ghost shrimp and albino bristlenose

I dunno... I know bristlenoses are omnivorous. I doubt they'd eat anything that wasn't sick and dying first... but once it gets bigger... at the 4-6 inch range, there's no telling. O__o;;

I think they would most likely be just fine together. If not, oh well. Ghost shrimp are dirt cheap and the plecos will really appreciate the treat.

plecos will eat shrimp, especially ghost shrimp. it may work for a while when the bristlenose are small, but when he gets bigger it could be a different story.

It's all a matter of how many hiding places you have for them. Shrimp are pretty good at avoiding predators of all kinds as long as they have a place to retreat to. I've had ghosts in with my angels for over a year a now. Yeah, the angels got a few but, I still have between 5 and 7 of an original 13.

Since plecos are predominantly bottom feeders, you'd do well to ad some kind of plant that grows tall and in fairly dense clusters. Anacharis comes to mind. Depending on your lighting, you might be able to go with something else. Anything to give them a place other than the gravel to crawl around on. Lava rock caves would also be good.......or caves made out of anything, really. Plecos don't strike me as remarkably good hunters so shrimp should be able to avoid them if there are any issues.

keep in mind BN's are nocturnal..that's how they get angel eggs.


also you may want to look at other options to anacharis..aka brazillian water weed, elodea densa. it is considered a Noxious weed in a whole bunch of States.

star_rider said:

also you may want to look at other options to anacharis..aka brazillian water weed, elodea densa. it is considered a Noxious weed in a whole bunch of States.

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Elodea densa, Anacharis densa, Egeria densa are all one and the same. See this:

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/datastore/detailreport.cfm?usernumber=43&surveynumber=182

Basically, if your LFS sells it, it's not being regulated in your state. The federal government's noxious weed list consists of numerous plants that are common in the aquarium hobby. Unless your state is regulating these materials, the federal government doesn't care about it. This is because not all states have the necessary conditions for a noxious weed to become established. Also, in some states, the noxious weed list arrived too little too late and there are already widespread populations of noxious weeds that are too well-established to ever even consider eliminating them.

This is an excerpt from the federal noxious weed act:

Federal Noxious Weed Act
Sec. 2814. Management of undesirable plants on Federal lands

(d) Exception
A Federal agency is not required under this section to carry out
programs on Federal lands unless similar programs are being
implemented generally on State or private lands in the same area.

I think if a state has no regulations/restrictions on certain plants then it is okay for that plant to be transported into and sold within that state. The federal government, in this case the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine Division, will not step in and regulate the movement/destruction of plants on their noxious weed list. Basically, if it doesn't pose a threat in a state then they won't bother. It's up to the state to decide if a plant poses a threat......from what I've gathered.

I work with the USDA PPQ division on a joint insect eradication program. I keep meaning to ask for the specifics of their regulations since my LFS's definitely sell plants that are on the list. If I remember to do this, I'll try to get the actual logic behind which plants get regulated and why. But, I'm pretty sure it's because of the exception quoted above.

LOL no, you will be 100% fine. I had my 6" female BN pleco with my ghost shrimp and they were fine, BN plecos are primarily herbivorous and the only thing mine attacked were veggies.

fishcatch22 said:

LOL no, you will be 100% fine. I had my 6" female BN pleco with my ghost shrimp and they were fine, BN plecos are primarily herbivorous and the only thing mine attacked were veggies.

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I've always wondered if plecos would be able to eat shrimp. Like I said, they don't strike me as being very good predators at all. Plus, ghost shrimp are really good at giving fish the slip. Having never kept a pleco of any kind I wasn't really sure if there was any potential for predatory behavior. Good to see that someone has some real-life experience with this issue.