Medusa bristlenose pleco

[5x5]

Many of you have recommended bristlenose plecos, but the only one my LFS carries is the medusa BN. Are these as good at cleaning as the regular BN? Any other issues with the?

 

[vitacrux]

The reason that the BN is such a popular choice is because it only grows to about 5" where as the common pleco's stores usually sell max out at about a 1'6". So as long as his size his near that of a normal BN I would say go ahead. However you should really only buy the fish if you like it, if you're just wanting clean glass you can buy a glass scraper for about the same price.

Personally my pleco's are one of my favorite fish to watch.

 

[5x5]

Yeah, I actually don't had any algae in my tank, I'm just looking for a pleco for the behavior of the fish. I was planning on getting a regular BN and trying to figure out if this is a suitable replacement.

 

[toddnbecka]

Common BN pleco's are essentially as domesticated as guppies and bettas. The medusa are wild-caught imports, simply less hardy and adaptable to different water conditions. They will eat algae, as will any species of Ancistrus.

 

[5x5]

Common BN pleco's are essentially as domesticated as guppies and bettas. The medusa are wild-caught imports, simply less hardy and adaptable to different water conditions. They will eat algae, as will any species of Ancistrus.

Thanks for the explanation. No one at the LFS seemed to know the difference. Maybe I"ll just go with a common BN, if it's going to be easier to keep.

 

[toddnbecka]

That is, assuming that the ones at your lfs actually are the L-034 medusa. Those are distinctly in appearance different from common BN.

 

[5x5]

It was the L-034 medusa at the store. I ended up finding a regular BN pleco. He's been in the tank for 3 days and mostly hiding in a cave. I actually started seeing my first bits of algae forming, or at least I assume so. It looks like small brown circle smudges on the glass in about 5 spots.

Are BN typically shy at first like this? Hopefully he starts getting to work on that new algae bloom.

 

[toddnbecka]

Most pleco's are active after the lights go off, though BN do tend to eat all the time unless they're guarding eggs/fry. Also depends on how much cover is available, they don 't feel as comfortable in open tanks.