Are These The Same?

[littlelegs]

Are bristlenose pleco the same as a bristlenose catfish?

 

[PaulasPets]

Yes, bushynose or bristlenose pleco is the same as bristlenose catfish. The scientific name is Ancistrus cirrhosus

Paula

 

[Breeze7050]

Are bristlenose pleco the same as a bristlenose catfish?

yes, I believe they are.

 

[littlelegs]

Thank you, i been to several lfs and i cant find any. They keep trying to sell me plecs, but i dont want one of them because i dont want to have to rehouse it once it gets too big. And i understand bn dont get as big.

do you know where i could buy one online?

 

[Callum]

its only the common plecs who get really huge. there are lots of plecs that grow smaller there is a pinned toppic in the pleco section 35 plecs under 20cm or something etc...

 

[Teelie]

The sailfin is also a common plec that gets big. Most of the other large panaques are normally special ordered though and you'd know what you were getting into.

I know plenty of places to buy them in North America but none in Europe.

 

[Breeze7050]

You can try aquabid.com they usually have tons, but Im not sure about shipping for you. I personally just got some off of Ebay.com. But, that was in the US. Def. worth a look though! Good luck!

 

[DarkEntity]

its only the common plecs who get really huge. there are lots of plecs that grow smaller there is a pinned toppic in the pleco section 35 plecs under 20cm or something etc...

Thats not strictly true, there are lots of Plecs that get large (which is imo anything including and above 10")

Small plecs will generally always cost you more to buy as there currently seems to be very few breeders. My Tiger cost me 30quid, Zebra will cost 100 quid etc....... Bristlenose cats are smaller, but are still 8" max so still quite large.

Be very very picky when getting a plec

 

[woogrl]

The rubber-lipped plecs usually stay under 5 inches and are relativly easy to find and inexpensive.

 

[tophat665]

The rubber-lipped plecs usually stay under 5 inches and are relativly easy to find and inexpensive.

I'll second that. I have three bristlenoses in two tanks, a Clown Pleco, and a rubber-lip (bulldog) pleco. The bristlenoses are great algae eaters once they get over about 3". The Clown Pleco is seldom seen and apparently Never eats algae (pretty fish if you can spot him, though). The bulldog, though... at under 2" keeps a 20 gallon high spotless enough to starve the ottos that were in there.

The one thing about bulldogs, though: they're not precisely tropical. You can keep them in a typical tropical tank, but, very like white clods, they prefer a lower temperature, goos water movement, and a stream bed type bottom. Oh, and they like to hide under things.

Back on bristlenoses for a second: Ancistrus cirrhosus is one of a half dozen species. Some of them get as long as 8", but 5" is a more usual max size. If you're going to spring for the shipping from aqua-bid, buy yourself an albino. They tend to stay under 4", and they are gorgeous in an admittedly Lovecraftian sort of a way.

The other neat thing about Bristlenoses is, from everything I have read, they are the easiest of plecos to breed.