Bushynose on my Discus!

[marilyn1998]

I know Bushynose are good with Discus and I still feel that is true. But on 3 occasions now I have seen one of BN's attach to my discus!!!

On the first occasion, I was watching the BN eating algae on the back glass. It turned suddenly and attached to the side of my female red checker. She kinda shuddered and he let go. It only lasted a second, like she had accidentally been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The second time, I was cleaning the back corner where all the fish congragate when I syphon the tank. As I was leaving the area I noticed the BN on her again. I had to move the syphon against the BN to get him to move.

The last time was last night when the BN was again cleaning the glass, and as he left the glass ended up on the butterfly! Again, lasted only a second, but now I am starting to wonder. Am I seeing the beginnig of a problem here?

Just call me paranoid!

[yeomans]

I once read somewheres that plecos find the skin secreations of discus quite tasty, not sure how much truth there is in that, I've never kept plecos with discus before, someone who has could probably better diagnose the situation.

[phalough]

I've kept royals and gold nuggets in the past however now that from time to time I've heard of this happening it's the reason I'm going oto's instead. I a going to by about 10-12 of these and that should definately do the trick. If your going to keep them together at the first sign of injury they must be seperated for good.

[cgm246]

believe it or not i had the same problem last night w/Chinese algae eaters...It chased my discus around the tank! I got rid of them, back to the LFS from where they came.Any suggestions to an alternate cleaner?? They did so well for so long, but I guess once it got a taste, it would not give it up....

[White Worm]

I have personally seen plecos chase my other fresh water fish to include discus and try to attach, so I dont keep any. The bigger they get, the more aggressive they get towards other tank mates. I think they do have a likeing to slime and no better place to get it than straight from the source. Discus can usually avoid it but plecos can be just as fast. No thanks. I hear some people dont have problems but I can just speak from my own experience.

[Greg Richardson]

Buy them small as u can. They clean better for one. I've tried regular pleco and had problem. Now I have bunch of small bn ones and no problem.
Doesn't mean it won't happen down the road though.
The cleaning benefits far out weigh the risks imo.
I have tried other cleaner types of fish and no go.
Small BN the best so far.

[pcsb23]

Marilyn, I've never witnessed a BN plec attach. I have 6 of them and no probs. I also have an L Plec, not sure which and that is fine. However I have witnessed common plecs do it. My advice, any doubts get rid. I don't think it is comon with BN's. I've also seen clowns attach too btw!

[tpl*co]

Do you feed your bristlenose? See if supplimenting some algae wafers or a slice of weighed down cucumber would be tastier to your BN, if not you may need to take that guy out!

Tina

[marilyn1998]

Barb,

You know I forgot to add about feeding them!! Firsdt off they are like 2" and go crazy on the glass and the wood. I was feeding them veggie disks at night, but havent done that in like 4 days since the discus were eating them instead. I was going to feed them right at lights out, but I keep forgetting.

I was gone over the weekend and they got nothing other than flake. And it has been these last 3 days I have witnessed this. Each time it was like they didnt mean to do the attaching, and left the discus. I saw no marks on the discus when they let go.

I bet it IS the fact they arent getting their supplements. I will watch close and update in a few days. First time I see it as a threat to the discus, tho and they are gone.

[traco]

Canned green beans work well too. I feed my plecos daily with some sort of vegetation. Try that, maybe, and see how things go.

[traco]

I fell into the not feeding route for awhile. I figured they were getting enough with leftover flakes, etc... and occasionally, I would feed something green. Now that I feed the plecos daily, they eat their food all up. I was starving the poor things!

[marilyn1998]

Barb,

How do you feed them? Just put a green bean in the substrate? Wont it float?
I am willing to feed them... I tried zucchini once and it started to rot with no bites out of it so I didnt try again.

[MiamiDan]

Best way to feed plecos is Algae wafers in a can. Any LFS have them, specially for plecos. They won't rot or pollute the water, and if anything, will desintegrate slowly, but trust me, feed them just before turning off the lights & all wafers will be gone by the morning. Trust me, I had about 15 species of Plecos once, including Zebra plecos. By the way, I was at Wattley's today & picked up 6 wild bushynose, about 4" size. Gabe has about 2-3 on each aquarium, including breeding pairs with fries & wrigglers. He told me he's never seen any problems. Today I saw thousands of discus....I felt I died & went to heaven...

[marilyn1998]

Wow Dan!!! That is awesome. I guess the key is the feeding. But if I see it again, anything bothering my discus is BAIT!

[traco]

The canned sliced green beans sink to the bottom. I just open the can, rinse and put a couple in each tank. The rest I just stick in the fridge till next day. In my 90 gallon, I put about 4 beans down but I also have baby apple snails that love it too.