Bristlenose Basic Advice - Need help

Hey, I need some help. As you have probably managed to tell from my other few topics, I am setting up a new tank. I have brought a Jewel 180 preowned via ebay for £165. This is where the first question comes in;

I have got the tank home and realised that it has around 7 scratches on the inside. 2 of these turned out to be something stuck to the inside and 4 of these are very small. One of the scratches towards the bottom is bigger, however, we do not know whether it has actually cracked the glass. What do you guys suggest and do you know if it is possible to remove the scratches?

The second one will require a little timeline;

1) Buy a tank from an aquatics centre.
2) Mum went back 3 days later, the sales assistant said that tank wouldn't be ready and to come back in a week with a water sample but sold her some danios and rasboras as they are supposedly hardier fish.
3) Go back with a water sample, he sells fish such as tetra's and says that I could purchase a bristlenose in 2 weeks.
4) Went back today and my mum had an eye on a bristlenose for me, an amazing looking 6 inch male. The same guy then said today that we should not put the bristlenose into the tank until it has matured for at least 8 weeks due to the cycling of the tank.

In my tank, I am planning to do a fishless cycle. The community tank they would be going into for now is about 3 weeks old now and has had fish in there from near the start.

He doesn't seem to be able to make up his mind. I no longer see him as an expert, the experts are those of you that have spent years breeding bristlenose, the advice I get from you will be the decider.

What I would like to know, is how long do you all recon I should leave it before I purchase a bristlenose? (My mum has now fallen in love with the male bristlenose too).

There's three options here;

1) Go and purchase the 6 inch bristlenose and put him into the community tank.
2) Purchase 4 or 5 smaller bristlenose and hope for one male and 2 females in there at which point I can take them three out and leave the other two in the community tank.
3) Leave it the two months.

I have to be honest, this has killed my day for me. Brought a new tank and expected to be able to purchase a bristlenose. Tank is scratched, bristlenose has been denied.

Hi mate,

I too bought a tank from a later through the local gumtree advertisements, got it home about a couple weeks ago and realised it has a crack on one of the corners. I'll be reinforcing each corner with aquarium safe silicone, inside and outside the tank. It's also gonna be my breeder tank for some peppermints as well as a couple other different types.

But new tanks must be cycled, you need the good bacteria to start growing in your tank, and the bns do feed off this as well. The tank needs at least a month to cycle, boosted more so by a few hardy fish to kickstart the system. Though 1 bn should be fine in there. I wouldn't put one in any less than 2 weeks that for sure, but if you really want to get this bristlenose you've had your eye on, before anyone else gets it, you should get it now. Be sure to feed algae wafers and veggies, and only small water changes.

I have had a 2-week-cycled small tank, which had 4 neon tetras from the start, and a common bn at the 2 week mark. This bn is now boss of this little tank, very active and always cleaning everything. Been up and running now for 8 months now.


Would love to see some pics of this big guy when you get him

Ok, thanks for the reply. The thing is, I'm pretty sure he won't sell me the bristlenose as he knows everything about our tank.

The tank is coming up 3 weeks now and has had 6 danios and 6 rasboras from the start. 3 days later neons and a few platys joined them. I'd love to get it but I am just scared about losing one, I'd feel guilty if I brought one against his advice and it then died.

I'm pretty sure it's full grown, if not it is near full grown. Not sure if it's true but I have been told that older bristlenose pleco's are quite hardy fish. There is definately a good amount of algae built up and I have algae wafers ready too. The only thing that is missing in there is bogwood, I have 3 pieces of wood that came with the second hand tank but I'm not sure what types they are. xDD

EDIT: Plus, I will definately be posting pictures if I get him. Thanks for your help btw. Umm, I don't know if it matters but there have been corys in the community tank for about a week now and they still seem to be going strong, do you recon that this could be used toward my decision?

A 6" boy is definitely full grown, they rarely get bigger than that unless of course it is a different type of bn. Commons get to about 10cm-15cm at full grown.

If there's algae in there then the bn will have a field day eating it. Bns are quite hardy fish, just make sure you acclimatise him slowly and give him plenty of hiding places. Wood makes up a part of their diet, but you might want to soak any new wood you get, or boil it to get rid of the tannins and dust. Most wood should be fine, so long as there are no nasty chemicals on it.

Corys are hardly little cats as well, and so much fun to watch too! They can help in you decision for sure :P
Just give your fish a good check-over before you go out and buy your bn, make sure they do look nice and happy, active and healthy. Do a tiny water change before you go, chuck in some of the good bio booster bacteria stuff as well, and by the time, you get back back, the temp should have normalised and you wont have to worry about disturbing the tank for a few days. Less stress on the bn.

If you feel you want to wait however, see if you can put a deposit on the fish, that way you can ensure you can get it on the 4th week. Don't rush into it if you're not sure.

I'm not sure but I think I'll go ahead with it. These corys have been pretty healthy, with about 30 fish in the tank, we have lost one new born platy and one newly brought platy.

Luckily, I know that he doesn't work on Friday so I will be able to purchase it then.

Just got the full story from my mum, he claimed that he would never say that a bristlenose could go in after 2 weeks. He also said that he would never give bad advice, he called my mum a full blown liar. He also told my mum to feed her fish twice a day, he said today that he feeds his fish once every three to four days. I'd say he isn't quite the expert we thought he was.

