Egg bound BN Pleco

[Luis]

Hey everyone,

ive noticed my biggest female that’s about 3 inches has quite a big belly on her and her mood has changed quite a lot since adding two male bristlenose (about 2inch each) about a week ago. 
she used to be very active moving at the front of the glass and now for the past 5 days or so she’s just been staying still in one spot. 
 

Does anyone have any advice or experience to say if what I’m describing is normal or if there needs to be some intervention to keep her healthy. 
 

My intention isn’t to breed them as they’re in a 600 litre tank but if they do, there’s plenty of space to try out. 
 

Here are some photos of her and where I see her most of the time now: 

let me know what you think, 

thanks, 

Luis 🙂 

[gardenman]

I wouldn't worry too much. She might just be adjusting to the new males in the tank and laying low. If she's eating and just laying low for a bit, it wouldn't bother me. 

[Luis]

On 1/25/2022 at 3:28 PM, gardenman said:

I wouldn't worry too much. She might just be adjusting to the new males in the tank and laying low. If she's eating and just laying low for a bit, it wouldn't bother me. 

It’s been hard to see her eat lately since she typically stays there throughout the day now. I’ll pop in some of her favourite veggies today and dim the lights down a bit earlier than usual today and see if I can catch her snacking hahah. 
 

thanks for that 🙏

[Luis]

Hey, just woke up and saw the BN plec dead next to a piece of zucchini. 
It seems like every time I get a female that’s Eggbound she always dies. Happened about a 3 weeks ago too. 😞

Anyone have advice on keeping these? 
 

my tank is 600 litres, plenty of wood and hiding spots. 
I feed veggies regularly, feed algae wafers, do 35-40% weekly water changes. I don’t know how to keep female bristlenose alive for some reason. 😔

I really like the fish so it’s really upsetting it’s happened twice. 
first time I thought maybe it was because I didn’t have any Males to help the female lay her eggs but then I got two and same thing happened. 
 

Please anyone know what could be the issue? 
 

thanks,

luis.