# Bristlenose Pleco, a few questions



## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

I recently got a small albino bristlenose pleco to go in a twenty gallon tank of mine. I have algae wafers for him, but is there anything else i can feed him? i prefer to give him a varied diet. also, the store said he'd get about 6", but I seriously suspect he gets bigger, can someone tell me exactly how big it'll get? 

anyway, I named him Efreet because my brother said h e looked evil XD


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Mine are less than six inches but could be different type of BN. Susan would know for sure. I feed mine the algae wafers, also some veggie sticks and zucchinni and yams. many people blanch them but I just slice and place in the tank. I freeze the leftovers so they dont go to waste. Dont feed them alot of protein rich foods or they will get sick from it and eventually die, as they cnt handle it.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Very rarely will a bn get more than 5 inches, There is a couple of species that will get bigger, but are hard to find. Most will stay at 3 to 4 inches. Now the longfins might seem to be bigger but you don't add the fins in the length of the fish.

Feed a variety of veggie rich foods, algae tabs, sweet potatoes, zuchinni. Don't feed to much cucumbers as they are mainly water based and very little value to them. It might take them awhile to realize that its food but once they do they really go for it.
Give them very little protein, As said above it can make them sick and die.

Make sure they have driftwood in the tank to rasp on. It aids them in digestion.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

thank you both, I 'll keep an eye on the protein based foods, and there is a farmer's market nearby that i can get some vegetables that are not contaminated with pesticides, so i'll probably opt for those. susan, the tank has a very large piece of driftwood in it, so i don't think it's a problem.


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## AngleTetra96 (Sep 5, 2012)

i also have a bristle nosed in my tank. im getting drift wood for it. its doing very well so far


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## Alasse (Mar 12, 2009)

I have had common BN hit 6 inches, and i currently have a peppermint BN just under 6inches.

Give em plenty of room and good food and they will easily reach 6 inches


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## zetus11 (Nov 11, 2012)

I have a reg bristlenose who absolutely loves the piece of Malaysian driftwood I got for him, I've had him since he was only an inch long he's now pushing 7"!


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

Alasse said:


> I have had common BN hit 6 inches, and i currently have a peppermint BN just under 6inches.
> 
> Give em plenty of room and good food and they will easily reach 6 inches


Big difference in a common pleco to a bristlenose pleco!!! Commons will grow to more then a foot easily never seen a bristlenose reach 6".


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

There are species of bns that get bigger. I have one that is almost 7 inches. Very hard to find, been looking for a female for him for quite awhle. I call him bulldozer as his head is wide and he plows through things. I wouldn't keep him in a planted tank.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

He's now an inch bigger, and he adores lettuce and squash of any kind, though i usually just give him zucchini or yellow squash since they're easier to find. He's doing quite well, and is developing his patterns.


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