What do you know about BN Plecos?

Cichlidgirl91

Cichlidgirl91

AC Members
Feb 8, 2008
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Tobaccoville, NC
I'm surprised that this isn't a sticky yet!
If anybody out there has some good tips for keeping Bristlenose (BN) plecs, post it here!
I'm wanting to try my hand at breeding them, but it takes away a good bit of time to try and find good websites about BN plecos.
Let's get started!
 
Planet Catfish has lots of info on Ancistrus sp. 3 ("Common Bristlenose"). I've got a trio (1 male, 2 females) which I bought at <1" total length- these bred after about 6-7 months, but only after I added a slate cave:

my trials and tribulations thread is here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144924

The problem seems to be not getting them to breed, but getting them to stop breeding without splitting the sexes up! (The male is currently fanning clutch 3 in less than two months, so he's definitely being rehomed to a different tank after this one!).
 
I forgot to say, common bristlenoses aren't fussy about water temperature or hardness/pH, although they do need vegetables and bodwood to really thrive.

Some of the newer imports have much more fussy water conditions- if you want to breed them the "commons" (Ancsitrus sp.3) are much easier than the wild-caughts coming in.
 
One tip... wait for Pinkertd and/or TTA to chime in. :)
 
They are not hard to keep or breed.....as Carp37 says, once you've got it right and they start breeding, it's impossible to stop unless you separate them. I chose to raise up some young F1 bristlenose which were more suitable to the higher discus tank temps than common bristlenose. So mine were kept in tap water, ph 7.6, moderately hard water, anywhere from 80F to 86, the tank got 50-75% water changes twice a week. They seem to thrive in a planted tank with driftwood. And they need to be fed supplements in addition to tank algae. Mine love raw zuchinni and the dark romaine lettuce leaves as well as shrimp pellets and hikari algae wafers. The also got the occasional frozen bloodworm treat too. The males are awesome dads, but will ferociously tail whack any fish that swims nearby the cave when he is guarding. My cories learned to stay away from the cave, my black neons weren't so lucky. He tail slapped and killed 6 before I could get them out of the tank. The 3 survivors live happily in my discus tank now. And oh yes, they poop a lot!!!:grinyes:
 
i have found them to have varying personalities. my 3.5" BN is really aggressive and even had regular fights with my 6" green terror/4" syno and killed my bulldog plec and won the fights every time. was gonna get him a female to give him something to do but i dont want him getting more aggro. btw he is in a 4x2x2 so its not like he is in cramped conditions.
i think he is probably a rogue personality though and far from the normal/usual personality, but just so you know they can be aggro.
 
My male never killed any other fish, but was always hyper-aggressive when there was food around- I had to remove them from corys and Brochis. The females are much less aggressive.
 
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