Going to get the guy on friday, £18 for him, he looks amazing.

30 fish in a tank that is less than 3 weeks old seems far to many. A large BN is going to put a massive strain on an already fragile system.

Please don't add any more fish untill it's cycled, there is a risk it will crash with so many fish in, if you really want the BN then ask if they will take a deposit or payment in full untill your ready for him.

What size is this community tank

I know it's hard but please be patient and let nature take it's course.

Yeah, I have told my mum about the amount of fish in there. She just seems to add more and more.

It's a 180 litre tank. o.O Exact same as the tank that I'll be breeding in.

you really need to get a handle on your mums fish. its all going to come crashing down.

Go to this website

www.aqadvisor.com

plug in all the details about the tank, size, filtration and fish and it will spit out all the details about it, water change requirements and stocking levels. I use that as a guide when i am setting up a tank for friends which i seem to be doing a lot of late.

in regards to the cycling the tank. you are looking for 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and a small amount of nitrate. that is who you know a tank is cycled. grab a test get that tests these things.

once you see that then you can get some fish

I know its easy to rush into things and go out n buy as many fish as you can fit into the tank but as stated above give the tank some time. the more fish you put in there the bigger the strain on the bioload. Id go and put a deposit or pay for the bn. That way it will still be there when you are ready. If you want any advice on the new tank you got, your better off posting pics. where are the scratches? Iv bought a tank with scratches on the front before so i just turned it around lol. If its not good enough for display quality then why not swap places with the community tank? You said its the same size tank so it shouldnt be that hard...

I'll split this post into 2 main sections so it is easier to follow, these will be 'Scratched Tank' and 'Community Tank'.

Ok, first of all, I'll explain what has happened with this scratched tank. We have contacted the seller who is the sister of the person that was actually selling it. She has stated that she will refund the fish tank providing we take it to her house. When contacting her sister, she was told that her sister will not reimburse her the £162 and is saying that it is me and my step-dad who scratched it and broke the parts after we got it. This means that I will be getting the £162 back and will be keeping it for a new Juwel Vision 180.

Community Tank

The community tank has roughly 30 fish in there, they are all however small fish such as danio's, rasboras and tetras. I will be purchasing a test for the tank as soon as possible as the test my mum purchased does not have an Amonia reading and does not give specific values for Nitrate and Nitrite. I would love to get the bristlenose tomorrow but my wants do not come above the health and wellbeing of the fish itself so I will have to be patient and wait until I can prove that the tank has matured.

I'd like to add a little bit on the end here just to say thanks for the help. I may not be getting the bristlenose from this aquatics either, when it comes time to purchase it, I will be checking to see if it is healthy and happy. The reason for this is because the fish keeper there strikes me as intellectually challenged when it comes to knowledge about keeping or breeding bristlenose... or ANY fish for that matter. He seemed to believe that testing the water would allow him to make a decision as to whether the tank is mature or not whereas ongoing tests would be required. He also believes that fish should be fed once every 3-4 days and that the display tanks that are housing the bristlenose do not require any algae as they will all be able to get what they need from these algae wafers (which I guess are given to them once every 3-4 days). If the fish keeper lacks the knowledge or common sense to look after the fish, then there may be an issue with the bristlenose itself. I was told earlier that my step-dad went to see the bristlenose and that it is practically black, that doesn't sound right to me.

EDIT: I have just used the AqAdvisor using the fish that I believe my mum has in there (I will most likely be updating it when I am 100% sure that the fish are right) and these are the results;



EDIT2: I missed 3 fish off of the above picture which I added and then realised that the dimensions of the tank and filter was wrong too. I added the correct information and the stock level is still 93%.

Glad to hear that you sorted it out about the tank

At 93% your greatly overstocked and you will be lucky if you don't lose fish, roughly 6 fish would have been enough for the cycle process. Your not doing any water changes are you

Did you read the article on cycling a new tank on AqAdvisor if not you can find it HERE.

Your being a bit harsh on the person at your LFS, I would imagine that he meant that the test readings would show how far your cycle had progressed and allow him to make a decision as to whether the tank is mature. On the other hand if they sold you all these fish knowing your tank was not cycled then I agree with you.

There are a lot of good LFS with knowlegeble staff but there are also bad ones with staff who to them it's just a job. If you need advice there is always Bristlenoseworld you can look through previous posts, or just make a new post in the relevant section.

To be honest, right now... I am just worried.

I made the decision to let the tank get to at least 6 weeks before putting it as well as an extra filter. My mum went out while I was asleep and purchased the male anyway. He went straight to the back (where there is visible algae) and munched away on that... he came across the front and while we were out the algae circle in the middle of the algae wafer we put in there has disappeared. I'm hoping he has eaten it. The reason I am scared is because at 4pm I checked and he was at the bottom of the filter sucking on the side... 9pm now, he hasn't moved. Not even a fin has moved, I'm getting extremely scared for the fish now.

I liked the surprise of my mum bringing the fish in but at the same time, I wish she hadn't for the fish and the tank's sake.

EDIT: She is doing 20% water changes right now, the site actually suggests 29%. These are weekly.

EDIT2: He has shifted now and still seems to enjoy chilling on the back of the tank. Leaving some cucumber in there overnight, fingers crossed he attaches at some point