mixing plecos

[downloader]

I have a rubber nose pleco in a 55 gal. Can I add a bristlenose pleco to the tank? Will they fight?/or is it ok? This is a planted tank, will the bristle eat or distroy the plants?

[JamisonBWolsh]

I have:

Gold nugget: 3 inches
starlight Bristlenose: 3 inches
Orange spot pleco: 8 inches


they seem to all get along.

[Archer]

I think it depends on how large the tank is,
and how many hiding places there are.

The bigger the tank/more hiding places,
the less they will fight.

I have a zebra plec and a clown plec
in a 29 gallon. They do fight occasionally,
but have enough caves and hiding places
to feel cozy.

Not sure if the bristlenose will eat the plants.
I do have oto's, and they are perfect addition
to a planted tank, IMO.

[koolkatzfish]

I have a rubbernosed pl*co in my 44 gallon tank and a pair of bristlenoses. I have many caves. The rubber nose has its territory and often chases the larger bristlenoses away from it when I feed them algae wafers. Oddly enough he has now problems sharing the wafers with my yoyo loaches, I often see them nibbling one together and also laying together. Mostly just head butts, never any bloodshed. I have several caves and my bristlenoses breed monthly.
Regarding plants, no the bristles will not eat them, they will clean the leaves if algae gets on them. I have many plants in my tank.
If you haven't had the rubbernose for very long, be warned they will sometimes lay on their back like they are dead, they aren't.
I love all 3 of these pl*cos, they are not shy and I see them all the time.

[1 fish 2 fish]

how do plecos do the whole aggressive, terretorial fighting thing?
it must be interesting to watch.

[koolkatzfish]

Basically its kind of a head butt thing, then he chases them around the tank a little. Since no one has been seriously hurt it is fun to watch.

[mokmu]

I have a Vampire pl*c actually clamp (with its sucker) on the fin of a SnowKing twice his size. Funny, the SnowKing is the king of the tank. That is when the Vampire is not doing his rounds.

Also most plecs have a set of spikes (odontodes?) underneath its gills that they use to ward off their enemies. You should see it, it is fantastic. Like Blade's sword when someone else handles this weapon. They also try and poke off their enemies using the ends of their fins.

Pseudacanthicus species and the Acanthicus species have special spikes on their bodies as part of their armour. They use this to swat at their aggressors. They usually don't have that many enemies since they are well covered. These spikes are really very sharp. When handling adult pl*cs like these one should wear gloves.

[BK]

The only pleco I have ever had really fight a lot where my L204 and Mustard spot panaqulous when they were in quarantine and they it was just the swim by, head but, and retreat, no real damage done. This was most likely do to the smaller quarantine tank and that they were wild caught. None of the plecos in my 120-gallon fight but my big common does "flex" hi muscles once in a while just to show the smaller common who’s the boss.

I have seen some major aggression between some juvenile L114s and sometimes among clown plecos at a local LFS but they were really packed in the tank. I believe it was mostly a space issue. if you have any agression i would expect to see it from the rubber lip rather than the bristlenose.

If they have enough space and hiding spots/driftwood I don’t think you’re likely to have a problem, but fish each have their own personality and this makes it hard to formulate generalized rules on how fish will interact.

[1 fish 2 fish]

hehe cool, if anyone has any pics I would love to see them