Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I currently have a small clown pleco in my 40G breeder tank. I REALLY want a LF Super Red bristle nose pleco! I think it will be beautiful in the tank. Can 2 species of pleco live together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I really depends on the individual pleco. Some bristlenose can be very territorial, while others can be very laid back. If you got a pretty peaceful one, I'm sure it would work out fine, especially in a 40 breeder. Just also make sure that there is plenty of cover and caves, so that both plecos can stake out a spot for themselves. I would recommend trying them out in the same tank and make sure to have a backup plan just in case things don't work out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: I currently have a small clown pleco in my 40G breeder tank. I REALLY want a LF Super Red bristle nose pleco! I think it will be beautiful in the tank. Can 2 species of pleco live together? Here is a thread from another forum discussing this question. Sounds like the upshot is this: If you have two mature male Plecos of different species, they are territorial. The more caves available and the larger base area of the tank, the better. It may be that the separate species will cohabitate. I'd gladly learn from anyone else with more experience on this though... Edited April 22, 2021 by Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @Fish Folk and @CorydorasEthan the clown pleco is small. I NEVER see him. I have a cave in there and plenty and other hiding spots as well. This is my 40G breeder a few weeks ago. those bright green plants (which I can't remember the name of) are almost out of the water, so I have to trim and plant the trimmings this weekend. I wanted to get some Panda Cory's for this tank at one point. I have 2 Otocinclus in there as well (they only had 2). They have been VERY easy to feed. However, I have NO idea if the Pleco is eating anything. I seriously NEVER see it. I saw it the other day, so at least I know its alive. I am hoping that the Super Red (which I want to get from Michael's fish room) will be a little more "visible". I don't even know if it uses the cave that is in there or not. Maybe I shouldn't get one? Keep the invisible one I have and call it a day? I have a lot of Corydora in the 20G and they are so happy and I don't want to ruin that. I am trying to have a better "plant" and "wood" clean up crew than my 20G, because the mystery snail and corydoras well wall/bottom clean.. plants.. not so much. The shrimp.. meh.. they try. LOL I do have a 20G that I can put one of them in if they get into it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) i have had clown, and bristlenose together several times. no problems between them. the clowns hide most of the time anyways. i should say have had clown, bristlenose, and rubberlip plecos in the same tank together, and no problems. Edited April 22, 2021 by lefty o 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: @Fish Folk and @CorydorasEthan the clown pleco is small. I NEVER see him. I have a cave in there and plenty and other hiding spots as well. This is my 40G breeder a few weeks ago. those bright green plants (which I can't remember the name of) are almost out of the water, so I have to trim and plant the trimmings this weekend. I wanted to get some Panda Cory's for this tank at one point. I have 2 Otocinclus in there as well (they only had 2). They have been VERY easy to feed. However, I have NO idea if the Pleco is eating anything. I seriously NEVER see it. I saw it the other day, so at least I know its alive. I am hoping that the Super Red (which I want to get from Michael's fish room) will be a little more "visible". I don't even know if it uses the cave that is in there or not. Maybe I shouldn't get one? Keep the invisible one I have and call it a day? I have a lot of Corydora in the 20G and they are so happy and I don't want to ruin that. I am trying to have a better "plant" and "wood" clean up crew than my 20G, because the mystery snail and corydoras well wall/bottom clean.. plants.. not so much. The shrimp.. meh.. they try. LOL I do have a 20G that I can put one of them in if they get into it. Great looking tank! It really is your decision here. As @lefty o said, they have kept the two species together with no problems. Another option for wood and plant cleaning, would be the siamese algae eater. They are great at eating the hair and flat algaes off of wood, rocks, and plants. They are also pretty active and can always be seen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 I would have to get those online. Probably Flip Aquatics so that I can get more than 1. The LFS here, seem to get them but they don't last or sometimes can't even get them at all. I was even lucky to get the 2 Oto's I have. My 20G could use some plant help as well and was thinking of getting Oto's for that tank as well. Seems everyone is out of stock these days. I just worry about feeding them all. My Cory's are MONSTERS!! They eat everything I throw at them, veggies, wafers, vita bites, blood worms. so I fee the guppies first with flakes (they are PIGS too), then put the bottom feeding food in a few seconds after. Then the GIANT mystery snail comes and pushes everyone out of the way.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Just now, Sandra the fish rookie said: I would have to get those online. Probably Flip Aquatics so that I can get more than 1. The LFS here, seem to get them but they don't last or sometimes can't even get them at all. I was even lucky to get the 2 Oto's I have. My 20G could use some plant help as well and was thinking of getting Oto's for that tank as well. Seems everyone is out of stock these days. I just worry about feeding them all. My Cory's are MONSTERS!! They eat everything I throw at them, veggies, wafers, vita bites, blood worms. so I fee the guppies first with flakes (they are PIGS too), then put the bottom feeding food in a few seconds after. Then the GIANT mystery snail comes and pushes everyone out of the way.. Wait, so are there cories, otos, and a mystery snail in the 40 gallon as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @CorydorasEthan no, the Corydora clan is in the 20G ONLY. 40G stocking is 1 clown pleco and 2 Oto's. TONS of plants.. 20G has 5 Corydora (3 albino, 2 pepper), 1 guppy (5 coming out of QT on the weekend), 1 blue mystery snail, 1 Ramshorn snail, 2 bamboo shrimp and a single cherry shrimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Just now, Sandra the fish rookie said: @CorydorasEthan no, the Corydora clan is in the 20G ONLY. 40G stocking is 1 clown pleco and 2 Oto's. TONS of plants.. 