Underweight bristlenose... not enough food? or worms?

Hey guys,

Well most of my lfmbn are looking great. Some are even clearly boys, with larger bodies and boof heads, with the classic bristles.
However, a few of them in the communal tank seem underweight. Skinny. A little sunken in. 'prepubescent' as such.
Same spawn, same conditions.

Not getting enough food?
Worms?


I alternate between 'Prestige Carnivore Pellets' 'Prestige Spirulina Algae Wafers' and 'Wardley Shrimp pellets'
I also give them frozen bloodworm once every 2wks and zucchinni once a week, as well as spinach or lettuce about once every week too.
Maybe i haven't fed enough. I cant tell you how much i feed- i just throw it in and see how long it lasts. All gone by the next morning. Maybe 4 algae wafers, or 8-10 shrimp pellets, or 5-6 carnivore pellets.
I had some small hydra start up 2mths back so i tried not to feed too much. They appear gone atm. I also feed a large pinch of 'Spectrum small fish' or 'Spectrum Grow' to the fish.

There are ~8 adult harlequin rasboras, ~15 adult rummynose, 4 glowlight tetras, ~ 6 juvenile corys, ~100 cherry shrimp of various ages, 1x 7cm albn, 2x 5-6cm cnb, and the 6x 5-6cm lfmbn (of which 4 seem fat and healthy)

4ftx2ftx2ft. Anubias on driftwood, crypts, hairgrass, java moss, flame moss, fissidens, java fern, windelov java,
Temp 25-26celsius. Fluval FX5 with noodles and foam filterblocks. PH 7.2, KH 5, Nitrite 0, GH 7.
Plants and other fish are flourishing and the cherry shrimp are breeding and thriving (albeit a few losses from fish eating babies)

Am i right in thinking im underfeeding?
Or could it be something else?

Doesn't sound like your underfeeding them, my guess would be worms. I'd put them in a quarantine tank with some cucumber and treat for worms

moved to the pleco hospital



their diet seems very heavy with protein. might be an issue tho it normally leads to bloat, not sunken stomach. I would go with Kfenks plan, and treat with a wormer

I'd agree with both the previous posts about the use of a wormer. I 'd also only feed the carnivore or shrimp pellets once a week and add more veg to their diet.

When feeding the infected fish try rubbing the veg with garlic or using a garlic extract, the use of garlic can be very pro active when treating for worms.

There is alist of veg suitable for BN's HERE

Good luck with the treatment.

Thanks guys, I will up their veggies from now on!

What's the best wormer for bn?

Big L pig and poultry wormer is what i use good stuff!!

If it's not fish wormer, how do you work out dosage?

Treat bristlenose at the normal dose of 1 ml per 7 litres of tank water (for the big L product which contains 14g of levamisole per litre) and you should be fine.

Just make sure you allow for water displaced by gravel and driftwood, rocks etc. Allowing about 10% is usually enough to cover it.

If your worried about your bn then you could underdose a little, as its better to underdose than overdose with catfish in the tank.