Need Pleco advice

[m1aman]

Looking for a Pleco to put in a 55g tank with some Dwarf Cichlids. Something that won't get to big and will help me with any algae problems that might arise. What do you guys reccomend? Thanks.

[Brhino]

bristlenose all the way. They get 4-6" and have a reputation as great algae eaters (although mine is lazy and just eats what I feed him).

[Xavier]

I agree. A BN pleco is awesome. Mine only comes out at night, but she eats all the algae. Mine is 4 1/2 inches long. She is trained on where the food will come, but knows it isn't everyday, so she cleans.

[m1aman]

Thanks for the quick responses! Are the bristle and bushy the same fish?

[Brhino]

Yes they are.

[Xavier]

I call mine an "ancistrus".

[Brhino]

there's actually dozens if not hundreds of species of bristlenose plecos, and at this point many of the ones found in stores will be hybrids of two or more species and effectively impossible to distinguish, so they're generally just referred to as "Ancistrus Sp.", or "A species in the Ancistrus genus".

[m1aman]

I just placed an order for one of these:

Ancistrus sp. "Bristlenose Pleco", along with some other fish.


Thanks for the advice thumbs2:

[Pleco380]

Yep, BN was a good choice. There are others such as clowns but BN's are more popular and have the cool looking bristles.

[Xavier]

Unless you get a female, then the bristles are very small. Here is mine.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/507/thumbs/B2.JPG (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=19335)http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/507/thumbs/B1.JPG (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=19334)

[Pleco380]

Well yeah, females you won't see bristles. But to my knowledge, there are not albino clown plecos but there are albino BN plecos (as yours is).