Bristlenose pleco questions.

msouth468

msouth468

Fighting for the little guy
Nov 29, 2005
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couchpotatodx.proboards66.com
I bought two britslenose plecos and was wondering if they are supposed to have any sign of a bristle yet. They are about 2 inches long and neither has even a bump on their face. Also one of them has white tips on its fins. I just want to make sure that I didn't get some other kind of bristlenose instead. I trust the pet store guy so I don't think he made a mistake.

Also, I try to feed them algae wafers and blanched and regular vegetables. But all they do is eat off the bottom gravel, the driftwood and the algae off the glass. Is that going to be enough food for them? There are other fish in the tank so they have a source of food from leftover fish flake as well. And they don't appear small or malnourished (they are bigger now than when I got them) and they poop all the friggin time. So I just need to know if they are getting enough to eat.

I will post pics when I get home from class and finish my statistics HW. But my camera isn't the best so hopefully I can get a good picture. That and the fish might not be the easiest to find.
 
the males will develop the bristle more so than female tho it varies a bit.
some may not develop the bristles for awhile .

they feed primarily at night I don't see mine much during the day.

and I have quite a few of them.

(10) in different tanks.
you will also see some grow faster than others. I have some males that are hitting the 6" mark
 
Yours are still young yet at 2". They won't show signs of bristles until they are a bit bigger. If they are not eating the veggies, it's possible they are getting enough to eat in the tank. They should have a round little belly when you see them against the glass. With some varieties of bristlenose the females will get very small bristles and other varieties no female bristles whatsoever. If they are growing and pooping you're doing something right! It wouldn't hurt to throw an algae wafer in once or twice a week after you turn the lights out. Check to see if it's gone in the morning. The bigger they get, the less they are out and about during the daytime, especially if they see movement in the room. White tips on fins is not unsual either. I'm assuming they are regular brown bristlenose.
 
Hi Deb,
I have at least one bone-fide pair with a second pair of albino BN's.
 
I dunno about yours but my BN's are PIGS!!!

I introduced a pair to a 29 that had algae growing on all the walls.. a mat on the back wall..
the two I added I got from Deb. they wiped out all the algae in 3-4 days..
after that algae tabs and zuke's.
I go thru a med zuke every week..I thought about growing this weed to save $$
lol

once they figure out blanched veggies.. they'll be fine.
 
Well, I must have the right ones. Mine aren't to shy and are really active through the day. I'll keep adding the wafers at night but I will never know if they eat them or not since the wafers dissolve after about an hour anyway.
 
I got my BN pleco when he already has his bristles, and looking at his pattern compared to Common Plecos, the patterns look totally different. Mine also has white tips on the edges of his pectoral fins, both tips of his tail fin, and his dorsal fins.
 
Trying to get my camera to take a picture of my plecs is a pain in the rear. Every time I get it to focus the darn fish swims away. And still no luck getting them to eat anything other than algae wafers and what is on the glass. Seems that is all they want.
 
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