Is this normal?

My male bristlenose has wedged himself into a tiny hole in my driftwood (well all of him that will fit, I can still see his tail) and Ive not seen him come out for days even to eat. He has turned around in the hole so I know he isn't stuck but is it normal for him to stay there all the time? He was in good condition last time I saw him but I'm worried he isn't getting enough food.

maybe he has eggs in there? or dont you have a female? most people destroy wood and ornaments to get to their stuck bns. its up to you how worried you are about him

I have a juvi in there with him but its only just over 6cm and grown considerably in the last few weeks, I don't think its old enough to breed even if it is female. I think hes there by choice so I don't want to dislodge him and stress him out. If it sounds like normal breeding behaviour I'll leave him be and make sure theres always a bit of veg out if he wants it.

Is it common for them to get stuck?

I would move the piece of driftwood just to have a look.
They are not that are not that sensitive and don't seem to get upset when things get moved around.
I do it every week when I do cleaning duties and they just look on.
Marty

Obviously I was wrong about my female being too young, there are lots of beautiful little fry in the cave now.

Ony wrote:

Obviously I was wrong about my female being too young, there are lots of beautiful little fry in the cave now.

Congratulations on the pitter patter of little fins in your tank.
Marty

well done

How wonderful and exciting for you! What a surprise too- first the tension and then the surprise of little babes. Love this story and post- just made my week for sure!

Thanks guys

Ive not spotted any since this one little adventurer disappeared off the front glass yesterday afternoon. Dad is still on guard so fingers crossed I get a few healthy babies but not so many that I can't safely re-home them.

Ony wrote:

Thanks guys

Ive not spotted any since this one little adventurer disappeared off the front glass yesterday afternoon. Dad is still on guard so fingers crossed I get a few healthy babies but not so many that I can't safely re-home them.

Nice looking tank you have there.
Marty

Thats only a couple of inches of it XD

Ony wrote:

Thats only a couple of inches of it XD

Thats really nice. I like how you have not overdone it with the plants.
Looks nicely balanced. A all round good looking healthy tank .
Marty

Thanks, I'm really enjoying this tank.

TBH I love jungly overgrown look but couldn't afford to buy any where near the volume of plants it would take to furnish a tank this size. Its taken the best part of a year to grow in to this from about 50 plants (the entire lawn started as 7 plantlets!) so its sort of evolved by itself. It is a nice way to do a tank if you accept that its not going to look perfect overnight.

Ony wrote:

Thanks, I'm really enjoying this tank.

TBH I love jungly overgrown look but couldn't afford to buy any where near the volume of plants it would take to furnish a tank this size. Its taken the best part of a year to grow in to this from about 50 plants (the entire lawn started as 7 plantlets!) so its sort of evolved by itself. It is a nice way to do a tank if you accept that its not going to look perfect overnight.

I think patience is something everybody that has a fish-tank has to learn.
It looks like it was worth the effort.
Do you use fertilizers and CO2 ????
Marty

More ferts than you can shake a stick at but no CO2. I started an aquaponics experiment in the over head filter trays in an effort to keep nitrates below tap levels (50ppm here) but it worked too well. Left me with the option of throwing away lots of pretty plants or a light macro dosing regime, I went with the ferts. Of course once I did that everything started to sprout, I don't know the concentration of the stuff I use but I now throw in about 10ml every 2/3 days to maintain measurable nitrate and phosphate levels.

Theres a section of my filter tray

[quote="Ony"]More ferts than you can shake a stick at but no CO2. I started an aquaponics experiment in the over head filter trays in an effort to keep nitrates below tap levels (50ppm here) but it worked too well. Left me with the option of throwing away lots of pretty plants or a light macro dosing regime, I went with the ferts. Of course once I did that everything started to sprout, I don't know the concentration of the stuff I use but I now throw in about 10ml every 2/3 days to maintain measurable nitrate and phosphate levels.

Theres a section of my filter tray

Very clever idea to soak up the nitrates. Plus it looks pretty cool. You could even grow tomatoes off your fish tank
A tasty way to use the fishtank.
Ferts are pretty important. I guess you don't have such a high concentration of plants for CO2.
Nice setup.
Marty

I've been tempted by CO2 but initially didn't go for it after reading about people who have gassed their fish. By the time I looked at it again I had this big tank (the most common visitor comment is that you could take a bath in it) so when I worked it out, injected CO2 was expensive even offset it against what I was spending on excel. DIY CO2 has a reputation to for being unreliable which doesn't really appeal when I'm getting decent results without it. I am tempted to go back to excel as I'm sure the hygrophila looked a bit more lush when I was using it.

Ony wrote:

I've been tempted by CO2 but initially didn't go for it after reading about people who have gassed their fish. By the time I looked at it again I had this big tank (the most common visitor comment is that you could take a bath in it) so when I worked it out, injected CO2 was expensive even offset it against what I was spending on excel. DIY CO2 has a reputation to for being unreliable which doesn't really appeal when I'm getting decent results without it. I am tempted to go back to excel as I'm sure the hygrophila looked a bit more lush when I was using it.

I don't use CO2 myself but I give my tanks EasyCarbo from Easy life. A little each day does wonders. Also it has the added benefit of keeping black beard algae at bay.
Marty