Clown Plec with Bristlenose Plec?

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samt1

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
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Location
Cambridgeshire
Hi Guys, my boos has a pair of Bristenose Plec's which have had babies, he is going to give them to the local shop but asked if I wanted one.
I have a 20 gallon tank which already has a Clown Plec in it, would the Bristlenose and Clown Plec be ok in the same tank?
 
samt1 said:
Hi Guys, my boos has a pair of Bristenose Plec's which have had babies, he is going to give them to the local shop but asked if I wanted one.
I have a 20 gallon tank which already has a Clown Plec in it, would the Bristlenose and Clown Plec be ok in the same tank?

Well it depends on your other stock, your water change schedule and your parameters. Even then a bnp in a 20g is pushing it. Is it a 20g long or high?
 
Well it depends on your other stock, your water change schedule and your parameters. Even then a bnp in a 20g is pushing it. Is it a 20g long or high?

It's a longer tank than it is high.
Other fish include:
6 Neon Tetra's
1 Female Dwarf Gourami
2 Dalmation Mollies
3 Male Guppies
2 Zebra Loaches

I try and change at least 10 - 20% water a week, which is always done with the gravel hoover to try and suck up as much cr*p from the gravel as possible. I then take out and clean the filter once a month. But I'm planning on upgrading my internal U2 filter to a Fluval 205 external filter over Christmas.

My water tests are very good.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
NItrate: 0 - 10

Tank has been up and running since end of March now.
 
samt1 said:
It's a longer tank than it is high.
Other fish include:
6 Neon Tetra's
1 Female Dwarf Gourami
2 Dalmation Mollies
3 Male Guppies
2 Zebra Loaches

I try and change at least 10 - 20% water a week, which is always done with the gravel hoover to try and suck up as much cr*p from the gravel as possible. I then take out and clean the filter once a month. But I'm planning on upgrading my internal U2 filter to a Fluval 205 external filter over Christmas.

My water tests are very good.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
NItrate: 0 - 10

Tank has been up and running since end of March now.

With that stock list and the clown plec you'd be pushing it. The mollies and pleco are big waste producers and the bottom of the tank is pretty full with the loaches and pleco. IMO you stocked, there's no room for the bn.
 
Hi i would say it depends on how much cover and hidey holes you have for your fishes? The plec may not like having a direct competitor for his food? Personally i wouldn't risk it:( The other option would be to re-home the plec and then have two or three B/Ns
 
stingrays4 said:
Hi i would say it depends on how much cover and hidey holes you have for your fishes? The plec may not like having a direct competitor for his food? Personally i wouldn't risk it:( The other option would be to re-home the plec and then have two or three B/Ns

One at the most in a 20g. 20s nearly too small a 29g would be better for one bnp.
 
Hi depends on the B/Ns. I currently have 3 baby b/Ns in a 13 gallon,2 adults in a 40 gallon* and 20+ in a 90 gallon,also had 60+ in a 40 gallon all with no problems.
* These two have bred and i can count at least 7/8 babies in there.
Now to a strange point, my original adult male B/N* is nearly 4 inches long so yes at this size a 20 gallon is not big enough as they are quite territorial, but all me other B/Ns are noticeably smaller,hence the higher stocking levels? Also my tanks have loads of cover and plenty of hidey holes.
* This male is at least five years old.
I would say if samt1 re-homed the plec then if samt1 got 2 possibly 3 baby B/Ns then they would grow up together with know problems in my opinion. Also would be preferable to have one male to two females if possible,but they are hard to sex when young untill the male develops the 'bristles'
 
stingrays4 said:
Hi depends on the B/Ns. I currently have 3 baby b/Ns in a 13 gallon,2 adults in a 40 gallon* and 20+ in a 90 gallon,also had 60+ in a 40 gallon all with no problems.
* These two have bred and i can count at least 7/8 babies in there.
Now to a strange point, my original adult male B/N* is nearly 4 inches long so yes at this size a 20 gallon is not big enough as they are quite territorial, but all me other B/Ns are noticeably smaller,hence the higher stocking levels? Also my tanks have loads of cover and plenty of hidey holes.
* This male is at least five years old.
I would say if samt1 re-homed the plec then if samt1 got 2 possibly 3 baby B/Ns then they would grow up together with know problems in my opinion. Also would be preferable to have one male to two females if possible,but they are hard to sex when young untill the male develops the 'bristles'

I was going on the adult size of the fish and the fact that it is a 20g tank and maybe the only tank samt1 has. They have a high bio load and along with the mollies and the other plec I wouldn't recommend even one for that tank. Now if another high waste producing fish was removed (Molly or plec) IMO one bn (going on the adult size and bioload) would be appropriate. Maybe if the weekly PWC where stepped up to 50% a week then maybe a bn would work in that tank as is. But IMO the bottom area is pretty full already.
I currently have 4 bn 3 (2m 1f) in a 70g and a 1.5 inch juvie in a 17g. The juvie is not living its life in the 17 just until I feel it won't get 'lost' in the 70g.
 
I would say no, I think you are stocked as it is, you have a pretty big Bio load as it is

what type of filtration do you have on the tank?
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I currently have the Fluval U2 internal filter but hoping to upgrade that toa Fluval 205 external filter.
 
i just want to say that the fluval U2, only has a filtration rate of 105 gph... in most fish keepers opinion, that is only sufficient for a 10 g tank. you have should have 10x gph rate in comparison to gallons of the tank, so you should look for a filter that has a filtration of at least 200gph.

- i would even suggest something more than a fluval 205, since they only have an output of 180gph and filter circulation of 110 gph.

with the stock you already have, and if you decide to add this other addition, you really need more filtration IMO
 
Hi if i was you i would keep the U2 and still get the fluval 205 as-well. This gives you peace of mind on two filters in case one ever packed up at an inconvenient time. Also i agree with the points raised by mumma of two about the eventual size of the B/N{s} mine are still babies and still got allot of growing to do. So if you want the B/N you ideally need to rehome at least the plec and possibly the molly:)
 
stingrays4 said:
Hi if i was you i would keep the U2 and still get the fluval 205 as-well. This gives you peace of mind on two filters in case one ever packed up at an inconvenient time. Also i agree with the points raised by mumma of two about the eventual size of the B/N{s} mine are still babies and still got allot of growing to do. So if you want the B/N you ideally need to rehome at least the plec and possibly the molly:)

that is a good idea get the one you planned and run them both at the same time
 
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