Bristlenose Pleco Questions

[Bent Needle]

I bought a juvenile (~1.5 inch) bristlenose pleco from my LFS a couple days ago. I am absolutely enamored with the little thing, but after watching it for awhile have some questions.

Is it normal for them to lose color when stressed? He was a beautiful spotted dark brown at the store, but when I opened the bag at home he was beige! I was horrified and scared to death. There were also all these little tiny pieces of stuff in the water...couldn't tell if it was just waste or fin damage.

I say fin damage because now his fins are all pale and raggedy around the edges, even though he's once again dark brown. They were definitely NOT like that at the store, but I noticed it as soon as I put him in the acclimation bucket. What in the world?

Is it normal for them to ignore offered food if there is lots of algae in the tank? It did nibble a bit on an algae wafer but quickly abandoned that in favor of the wall of algae on the back of my tank, and has been diligently cleaning every single other surface in my tank as well.

You can see the feathering bits on the fins a little better here, but it's hard to get a good pic, it's constantly on the move.

He seems very happy, for all my worrying...constantly cleaning off stuff, hanging out on the driftwood or in the little driftwood/rock hideout I made for him. I thought plecos were shy but this one is out quite a bit, even with the light on. He'll spook if you walk by really close to the tank but comes out again within a few minutes.

 

[Chronos313]

Give him/her some time and you'll see a difference. When I had my pleco it had the same coloration yours had when I first got it. They eat algae and driftwood so they'll feed off that a majority of the time. Mine never went after food unless it was an algae wafer but 99% of the time it stayed on the driftwood.

 

[Bent Needle]

So the white edges will go away? I just got worried because I read that that can sometimes be a sign of a bacterial infection...but I just don't see how that could pop up in the one hour trip from the LFS to my house.

Thanks! I can't wait to see if it's male or female. Fingers crossed for a male.

 

[Chronos313]

Ya mine turned out to be s male. I had him for about 6 months. Unfortunately I just recently moved and my stock died due to a big temp drop even though I did my best to make sure it was insulated. So now I'm redoing my tank and ill definitely have another bristle nose as it was a great cleaner along with 5 yo to loaches.

 

[Sambo7475]

color change is totally normal when stressed, they also will change based on their surroundings, my clown get light when he's on the substrate, and darker when he's on the driftwood. Also the little flecks in the bag look like poop to me. Plecos are poop machines!

 

[librarygirl]

Cute little thing! Color changes are usually signs of stress; once he gets used to things he should color up more. If the fins look that way in a week or two still then it might be something else, but if he was fine at the store and then white/pale when you got it home it's likely just stressed and needs some time to acclimate.

 

[Bent Needle]

Thanks everyone! I'm just a bit OCD when it comes to my animals, and I'm still really new to fish so I'm constantly worrying about them.

 

[Chronos313]

I think we are all OCD with this hobby. Just keep up with your maintenance and provide a good home for your fish and all should go smoothly. Any questions just ask and someone with some knowledge will reply in time.

 

[Rivercats]

Two things... be sure to offer food at night after lights are off as that is the preferred feeding time. Also besides algae wafers I found all my various plecos including my bristlenose absolutely love sliced, slightly softened zucchini, hung in the tank on veggie clips. I cut a long slice about 1/4" thick or so, microwave it for a couple seconds to just start to slightly soften it (you don't want mush), put it on a veggie clip, and hang it on the side of the tank. You can also place it on the bottom of the tank but you have to weight it down with something as it will float. Do this right after lights are off. Often by morning when I go to remove it almost the entire slice has been eaten.

 

[Wiggles24]

Plecos change color all the time. My green dragons are pretty much a different color every time I look at them

 

[Tetra1990]

My bnp preferred algae and dw only. I offered a buffet for it and it just turned up it's nose at everything.

 

[Bent Needle]

Ok, I just have to say I am beyond thrilled to see how he's already cleaned my tank! I thought he'd eaten everything he possibly could, only to see him diligently cleaning off my plant leaves this morning.

I'm going to try offering some cucumber and zucchini as mentioned. So far he's pretty much ignoring the algae wafers but is just going to town on all the aquarium surfaces.

 

[Hholly]

My BNP likes sinking pellets too.

 

[Velksfish]

I know this forum is for Bristlenose but I figured I could get some answers here.
I just purchased, what I think is, a Spotted Rubber Lip Pleco. A lot of the stuff I am reading says they love driftwood. I do not have any driftwood in my tank. Is this ok? Will he be ok? I put him into the tank last night and he seemed to be doing fine all night and this morning. He is going to town on the tank surface. Will he clean the plants I have in the tank or do they mainly just do the glass??
Is there anything special I need to know about having a Pleco? As you can probably tell this is my first one.
Is there a way to tell the sex?

 

[Aqualady40]

I know this forum is for Bristlenose but I figured I could get some answers here.
I just purchased, what I think is, a Spotted Rubber Lip Pleco. A lot of the stuff I am reading says they love driftwood. I do not have any driftwood in my tank. Is this ok? Will he be ok? I put him into the tank last night and he seemed to be doing fine all night and this morning. He is going to town on the tank surface. Will he clean the plants I have in the tank or do they mainly just do the glass??
Is there anything special I need to know about having a Pleco? As you can probably tell this is my first one.
Is there a way to tell the sex?

I have a rubberlip pleco and dw but he/she never eats on it just rest under it...but I also have heard while many plecos are juveniles they need more vegetation and as they get older is when dw is really need....not sure, just read it somewhere before....but he/she loves the surface areas of the tank and loves blanched zucchini

 

[Velksfish]

Ok thanks great to know.

 

[Rivercats]

All pleco's need to have DW available. You may not see them rasping on it but they need it to aid in digestion.

 

[Velksfish]

Ok so if I don't have any DW. Will the pleco be ok? Or do i need to get some ?

 

[Rivercats]

Ok so if I don't have any DW. Will the pleco be ok? Or do i need to get some ?

It would help to get him even just a small piece that he can rasp on. If no DW is supplied you have to be sure to give the pleco alot of veggies high in fiber. I have both DW and feed mine veggies.

 

[Velksfish]

Ok thanks. Will be getting some DW this weekend. I am just going to try and get a small piece. Will that be ok ?