Options to replace a BN pleco

[Catfish586]

We've just suddenly lost our much-loved female BN pleco, after having her for over six years. She was quite small when she came to us, outgrew our initial 55L tank and spent the rest of her days in a 100L, by which time she was around four inches long (and perhaps starting to feel confined in a 100L). I've no idea what caused her sudden passing - lost an ember tetra recently as well, all levels fine then and last water change last weekend but I'll check levels again today. She was a shy fish but we were very fond of her.

So now the 100L currently has eight cardinal tetras and eight ember tetras, who happily co-exist and shoal together. It is a planted aquarium with a Fluval bio substrate, lots of bogwood/driftwood/hiding places so very pleco-friendly (although whenever ours had a digging phase the plants would end up coated in black substrate and the water temporarily cloudy black). I'm unsure whether to get another BN, although they're great for algae eating whereas the obvious alternative of corys tend to be more bottom feeders, not so great for algae.

Does anyone have both together? I'd be interested in people's thoughts on the pluses/minuses of BNs and corys, and perhaps any other alternative routes I could be looking at. Thank you for reading.

 

[seangee]

I have had them together for years. My last male lived to 20 and now I have a female a few years old. Most corys will try to share algae wafers etc and the BN is quite tolerant but does chase them off when she has had enough. I usually just break it in half and drop half in at each end of the tank so everyone gets a share.
BNs do a great job on the glass but be aware that as they get older they rely more on the food you feed and pay less attention to the glass.
I am not sure if this is a general statement but my male used to dig a lot more than the female.
Gratuitous pic of her ladyship

 

[seangee]

And Billy the bulldozer in his prime. I don't usually name my fish but these have such characters they deserve a name

 

[Fishkeeper123]

We've just suddenly lost our much-loved female BN pleco, after having her for over six years. She was quite small when she came to us, outgrew our initial 55L tank and spent the rest of her days in a 100L, by which time she was around four inches long (and perhaps starting to feel confined in a 100L). I've no idea what caused her sudden passing - lost an ember tetra recently as well, all levels fine then and last water change last weekend but I'll check levels again today. She was a shy fish but we were very fond of her.

So now the 100L currently has eight cardinal tetras and eight ember tetras, who happily co-exist and shoal together. It is a planted aquarium with a Fluval bio substrate, lots of bogwood/driftwood/hiding places so very pleco-friendly (although whenever ours had a digging phase the plants would end up coated in black substrate and the water temporarily cloudy black). I'm unsure whether to get another BN, although they're great for algae eating whereas the obvious alternative of corys tend to be more bottom feeders, not so great for algae.

Does anyone have both together? I'd be interested in people's thoughts on the pluses/minuses of BNs and corys, and perhaps any other alternative routes I could be looking at. Thank you for reading.

I have both together and they get on fine. My Bristlenose will chase off the cories for an algae wafer, however they generally get on fine. I would highly recommend getting another Bristlenose and mine is my favourite fish in the tank. You could probably get a group of 8 cories as well if you wanted. Other options would be the likes of ottos, clown plecos, and some others. However, I would recommend getting another Bristlenose. Here’s some pictures of my juvenile, Bruce.(I think they are a female but not confident enough yet.)

 

[GaryE]

Ancistrus have a weird effect on their keepers. If you fall for them, they just can't be replaced by anything else. People tend to love them or hate them, and if you love them, you are hooked.
It has nothing to do with function, as we pretend. There's no algae they can eat that we can't easily clean ourselves. There are no fish clean up crews - there are fish for the bottom of the tank.

My daughter has a bristlenose I gave her out of a spawn years ago, and he has grown large and bristled. He's fascinating, and when I visit, I enjoy watching him. I'm not mad about Ancistrus, and they tend to be background fish to me. But this one fish is a lot of fun.

