Just wondering about BN plecos

[dylema]

So I know you sex bristle-nose plecos when they are older by the male having bristles and the females not (or do they but smaller?) but I was wondering how big they get before they grow obvious bristles? Just wondering how long it generally takes before you know if you've got boys or girls

 

[smithrc]

1.5" - 2" and you will start to see bristles.

Or females have no bristles - but its to do with the species - so yours may get some.

 

[Fish Fingers]

i think i have read somewhere that the males start to grow bristles when they are around 1-1.5 inches long. not sure if thats correct though.

EDIT: ohh smith beat me to it

 

[Angry_Platy]

My bnose fry males started getting bristles at about an inch and a 1/2 long. Girls of the same age were smaller and had no bristles, even when at the same size

 

[brissiegal]

sometimes not til they are 2.25-2.5inches long. I've had 'females' turn into 'boys' at 6cms!

 

[sylvia]

Takes about 1-2 years IME (1-2.5 inches). Depending on species, females will only have one 'row' of bristles whiles the males have many or the bristles will be shorter - or completely non-existent.

 

[smithrc]

Takes about 1-2 years IME (1-2.5 inches). Depending on species, females will only have one 'row' of bristles whiles the males have many or the bristles will be shorter - or completely non-existent.

1 - 2 years? really?

Our fry are about 2" after about 4 months.

Here is one of ours that we kept from one of our ealier 'batches'

He's about 2.5" and is just 6 months old.