b.nose by day???

[Cavafish]

Hi.


I am thinking of getting a bristlenose plec as just about everything i read tells me that they are amazing algae eaters and peaceful (if territorial) fish. Got a couple of questions though;

1. will they get along with my angelicus plec L004/28 (I dont know if its a boy or girl)

2. How big do they get in general?

3. Are there different types of bristlenose plec?

4. Are there any that are not strictly nocturnal - I would love to see more of my plec than I do now.


MANY MANY thanks for any help.

 

[smithrc]

all of the question have positive out comes...

they will get along fine

they get to about 5 inches

the common Ancistrus sp. are the most common

and they will be out and about loads - although they do hide more as they mature - ours still come out loads - even if they do run when they first see you

 

[samthefishman]

Smith is right. I have a very large Bristlenose (5") and he is always in his cave, its abit annoying cos he looks stunning with all his bristle's but owel i saw him alot when he was little

 

[Cavafish]

Thanks guys thats great news!!

I was dabbling with the idea of getting another angelicus plec to breed them but I'm just not experienced enough for that yet. Been fish keepig 9 months now.
I have seen people list their bristlenoses as albino, golden etc:

are all of the 'ancistrus' plecs bristlenoses?

do they all have the same algae eating powers as the commom one is said to possess?

is there another kind of plec that will devour algae (off of plants esp), look great, and be seen sometimes??

I know I am looking for the 'perfect' plec but you are the guys who are going to know it seems otherwise I will be trawling through scotcat and other sites for the next millenium

Thanks again

Cava

 

[yhbae]

I dunno about others but my bristlenoses are outside most of the time - I can always see where they are in the tank, even during the day.

Yes, all Ancistrus are called bristlenose pleco (or sometimes bushynose pleco). You may get some variations of them, such as long fin, albino, and color of their eyes (red vs black).

In my opinion, they are better at eating algae than common pleco, relative to their size. I wouldn't want a common ones anyways as the amount of algae they eat is not even comparable to the amount of mess they make...

I don't know if there's any other plecos that eat algae better - bristlenose has one of the best reputation for this...