Bristlenose Plec

[Gilli]

Hello experts

Lots of questions for you so I hope you are feeling generous! -

I have just bought a tiny bristlenose plec. I know the males grow lots of bristles all over their nose and the females only on the top lip but ho long will it be before my little one is mature enough to show the difference. At the moment it is only about a inch long from nose to the tip of his tail.

Next question - I know there are differences of opinion on whether the BN needs bogwood to graze on for digestion so i've decided to err on the side of caution and put a smallish piece in just incase!
I see some people call it driftwood some Mopani and some bogwood - is there a difference and if so which one do I need? Also I don't want my water turning a horrible yellow colour so is it possible to buy pre-soaked wood? Ive inquired on Ebay with no luck. if i do have to buy new any ways of speeding the anti leaking process up other than soaking in boiling water - and how long is it likely to take? Will it affect my water stats too?

Thank you in advance!

 

[ALW]

1. Bristlenose males tend to start growing the bristles at about 6 months old.
2. Its always best to include a piece of Bogwood for any Pleco, Bristlesnoses do require some Bogwood to much on.
3. I call all wood Bogwood, the different types leak different amounts of tannins in the water. There are three different types of wood. Mopani the most and Driftwood the least (IMO)
4. Any type of wood will lower the pH of the water, not drastically just a little.
5. Boiling the wood is a quick alternative to letting it sit soaking in water.

for more info on Bogwood see http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Bogwood

Hope i helped you!

 

[xingumike]

For some reason i remember presoaked wood being marketed/sold by a company called ALF lol, do some googling see what you find.

Females won't necessarily get bristles on the lip either, i had one with none at all.

I could sex mine by about 1-1.5 inch normally.

I also used the boiling water method to get the worst of the tannins out