Plec Id - Supposed To Be Britstlenoses

[shrimply]

Hi, I'm thinking I might come away from this thread looking like a bit of an idiot.

Early January, I was in a fish shop and they had "Bristlenose Plecs", now I'm no expert and I pretty much had to take the shops word on this. I did think they looked like young bristlenoses that I'd seen, so I bought two.

Over time I've become less and less convinced they are what they are supposed to be, they seem to have grown very fast, they were an around 1" when I got them, the larger one is now around 2.5", anyway I've included some pics - not brilliant but I'm no photographer and these guys don't seem to like being photographed.

Number 1

Number 2

 

[KittyKat]

Bristlenoses, probably hybrids. They both look female, although first one could be a juvenile male. Expect them to grow to over 4", my alpha male is 6" long.

 

[shrimply]

Bristlenoses, probably hybrids. They both look female, although first one could be a juvenile male. Expect them to grow to over 4", my alpha male is 6" long.

Thanks, good to know I wasn't really stupid. I had been hoping for a male and female but nevermind, will two females be OK together, I do have another tank, cause obviously if they turned out to be two males they would need separated. I guess if they are hybrids its best they aren't bred anyway.

My only other question is that as you can see on the first couple of pics here seems to be some lighter patterns developing on both of them, is this likely to be anything to worry about, fungus etc or just normal ( or hybrid related) colourings.

Thanks for the help.

 

[lilfishie]

definately Bristlenoses, its possible the bigger one could be male, my male grew alot quicker than the female did.

If the patches don't seem fuzzy i wouldn't worry to much, they sometimes do it to blend in, it should come and go

 

[KittyKat]

Bristlenoses, probably hybrids. They both look female, although first one could be a juvenile male. Expect them to grow to over 4", my alpha male is 6" long.

Thanks, good to know I wasn't really stupid. I had been hoping for a male and female but nevermind, will two females be OK together, I do have another tank, cause obviously if they turned out to be two males they would need separated. I guess if they are hybrids its best they aren't bred anyway.

Probably 95% of bristlenoses in the hobby are hybrids, I wouldn't worry about it. Females are not aggressive, they should be fine in a 3ft tank.

My only other question is that as you can see on the first couple of pics here seems to be some lighter patterns developing on both of them, is this likely to be anything to worry about, fungus etc or just normal ( or hybrid related) colourings.

They come in loads of different colours and can change their colour whenever they feel like it (to some extent). Mine are patchy when they are happy, for example.