Bristlenose Pleco questions. Please Help !!!!!!!!!!

[angiieee1588]

The photos are my two BN pleco's purchased together and are from the same tank. Therefore I'd guess they are the same age. Though my blackish/brown one "NapNap" as we call him/her seems to be growing bigger a bit faster than my albino one "Peaches".

Question number 1: how to tell if they are male or female?
Question number 2: do male and female grow at the same rate?

 

[Brookster123]

They both appear to be male.. Males grow the pronounced facial bristles while females have smaller nubs.. I've found my albinos grew twice as fast as my regular bn Pleco's.. Nice looking happy fish

 

[angiieee1588]

I was leaning towards "NapNap" being male but wasn't sure about the Albino one since it had a few different features (e.g it's fins are smaller, head looked different shape & the whiskers are smaller and seem in different places) and mainly the growth rate is much slower for the albino.

 

[angiieee1588]

i was leaning towards "napnap" being male but wasn't sure about the albino one since it had a few different features (e.g it's fins are smaller, head looked different shape & the whiskers are smaller and seem in different places) and mainly the growth rate is much slower for the albino.

 

[Pleco1415]

There both male. This is what a female looks like.

 

[angiieee1588]

Okay thank you how many plecos do you think there should be in a tank? Do they get aggressive if there are others?

 

[Pleco1415]

Okay thank you how many plecos do you think there should be in a tank? Do they get aggressive if there are others?

All Plecos are very territorial. In my 29 gallon I just have a male and a female albino bushy nose Pleco. My Plecos like each other so I don't have to worry about them being aggressive or trying to kill each other. Keep in mind these Plecos get a reasonable size so make sure you have a large enough tank. I would personally not keep more than 2 in the same tank. Btw how big is your tank?