20G has 5 Corydora (3 albino, 2 pepper), 1 guppy (5 coming out of QT on the weekend), 1 blue mystery snail, 1 Ramshorn snail, 2 bamboo shrimp and a single cherry shrimp. Feeding won't be an issue with the siamese algae eaters in the 40 gallon, as they are quick fish. One problem with them is that they might nip peaceful fish like cories when hungry to chase them away from food. They will work fine with the plecos and otos though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @CorydorasEthan and @Fish Folk eventually I want to add some Panda corydora's to the 40G. Is that going to be an issue? Feeding wise? I don't know if I can have a tank without corydora's in it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: @CorydorasEthan and @Fish Folk eventually I want to add some Panda corydora's to the 40G. Is that going to be an issue? Feeding wise? I don't know if I can have a tank without corydora's in it. I agree, no community is complete without Corydoras! There will probably be no problems, though I would not get the siamese algae eater if you are doing them, do to food aggression (I found that larger, more territorial fish all love to pick on Corydoras during feeding time). I would instead recommend on getting some more shrimp for the 40 gallon and see if they will take care of your algae problems instead. It not, maybe a nerite snail? Edited April 22, 2021 by CorydorasEthan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: @CorydorasEthan and @Fish Folk eventually I want to add some Panda corydora's to the 40G. Is that going to be an issue? Feeding wise? I don't know if I can have a tank without corydora's in it. My view is that Corydoras and Plecos eat entirely differently. Corys forage on the substrate and bottom third of the tank for bottom-settled foods. Plecos, on the other hand, tend to draw nutrients from whatever they're attached to -- be it algae-covered glass, hardscape, etc. For this reason, I think that the way to care for both general species is to include generous wood in the aquarium for plecos. They eat on the micro life that gathers on wood. While some aquarists describe them as "chewing on wood" what's actually happening is a bit different. Anyway, I'd just add a lovely piece of driftwood across the back for your plecos. Maybe also add a few other caves tucked in around the bottom too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 8 minutes ago, Fish Folk said: My view is that Corydoras and Plecos eat entirely differently. Corys forage on the substrate and bottom third of the tank for bottom-settled foods. Plecos, on the other hand, tend to draw nutrients from whatever they're attached to -- be it algae-covered glass, hardscape, etc. For this reason, I think that the way to care for both general species is to include generous wood in the aquarium for plecos. They eat on the micro life that gathers on wood. While some aquarists describe them as "chewing on wood" what's actually happening is a bit different. Anyway, I'd just add a lovely piece of driftwood across the back for your plecos. Maybe also add a few other caves tucked in around the bottom too. ill add to this, when it comes to bristlenose, at least those ive kept, they sure love corydora shrimp pellets. the others have never had much interest in them, but come feeding time the bristlenose come out of the wood work to get theirs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @Fish Folk OH MAN.. the WOOD DRAMA in that tank.. LOL I have a giant box of wood. For the life of me, could not seem to get it to work right.. BUT.. I think I will give it another go over the weekend and see if I can get another large piece in there. I have some of those "not so cute" terracotta plant watering spikes used for plecos. I could add one (hide it LOL) so they each have a cave? My issue is researching on the web, there is so much conflicting info about Pleco's (well fish in general). I got this little clown pleco and to be honest I knew they were shy, but this is a bit nuts. I don't know if he is alive or dead, sick or healthy? I am also paranoid to over stock on bottom feeders then have no room for anything else in the tank. Its in my living room where we chill out the most, so I want some swimming fish in there as well. I am probably making this way more difficult that it should be... Trying to stock a tank is more difficult than I thought it would be. Timing with QT too is also a challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 normal with clowns, i had 1 that was like houdinni, could just vanish for months at a time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 1 minute ago, lefty o said: corydora shrimp pellets @lefty o I have never heard of those? Does ACO sell these? Mine eat EVERYTHNG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 6 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: I have a giant box of wood. For the life of me, could not seem to get it to work right.. I realize there's serious issues that can arise from this . . . but we always buy wood from inside tanks at our LFS. Both of our LFS keep wood in their tanks. That way, it's already full of bio. Problem is, it's also full of _whatever else_ is in the LFS water. So it depends on how much of a risk you're willing to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 @Fish Folk my issue was making it "pretty".. LOL. I boiled it to get it to soak. I put it in the tank and tried to make it looks pretty and it would just NOT DO IT! But I do have other areas I might be able to get it to work. I was trying to keep rocks/wood from the tank walls because from my first tank (mistake #105), I have areas that are now hard to clean because I have wood close or on the glass. I have some really pretty wood.. I will work on it on the weekend.. any excuse to play in my tanks 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 I am keeping a common with a bristlenose (and a bunch of panda corys) in my 120 and they are happy. My big guy is suuuuuuuper docile, even a bit shy, and he doesn't bother anyone, except that he occasionally bonks a snail with his tail when he swims by.... The bristlenose can be a little bit pushy at food time, but otherwise is fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: @lefty o I have never heard of those? Does ACO sell these? Mine eat EVERYTHNG! i have no idea, but they likely do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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