albino bristlenose questions

[Wren]

I have a female albino bristlenose pleco that is maybe 4-5 years old. She is the first one I have ever owned. Since she has done so well, I have been thinking about getting a male. Are all albino bristlenose plecos the same species? If not, is there any particular species that is more commonly sold in pet stores? Is this female too old to breed? Will she tolerate a male after so many years of having the tank to herself?

She's in a 125 gal, with some rainbows and a couple large clown loaches. There is a big piece of driftwood that forms a cave that is hers. There are some plastic plants and a rapidly dwindling selection of live plants (aka - salad bar).

Thanks for any advice!
Lisa

 

[dbosman]

While no one can be positive about what are commonly sold as bristle noses, they do breed. They follow simple Mendelian genetics. Adding a male albino bristle nose will, presuming they breed, produce albino bristle nose babies.

If however you add a brown bristle nose male any fry will be brown. Cross those to each other and the mysteries of genetics kicks in. 1/4 of their fry would be albino, 1/2 would carry the recessive albino genetics, and 1/4 would have only genetics for the standard color pattern.

I'll suggest you look for a long fin albino male.