Bristlenose pleco can’t keep up

[smackitsakic]

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if my bristlenose pleco is too small for my 50 gallon tank. He is small, only about 1.5” in length and my tank is growing with algae everywhere. I previously had a much larger 5-6” common pleco in there but rehomed it. My tank also has a couple of really small snails in it.

should I be looking to add another small pleco jnto the tank or is that a bad idea? Do I just need to be patient and wait for this little guy to grow bigger?

 

[Aspen35]

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if my bristlenose pleco is too small for my 50 gallon tank. He is small, only about 1.5” in length and my tank is growing with algae everywhere. I previously had a much larger 5-6” common pleco in there but rehomed it. My tank also has a couple of really small snails in it.

should I be looking to add another small pleco jnto the tank or is that a bad idea? Do I just need to be patient and wait for this little guy to grow bigger?

I think it would be best to find out what is causing the algae. Yes, if you had a large pleco, you would see much less algae, but you should still figure out what’s causing the algae problem.

 

[CassCats]

Yep, figure out the reason behind your algae, usually its a light problem such as on too long or too intense.
Reducing light time to 6 hours a day is good, or splitting the light time in two separate blocks.

A BN pleco needs to be supplemented other foods as well, algae wafers and veggies, once a week a protein source.

And should have driftwood to graze on too to help digestion.

Best stick to one pleco, if yours ends up male, it may be aggressive towards another if that ends up male too. Unless you have another tank large enough to move the other pleco to if it doesn't work out.

 

[Aspen35]

Yep, figure out the reason behind your algae, usually its a light problem such as on too long or too intense.
Reducing light time to 6 hours a day is good, or splitting the light time in two separate blocks.

A BN pleco needs to be supplemented other foods as well, algae wafers and veggies, once a week a protein source.

And should have driftwood to graze on too to help digestion.

Best stick to one pleco, if yours ends up male, it may be aggressive towards another if that ends up male too. Unless you have another tank large enough to move the other pleco to if it doesn't work out.

Haha yeah they need lots of food, they always seem to be hungry!