Do Bristlenose's Need Bog Wood?

[scobie140]

After some research it seems that some people say that bristlenose need bog wood as its part of their diet and some say they don't require it. I have one in my community tank and i have a bit of bog wood in there and he seems happy enough. A kind breeder who lives near me gave me some very young bn which im looking to set up a tank for them to grow them out in as they are temperarly in my betta tank till we move and I get my other tank set up. Basicly I want to know if they will actully need bog wood in their tank or is it not necesary? I would like to have the tank without it as my betta tank looks soo much clearer than my community tank.

They are just the common bn as i know that some breeds need more protien in their diet but these need mostly vegtable matter from what i've read.

 

[fishyfeet]

Its been asked before

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/262238-bristlenose-plecos-bog-wood/


actually its not very informative, i found this also

They need a piece of bogwood in the tank, which they will chew on to get the lignin from it which they need to aid their digestion. This is an essential requirement as bristlenose plecs kept in tanks without bogwood have a shorter lifespan.

 

[ChrisCook]

Correct, they need bogwood to rasp on

 

[scobie140]

cool just making sure. Need to trawl the pet shops to find a nice peice when I get paid so i've got it when it comes to setting the tank up

 

[JenCliBee]

To answer the question, no they don't essentially need it. The stuff within good quality foods will be sufficient enough to act like anything a piece of bogwood can offer.

In theory lignin is found in most plant matter as far as im aware, so it could be substituted in many other ways than bogwood, in fact if it's found in plant matter, any man made foods with a plant protein/extracts in i would imagine would contain this apparent lignin needed which leaves bogwood as a necessity... redundant.

BN's don't eat bogwood, they will rasp on it removing any surface matter rather than actually eat the wood like panaque species.

Saying all this, i would still advise adding bogwood to a tank, it will do more good to a plec than not having any at all and for this basis alone it would always be advised but not actually essential.