Bristles my new bristlenose pleco is here now

[FeelinALittleFishy]

ok so I got a bristlenose pleco ( albino) and I put some lettuce in thinking he needed some food but he totally ignored it. Was he just not hungry or was it something bad. He has a big log of Mahogany drift wood. Also he just sucks up the algae in the back. Is this normal or bad.

 

[fishorama]

My favorite way to entice bottom feeders is a slice of zucchini (or romaine) with a couple small slits & bits of pellet or wafer pushed into the slits. Try it!

It sounds like you just got him? There's all kind of biofilm & algae that maybe more to it's liking at first, be patient. Fish can go quite a while without food, especially algae grazers. Even if you can't see it, there may be all kind of food available.

Tell us more about your tank...are those real plants (more food)? What size tank is it? Other fish? We want to know...everything!

 

[FreshyFresh]

My two bristle nosed plecos showed no interest in lettuce, but they go nuts over cucumber. I buy those small pickle sized cucumbers, peel the skin with a potato peeler, drive a long stainless steel screw into it so it will sink and drop it in. My plecos are on it as soon as it hits bottom. I actually have to do two separate chunks because one pleco chases the other away otherwise. After about 2 days the cucmber pieces are completely gone. Nothing to remove but the screws.

 

[FeelinALittleFishy]

I am gonna put in a divider to divide the cray and bristles. Is this ok

 

[Rbishop]

A divider may work, but you are best to get rid of the cray....

 

[smitty]

The cucumber always seem to work pretty good.

 

[FeelinALittleFishy]

No I will never get rid of my cray. Also pleco died. Got a six inch common and it is eating cucumber rapidly I am using a metal thing to weigh cucumber down. And when the cray comes over the pleco swishes its tail and hits it then the cray shoots back really fast.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Not sure what sized tank you have, but common plecos can grow to over a foot long, require lots of driftwood to rasp on and lots of veggie matter to eat. They are poop making machines. I've known a few folks who've housed common pelcos in a 55g all by themselves because of their size and mess and they still looked cramped in there.

 

[FeelinALittleFishy]

i have one of those big fluval canister filters. So far I haven't even found any poop yet. Also have a big log of driftwood

 

[Vincenia]

Warning, commen plecos do grow very very fast. I do know they can out grow their tanks. Like Freshy had said, they grow over a foot long, sometimes up to two feet. Depending on species of pleco that is called a common.

Normally its best to stick to a smaller species of pleco like bristlenose, clown, or rubber lip.