Can I put a bristlenose in with a clown pleco?

[Catfish586]

Hi all. I recently replaced our dear old late bristlenose with a little clown pleco after being unable to get hold of a super red bristlenose.

He's a beautiful little fish (when I see him, which isn't often!) However I hadn't realised that they don't eat much algae compared to a BN, so our 100L tank is suddenly getting greener...

Could I get another fairly small BN to get to work on the algae? I don't want to upset the clown as he's only been in a few weeks and is already painfully shy - but are they OK together with no territorial disputes? And longer term will a 100L be big enough for both, at least for a few years?

 

[Colin_T]

what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

they should be ok together if the tank is 3ft long or bigger.

 

[Catfish586]

it's a 100L Aqua Nano which is D40 x W60 x H47 cm - so only 2 foot long.

 

[Colin_T]

probably too small for both.

 

[anewbie]

It can work IF the bn is one of the colour morphs that tend to run a bit smaller than a natural bn. Also it helps a lot of the bn is a female.

Be aware that if both pleco are males they will seek caves and defend those caves possibly to the death of an intruder.

However the idea of buying a fish to eat algae is usually the wrong approach and in the end in effective.

 

[Boundava]

So that's about 26 US gallons it's pretty small for both a bristlenose and a clown pleco. I agree with the above comments that you shouldn't be buying a fish to deal with algae issues. Irregardless the two plecos will be making too much waste for a tank that small and the one eats more plant matter where the other one eats more wood so they're both super poopers. You won't see the clown pleco very much as they are usually hiding, the bristlenose will depend on the it's temperament, you may see them all the time or never They also may be extremely territorial, my male was very territorial and would fight fish and other plecos two to three times his size successfully.
Ultimately I don't think you should keep two plecos in a tank that size, I would just stick with the clown that you have and work on the algae by cleaning it yourself.