Bent Needle
Aquarium Advice Regular
I bought a juvenile (~1.5 inch) bristlenose pleco from my LFS a couple days ago. I am absolutely enamored with the little thing, but after watching it for awhile have some questions.
Is it normal for them to lose color when stressed? He was a beautiful spotted dark brown at the store, but when I opened the bag at home he was beige! I was horrified and scared to death. There were also all these little tiny pieces of stuff in the water...couldn't tell if it was just waste or fin damage.
I say fin damage because now his fins are all pale and raggedy around the edges, even though he's once again dark brown. They were definitely NOT like that at the store, but I noticed it as soon as I put him in the acclimation bucket. What in the world?
Is it normal for them to ignore offered food if there is lots of algae in the tank? It did nibble a bit on an algae wafer but quickly abandoned that in favor of the wall of algae on the back of my tank, and has been diligently cleaning every single other surface in my tank as well.
You can see the feathering bits on the fins a little better here, but it's hard to get a good pic, it's constantly on the move.
He seems very happy, for all my worrying...constantly cleaning off stuff, hanging out on the driftwood or in the little driftwood/rock hideout I made for him. I thought plecos were shy but this one is out quite a bit, even with the light on. He'll spook if you walk by really close to the tank but comes out again within a few minutes.
Is it normal for them to lose color when stressed? He was a beautiful spotted dark brown at the store, but when I opened the bag at home he was beige! I was horrified and scared to death. There were also all these little tiny pieces of stuff in the water...couldn't tell if it was just waste or fin damage.
I say fin damage because now his fins are all pale and raggedy around the edges, even though he's once again dark brown. They were definitely NOT like that at the store, but I noticed it as soon as I put him in the acclimation bucket. What in the world?
Is it normal for them to ignore offered food if there is lots of algae in the tank? It did nibble a bit on an algae wafer but quickly abandoned that in favor of the wall of algae on the back of my tank, and has been diligently cleaning every single other surface in my tank as well.
You can see the feathering bits on the fins a little better here, but it's hard to get a good pic, it's constantly on the move.
He seems very happy, for all my worrying...constantly cleaning off stuff, hanging out on the driftwood or in the little driftwood/rock hideout I made for him. I thought plecos were shy but this one is out quite a bit, even with the light on. He'll spook if you walk by really close to the tank but comes out again within a few minutes.