He lives with a group of Hoplisoma panda Corys, and while he occasionally bumps them, I have also seen them swim across his head, touching it. I have had lots of Ancistrus at times (they breed like guppies) and they always live with Corys.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Get a cave for males and they should dig less. Females will appreciate one as well. Otherwise they will work to try and create on if they can. Often this can mean rearranging the substrate. I hollow place in wood would work also. Smaller plecos need solid places to hide, under a leaf is not enough.

 

[anewbie]

I had a young bn with an upside down catfish (great fish) once; i would put in several pellets so they could pick wht they wanted. Well one day the upside down cat claimed a pellet - no problem there were 4 right next to it but the pleco decided it had to have the pellet the upside down cat chose and tried to take it from him.... well that started an epic fight for about 10 minutes and eventually the pleco learned it can't have everything it wants


back to the question - i have honeycomb bn with orange laser for years (at least 4); i'm not buying any more pleco but i have some left over from when i marveled at them (though i haven't seen my clown pleco in over a year).

They are in a 180 gallon (30 inches wide and 72 inches long so rather large); i never seen them interact per sey. It is one of the few non-blackwater aquariums i still have but with a bunch of nurii rosen in it i don't want to risk kill them via switching.

 

[seangee]

Get a cave for males and they should dig less. Females will appreciate one as well. Otherwise they will work to try and create on if they can. Often this can mean rearranging the substrate. I hollow place in wood would work also. Smaller plecos need solid places to hide, under a leaf is not enough.

Well yes - but sometimes they just get bored and would like a change of scenery. The girl in post #2 has plenty of caves and hidey holes available in this tank. But she has decided that particular piece of wood is where she needs to be and a new cave is in the process of being built - under the wood.
I have learnt its best not to interfere in such matters, in a week or two she will find a new favourite spot and I will fill in the hole.

 

[anewbie]

Well yes - but sometimes they just get bored and would like a change of scenery. The girl in post #2 has plenty of caves and hidey holes available in this tank. But she has decided that particular piece of wood is where she needs to be and a new cave is in the process of being built - under the wood.
I have learnt its best not to interfere in such matters, in a week or two she will find a new favourite spot and I will fill in the hole.

Girls mostly don't use caves other than to hide; it is the male that uses caves as a territorial home and breeding.

In fact most of the time if i buy a pleco that can be easily be sexed i prefer girls because they are less nocturnal and more likely to actually be seen on a regular basis. I do have one girl that hides in a hollow portion of a piece of driftwood:

Full image - you can see her tail in the middle left just above the two fishes



close up (she never hid until i moved her into this aquarium - though i suppose that was better than the other option if she only knew....)




But she is unusual in that regards my other females never really hide. Males can go month without being seen.

 

[Catfish586]

All these posts have made me want to get another young BN. Funnily enough we had named ours as well ("Brownie"). They are extremely beautiful fish and such characters. I'm tempted by getting a small group of corys at the same time, though.

 

[anewbie]

I'll be honest a 100L ~25 gallon is pretty small for either pleco or cory much less both. If you do go with cory i would go with pygmy or hastatus. The behavior of these are atypical of most cory but they are also 1/4 the size.

 

[seangee]

Girls mostly don't use caves other than to hide; it is the male that uses caves as a territorial home and breeding.

In fact most of the time if i buy a pleco that can be easily be sexed i prefer girls because they are less nocturnal and more likely to actually be seen on a regular basis. I do have one girl that hides in a hollow portion of a piece of driftwood:

I haven't had enough to generalise but mine loves hiding. The male used to disappear for weeks when he got older but until then always showed up at feeding time. Here she is right now behind the HOB inlet

 

[anewbie]

I haven't had enough to generalise but mine loves hiding. The male used to disappear for weeks when he got older but until then always showed up at feeding time. Here she is right now behind the HOB inlet
View attachment 367837

Yea - i've had 50 or 100 over the years; when young the male is out but around 1 to 2 years old they become nocturnal and i never see him.

I had one grumpy old male bn that decided the slime on angelfishes was excellent source of food. The picture of the female above is the first one i've had that openly hides and she still comes out quite a bit; though it is a very nice comfy hiding place.