BN acting weird

rockhoe14er

rockhoe14er

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Jul 19, 2010
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Richmond VA
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Sean
I just got a new BN this past week and he has been hidden between rocks and hasn't really moved in around 4 days. He is still alive but just not really moving during the day or the night.

Is this normal behavior for a new pleco to a tank? the walls are full of alge but and he hasn't done any work on them he just sits in his cave not really moving much.

My water perameters are fine i have 0 amonia and maybe 0 nitrites and maybe aroud 20 ppm nitrates. My ph is 8 and my tank has been cycled for around 3 months.
 
Well, my BNs are really active, but they are very sneaky and will sometimes disappear into the driftwood for a few days and I won't see them so I assume they are not active then. Have you tried feeding algea wafers or Zuchini to see if he is interested? He could also be stressed from being rehomed. Im no expert on disease, or fish for that matter, but it might be normal. I would try feeding something other than just the algea and see if he comes out to dine.
 
My male tends to hide a lot the female is out and about more. I agree with tossing him a treat green beans and cucumber are particular favorites of my bns
 
Might want to move the driftwood or whatever he's hiding behind so you can get a better look at him. Also pictures may be helpful as if he is sick he may be showing physical signs that others here can help diagnose. Good luck!
 
Juice said:
Might want to move the driftwood or whatever he's hiding behind so you can get a better look at him. Also pictures may be helpful as if he is sick he may be showing physical signs that others here can help diagnose. Good luck!
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:iagree: Also, I don't know about your pleco, but my bn plecos really won't go for cucumber for some reason. They completely ignore it while Zuchinni is their favorite. I don't have ANY idea why it's like that, but it def is. My snails are not picky, but my plecos won't touch the cucumber.
 
I will try and move his cave so that he can see the cucumber when i get home.

My next question is it normal to stay hidden for a while after moving to a new tank?

I did get the guy the day he arrived in my LFS so he traveled to the fish store then to my place which i could imagine would be very stressful. Does it just take a long time for these guys to adjust?

He does move around in his hiding space but not much.

Another thing is one of my cichilds mistuck one of his bristles for live food and bit it and the bn flipped out and needless to say my jaguar doesn't go near him anymore. He is a decent size probably around 4 inches and my cichlids are only 2 inches so I don't think he feels picked on.
 
Well, my BNs def spend their fair share of time hiding. They did hide more when they were getting acclimated, but I think that only took a day or two. What kind of Cichlids do you have? If it is an aggressive cichlid that nips at the BN's bristles then it might be hiding to avoid being nipped. I used to have a few with one of my clawed frogs when it was a baby, and while it couldnt catch the plecos, it would chase them, so they spent a lot of time hiding from him. They came out MUCH more once I moved the frog to his own space and they had the tank to themselves. Also, on the cucumber thing, I have talked to other people with BNs in the past and a lot of them say theirs are the same as far as not touching cucumber but loving zuchinni. I would try nuking some zuchinni and see if he wants that. They REALLY love it.
 
Ashes2ashes said:
Well, my BNs def spend their fair share of time hiding. They did hide more when they were getting acclimated, but I think that only took a day or two. What kind of Cichlids do you have? If it is an aggressive cichlid that nips at the BN's bristles then it might be hiding to avoid being nipped. I used to have a few with one of my clawed frogs when it was a baby, and while it couldnt catch the plecos, it would chase them, so they spent a lot of time hiding from him. They came out MUCH more once I moved the frog to his own space and they had the tank to themselves. Also, on the cucumber thing, I have talked to other people with BNs in the past and a lot of them say theirs are the same as far as not touching cucumber but loving zuchinni. I would try nuking some zuchinni and see if he wants that. They REALLY love it.
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I have a green terror, firemouth, carpintis, and jaguar. They don't seem to mess with him at all because he's so much larger. The jaguar only did this after he was just added. It was pretty interesting to see because the jaguar was hovering above him for a while then chommped down... very unexpected. Alright I will try some zuchinni and see if he takes a liking to that.
 
Every time I take in a bristlenose they won't come out of their hiding place for a long time. For instance someone dropped off a whole bunch of fish a couple weeks ago. One of the fish was a adult BN and he was tucked up in a piece of decor and wonldn't come out. Finally after two weeks I decided to do a water change on the tank he was in and so I started to lift the decor he was in so that I could vacuum and he swam right out but he was in that decor for over two weeks. I would consider it a normal thing, just give him time and he may feel more comfortable having the tank lights off.
 
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