[Shadow]

I am interested in getting a male and female Bristlenose pleco. But I have a few questions and concerns.

-1st Iv heard plecos and swords just do not mix. How about crypts and madagascar lace leafs?
-How big do they have to be till you can sex them?
-Would they be fine with kuhli loaches, kribs, rasboras, pearl gourami and oto cats in a 125G?
-Is there any other plants they will eat?
-Any other need to know info??

 

[Lupin]

-1st Iv heard plecos and swords just do not mix. How about crypts and madagascar lace leafs?

You have to feed them with veggies to prevent them from turning into your plants for salad.

how big do they have to be till you can sex them?

5-6 inches. Males have more bristles than females.

-Would they be fine with kuhli loaches, kribs, rasboras, pearl gourami and oto cats in a 125G?

Yes.

-Is there any other plants they will eat?

Any plants with tender foliage stand a slim chance of being together with the BNs unless the BNs are fed well with veggies.

 

[Boz]

Hi Shadow! I've got lots of BNs. Two adult breeders and 10 juvies. In my planted tank with the adults, I can honestly tell you that they've never harmed a single plant. I have swords and crypts, sag, hygro, rotala, ferns and various mosses. My adults will lie on a sword leaf and clean it, then leave it without a mark. They're really wonderful cleaners and won't do a bit of damage in my experience.

As for sexing, they have to get to a few inches before the males bristles will start to show on his snout. Males and females will both have a few bristles around the mouth area. I'd say around 2.5-3" will be about the earliest. My juvies are 2" right now and I still can't sex any of them.

I think they'll be fine with those tankmates. They're very peaceful, but if you've got two males, they'll fight a bit over territory. Be sure to have lots of wood and rocks for them to hide. Some people say they never see them when the lights are on, but mine are always front and center, regardless of time of day. I have mine in a livebearer community with the only other bottom dweller being a tiger pleco, and there are no issues in the tank.

Hope this helps a bit.

*edit* As posted above, veggies are always recommended, although sometimes I'll go a week only feeding algae tabs and they still don't harm my plants. I feed them frozen/thawed peas, green beans, zucchini, broccoli, etc. They also love spirulina flakes.

 

[Shadow]

Wonderful. I might just try a pair of these then once I get the 125G up and running.

 

[Overfloater]

I have a 5" male I've had for about 4 years now. Mine ahs never touched a plant, even when I have not fed him for a week. He gets along with any fish I have ever had him with and also he has never had a problem with shrimp.

Keep in mind that they are quite a brutish fish. If a plant stands in their way they will try to push through it and if it is not rooted well they will dislodge it. This of course is not because they want to hurt the plants, they are jsut in the fish's way.

Both male and female will have bristles but females quite a bit less and often do not branch. Also females never have any bristles on their snout (middle of head). If you see bristles going straight up the middle it is a male, no matter how small the bristles are.

 

[Boz]

If a plant stands in their way they will try to push through it and if it is not rooted well they will dislodge it. This of course is not because they want to hurt the plants, they are jsut in the fish's way.

This made me laugh because just as I was reading it, out of the corner of my eye I saw mine plow through some sag. :hihi:
I know there are prettier and more interesting plecos and ancistrus out there, but I honestly think these are my favorites.

 

[Overfloater]

This made me laugh because just as I was reading it, out of the corner of my eye I saw mine plow through some sag. :hihi:
I know there are prettier and more interesting plecos and ancistrus out there, but I honestly think these are my favorites.

I love mine. He is the best algae cleaner I have ever seen. He is ugly as sin which I think is another cool feature. Keeping plants rooted is a near impossiility though

 

[Boz]

Aww, they're so ugly, they're irresistable!

Maybe I'll run into problems when they get a little bigger, but there are very few plants they've uprooted, and it's usually ones that I've JUST planted. I have one tiny piece of ludwegia (sp?) that always seems to be stuck to the intake in the mornings. Other than that, they've been no problem. However, this may be because I don't have any really small stems in this tank. May be a whole different story if I had carpet plants in the tank.

 

[Shadow]

I plan to finish the living room [downstairs] and then put the 125Gallon tank [which I have gotten] into the living room. Then Ill add the plants and my schooling fish. Leaving the kuhlis, kibs and plecos later after the plantes have been in there a while. Hopefully it will help stop uprooting the plants as easily.

 

[cjyhc4]

My concerns about my plants have been eased, especially since my BNs are only about 2 months old.

Can anyone tell me how they get along with other fish? I would really like to put one in my guppy fry tank, and maybe one in my platy tank.

 

[Boz]

Personally, my BNs only get a bit territorial with each other, not with other fish. I have furciden fry in the tank as well as barbs adn a couple danios and I've never ever seen a BN become aggressive with any of them. They're very peaceful and seem for the most part to leave any other fish alone. I even had a very shy tiger pleco in the tank until yesterday, and they never got into any spats either. Just be sure to give them some hiding places with wood and rocks. They must have wood in the tank, no getting around that, but you can use rocks to make crevice caves as well.

 

[Shadow]

My tank will have 2-3 big pieces of bogwood and then I plan on finding a log like thing or a PVC pipe with maybe sand or gravel siliconed to it.

 

[Boz]

They'll like the pipe. If you're going to go with silicone anyway, you can paint it with Krylon "Fusion" to match your substrate color, and then silicone over it, still putting sand or gravel on it if you prefer. This will help cover up the unsightly white that still shows through. My entire diy background is painted with Krylon, and although I've read that it's safe, I siliconed it anyway, but I love the way it turned out.