Bristlenose pleco question ?

[Xzap]

Hey everybody

I've having a heck of a time with algae, mostly BBA but not all, in my 90 gal planted so I thought I'd try adding a BN. I checked with 3 lfs and they didn't have them or know what they were, but everybody had common plecs.

What do I need to look for to be sure I get a BN. I've read the BN profile but there are sooo many variations of the pleco.
I know the BN won't eat the BBA.

Thx,

Dave

prszd co2
pH settled out at 7.0
no3 10ppm w/o dosing, 1 dash of kno3 brings it up to 15-20ppm
po4 1.5 - 2 with dosing, 1.0 without dosing
kh 5 after 40% pwc, 3 tsp of baking soda brings it up to 7 -8 dkh and it holds there without dosing between pwc.

I've been adding 10 ml of Excel daily, skipping a day here and there to help combat the BBA and doing lots of pruning.

 

[travis simonson]

AFAIK, it's pretty simple. Look for the ugliest brown, warty-nosed fish in the store. It's likely to be a bristlenose. They are simply heinous looking and nothing else I've seen has those weird, freaky looking tendrils coming out of it's face. Great algae eaters though

 

[Jchillin]

Travis...shame on you. 8O

This is an albino...

This is a reg. albeit a baby (look closely at the rock)

They won't eat hair, beard or thread algae AFAIK. But, green is king!

 

[BrianNY]

There are many species of bushy nose plecos. I think so highly of the dwarf variety that I'm spawning them. I think they're beautiful Travis. LOL

 

[travis simonson]

Sorry guys. I'm sure yours are beautiful

 

[Xzap]

LOL Travis.. I called one store and asked them if they had one, the gal on the phone said "What do they look like?"
I said " it's a real ugly brown fish with things coming outta it's head!"

Dave

 

[Lance M.]

LOL Travis.. I called one store and asked them if they had one, the gal on the phone said "What do they look like?"
I said " it's a real ugly brown fish with things coming outta it's head!"

Dave

ROFLMAO!!

My logfinned albino birstlenose is great. Looks soo good.

 

[crazycat]

travis! how could you! they're the cutest plecos out there! really, you may know your plants, but i can see that some of us other aa'ers are going to have to educate you on the finer points of pleco aesthetics!

(just kidding!)

 

[An t-iasg]

Brian and JC, your plecos really are adorable!

Now don't feel bad, Travis I saw a large, dark, warty ancistrus at the hatchery once. It had about a million bristles. It actually almost scared me! 8O

 

[Zagz]

LOL, thanks to JC, I have fallen in love with the BN plecos. They aren't that common around here unfortunately. I have one and he is so adorable.

 

[BrianNY]

That's true Zagz. They aren't even common in NY which is why I wanted to spawn them. I've never seen them at my lfs and the owner never heard of them. It's a shame because this is such an ideal pleco for a planted tank. Here's what makes the dwarf ancistrus such a special pleco:

1. They max out at 4 inches making them suitable for most size tanks.
2. They never bother other fish or plants.
3. They tolerate almost any suitable water conditions
4. They are easily spawned and the male will watch over the brood for up to 10 days.

Hmmm. I may have to make a you convert and send you some Travis. I know little about Africans. Would they harrass the plecos?

 

[Lance M.]

Brian do you know how to breed the albino bristlenose? I may try this sometime.

 

[Hoovercat]

My problem is that I have 2 I bought locally as BN's but they don't have the wigglers on their faces. One is 2-3" and the other is 1-2". How big/old are they when the bristles develop? My LFSs in this area are notorious for mislabeling stock so have I been duped again?

 

[Jchillin]

LOL, thanks to JC, I have fallen in love with the BN plecos. They aren't that common around here unfortunately. I have one and he is so adorable.

You have been assimilated Zagz...now it's Travis' turn.

*Psstt..Brian, the plan is working.

 

[BrianNY]

*Psstt..Brian, the plan is working. [/quote]

Yep, I've been spawning them for about a year and a half. I play little games with the pH and found that induces spawning.

The males develop the bristles at 9 months of age. Unfortunately I've found that spawns can contain a high number of dwarfs/runts. These runts never develope bristles. I'm thinking the bloodline of the species is very weak. I'm looking for some browns now to test that. The only way to be certain you have a male is to obtain fully grown specimens. JMO

 

[Zagz]

I'm weak and fall in love with fish easily, but who can blame me, the little guys are adorable!

 

[travis simonson]

I never said that I didn't like them, just that I found them somewhat unsettling From what I understand they are some of the best planted-tank plecos available. Now I know what to ask Brian for when I trade plants with him :LOL: Hint, hint. I am simply amazed at anyone who is good at breeding plecos. Sheesh.

 

[Zezmo]

Well I am happy to say I have joined the bristlenose lovers club. At the SVAS meeting this last weekend someone brought in about a hundred 1" long baby ones that he had raised from his breeding pair. If fact, he said the real problem is trying to get them to stop breeding. Anyways, I bought 6 of them for $2 a piece, and spread them out amongst all my tanks. Unfortunatley, I had just bout one for $9 at the LFS the week before. They are pretty dern cute IMO. With spots and white edges to thier fins. They are too young to have bristles yet. But, they sure went right to town on the algae.

As a side note, I also bought 8 juvi Blue rams (local breeder) for $10, and a Bag with 4 corys for $4. (er I needed something to fill those extra tanks I accidently set up). I also took all the plant clippings I had been tossing into plastic tub in my garage and sold them. So at the end of the night I actually only spent $3 to get those 18 fish (I priced them on liveaquaria.com and they totaled $191 for the same fish ).

 

[czcz]

Check out this guy: http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8939

 

[BrianNY]

8O 8O 8O WOW. I've never seen a bushy nose that large.