Bristlenose Pleco questions

[Goosedub]

Hey all,

I have stared getting interested in keeping some pleco’s. Currently I have  a 20 gallon long with a single Betta. I am planning on maybe getting some Kuhli loaches ships weekend.

I want to try breeding some Plecos at a future date, so I would love to get a pair growing and acclimating to my water. I only have the one tank.

My question is, will the Plecos be ok in this setup? Any issues with Kuhli loaches or Bettas?

Any help is appreciated.

 

thanks,

 

Derek

[lefty o]

i think the adult plecos would be fine, i dont know how the fry would fair. bristlenose babies are very cool the first time you see them wander around the tank. id give it a try, and see what happens. might not be a bad thing if some of the youngsters get picked off, as you can get over run pretty quickly when they do start breeding.

[Goosedub]

Just now, lefty o said:

i think the adult plecos would be fine, i dont know how the fry would fair. bristlenose babies are very cool the first time you see them wander around the tank. 

For sure. I would want to add them to this tank just to grow them out, then when I/they are ready to breed, would maybe give them their own tank. I’m also eyeing some endless, they may be able to share a breeding tank in the future 🙂

[Fish Folk]

Hi Derek! It's very possible for your Bristlenose plecos to do well in that set up. You'll want wood for them to draw biofilm and micro life off of. They'll eat some algae on the tank glass surface, but will ignore other types of algae. They like boiled Zucchini pieces, canned green beans etc. We feed Omega One Veggie Rounds. Bug Bites makes Pleco Discs too that we sometimes feed.

Here's a (long) Bristlenose Pleco breeding video we made a while ago. It was sort of an accidental breeding discovery. One thing: Plecos take a long time to mature and get to breeding age compared with other species of aquarium fish. 

 

[Goosedub]

22 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

Hi Derek! It's very possible for your Bristlenose plecos to do well in that set up. You'll want wood for them to draw biofilm and micro life off of. They'll eat some algae on the tank glass surface, but will ignore other types of algae. They like boiled Zucchini pieces, canned green beans etc. We feed Omega One Veggie Rounds. Bug Bites makes Pleco Discs too that we sometimes feed.

Here's a (long) Bristlenose Pleco breeding video we made a while ago. It was sort of an accidental breeding discovery. One thing: Plecos take a long time to mature and get to breeding age compared with other species of aquarium fish. 

 

Wow. I watched the whole thing and loved it! Is there a way to easily sex them? I would love to keep just a pair for now if possible but am not opposed to buying a trio if needed. 

[Fish Folk]

23 minutes ago, Goosedub said:

Wow. I watched the whole thing and loved it! Is there a way to easily sex them? I would love to keep just a pair for now if possible but am not opposed to buying a trio if needed. 

Thanks! They are almost impossible to sex for a while. Males eventually develop a copule— the bristles / bushy-horns that emerge off their faces. The older the male, generally the more developed the copule. Females tend to have a thicker, fatter body — that houses eggs. This shape is true for almost all fish. 

[anewbie]

I'd go with lemon or super red bn - for some reason they lean to the smaller size - the plain bn can get quite large. kuhli are great but it is a random shot if you will see them - i have them in 3 tanks - and in one they never hide but in the other two ..... do i really have kuhli in them ?

--

Here is a picture of my largest male lemon - the females are about 1/2 to 2/3 the size:

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by anewbie

[Dwayne Brown]

I have an L144a a pleco (which is essentially a yellow blue eyed long finned brstlenose pleco) and I succesfully keep him with a black kuhli loach also known as a java loach. As far as bettas go I'm not sure but I'm assuming it would be fine if your worried about aggression because people keep them with dwarf chiclids which in my expiereince are way more territorial than bettas

Edited March 26, 2021 by Dwayne Brown

[Dwayne Brown]

1 minute ago, Dwayne Brown said:

I have an L144a a pleco (also known as a yellow blue eyed long finned brstlenose pleco) and I succesfully keep him with a black kuhli loach also known as a java loach. As far as bettas go I'm not sure but I'm assuming it would be fine if your worried about aggression because people keep them with dwarf chiclids which in my expiereince are way more territorial than bettas

 

[Goosedub]

2 minutes ago, Dwayne Brown said:

I have an L144a a pleco (which is essentially a yellow blue eyed long finned brstlenose pleco) and I succesfully keep him with a black kuhli loach also known as a java loach. As far as bettas go I'm not sure but I'm assuming it would be fine if your worried about aggression because people keep them with dwarf chiclids which in my expiereince are way more territorial than bettas

This is great info. Thank you! The aggression was my concern with the betta, so this give me some confidence.

[Dwayne Brown]

Yeah I the only other thing would be fun nipping but mine has long fins and I personnally kept him with a apisto borrelli and he was fine. In my experience they respond pretty well to aggresion whenever the apisto would try to chase him away he would just sit there and muscle his way into places. A type of wood is a must plecos need wood in their diet I use mopani wood. Another option is to feed them sinking waffers with wood in them. Also be sure to feed them along with your other fish I feed mine algea waffers they wolf them down like other fish so just leave it in the tank if they dont eat it.

[Dwayne Brown]

I would recommend checking out the l144a pleco I have the longfinned variety they arent expensive the one I bought cost 11 dollars when I bought it last year.

Heres a photo I found off the internet of what they look like when full grown with bristles mine is still small but has the long fins just no bristles  

[AquaAggie]

@anewbie stunning fish. I have never seen one that vibrant before. I have a similarly colored mystery snail and can only imagine a pleco that matches that color. 

[Hobbit]

My super red bristlenose plecos hold their own at feeding time against yo-yo loaches that are 3-5 times their size!

Depending on your betta, if he doesn’t appreciate the first plecos you get, you may want to get a more drab colored pleco. It wouldn’t be as exciting, but a colorful fish may appear to be more of a threat than a drab one.