Is It Okay To Have More Than 1 Bristlenose In A Community Tank?

[ey2006]

I currently have 1 juvenile (1.5") bristlenose in my 300L community tank...he/she is still too young for me to sex, but I wanted to add another 1 or 2 bristlenose in the tank.

Will this be an issue? I've read that females are not aggressive and are fine together, but males can be territorial if there is not enough space in the tank or enough hiding spots/driftwood. But the problem is, its almost impossible to sex the bristlenose when you buy them at the LFS as they are all sold as juveniles, so would I be able to have 2 or 3 bristlenoses in my tank?

Has anyone here had more than 1 bristlenose in their tanks? Did they fight?

 

[fuzzyferret]

I've got three. One with quite a smooth nose (think it's a female), one with spiky nose, and one with huge antler like spikes. They get on fine.

Every now and again they bump into each other, but they don't fight, they just swim off in other directions!

I don't know if you're meant to keep them in ones or twos etc, but then again, my fish can't read!

 

[breezer40]

In a 300ltr tank i would say you would be fine with a couple maybe three in total. They do need a territory especially if they turn out male so make sure they have lots of caves.

 

[SirMinion]

I have six in a 180L and although the males do spar occasionaly, there's never been any injuries.

 

[RadaR]

Seems fine. Just provide nice little caves here and there.

 

[dylema]

My doninant male just chases the others away from his chosen cave or food sometimes but doesn't do more than butt his head into the others if he can. They don't seem to fight as the non-dominant ones always swim away. I have got 4 pvc pipe caves and a big stone cave with various entrances as well as lots of plants for 3 mature BN and a few tiny adolecent ones.

 

[ey2006]

I've got three. One with quite a smooth nose (think it's a female), one with spiky nose, and one with huge antler like spikes. They get on fine.

Every now and again they bump into each other, but they don't fight, they just swim off in other directions!

I don't know if you're meant to keep them in ones or twos etc, but then again, my fish can't read!

Hi fuzzyferret, how big are your bristlenoses? I wanted to know how big they need to be before you can see their spikes (bristles)?

How long have you had them?

The problem lies in the fact that males when fully grown can get territorial if they are not enough hiding spots.

 

[ey2006]

In a 300ltr tank i would say you would be fine with a couple maybe three in total. They do need a territory especially if they turn out male so make sure they have lots of caves.

Thanks breezer40. I added another tiny BN today, its the size of a fry, only 2cm....so its tiny compared to the bigger 5cm one. How long and big will it take until we can identify the bristles from the BN?

 

[ey2006]

My doninant male just chases the others away from his chosen cave or food sometimes but doesn't do more than butt his head into the others if he can. They don't seem to fight as the non-dominant ones always swim away. I have got 4 pvc pipe caves and a big stone cave with various entrances as well as lots of plants for 3 mature BN and a few tiny adolecent ones.

How big are the mature BNs? How long does it take for BN to grow?

 

[dylema]

My two boys are 8cm and 8.5cm. They are 1.5-2 years old I guess. It took about a year till either got proper bristles (I think that is a sign of maturity) and one has heaps of bristles while the other still only has a few. The girl is only anout 6cm even though she is the same age. I think they are still growing a bit but it is hard to tell.

 

[Benihana]

Sorry to drag an old topic back up to the front, but I thought this would be preferable to starting another thread asking the same question. We have a 90cmx30cmx40cm (96UK Ltr) tank. Would we be ok with 2 Bristlenose Plecs? I just love them, they are so cute.

 

[dylema]

No problem. Just make sure there is somewhere for them to hide and there should be no worries. (of course providing the tank isn't over stocked already).

 

[Benihana]

No problem. Just make sure there is somewhere for them to hide and there should be no worries. (of course providing the tank isn't over stocked already).

Top banana. Thanks for the help.

 

[Coomon10]

Do the BN need their own cave or are they alright to share with say loaches?

TIA

 

[screamingdonkey]

Do the BN need their own cave or are they alright to share with say loaches?

TIA

My plec used to 'share' a cave with two zebra loaches.
The loaches have now moved on to a large piece of bogwood I added a couple of months ago - but I think it's just because the zebs prefer the wood, rather than a case of them being bullied by the plec.
That being said, I guess you can't really have 'too many' hiding places.

In my experience, most bottom dwellers seem more active when there are several hiding places - as they are never too far away from somewhere to hide, if startled