become water saturated & sink . I have a nice piece of manzi sitting on my patio I've tried soaking a few times but thinner wood also dries out faster...

There really isn't just 1 right answer, experiment! & see what works for your tank & fish...it'll cost maybe $8 or so...don't be so cheap that you miss a few easy ways to make your fish happier & your tank prettier. Wood & plants often can last for many years...trivial in the long term...

 

[railer20]

I got my fish in QT today. Question on feeding. Do you all wait a week to feed? I’ve seen a lot of things say don’t feed for a week (or at least 4 to 5 days)?

for my main tank I bought a couple pleco caves to add and then a decent size chunk of wood to try (soaking on day 4 now to try and get most of the tannins out).

 

[fishorama]

I usually feed lightly the next day if they seem to be acting normally. It helps if you offer what they're used to, but they should catch onto new food.