Clown Pleco or Bristlenose Pleco 55 gallon community

[josh7]

I have an aquaclear 70 I do 50 percent water changes weekly it contains 6 scissortail rasbora, 5 brilliant rasbora, 7 serpae tetra, 1 red tailed black shark, 1 pearl gourami and 4 yoyo loaches I was wondering if you guys think I could add a clown or bristlenose pleco.

[plecomanpat]

In my opinion 50% of 55 gals on a weekly note is extensive, 25% would be adequate, and as far as the plecos go you could go with both, you have enough room and their food requirements are similar...enjoy

[josh7]

Okay then would a bristlenose pair be okay just because they are great algae eaters and look cooler also is there anyway to sex juveniles.

[vanillarum]

Just so you understand, if you get a pair of bristlenose, you will eventually have gazillions, as they breed quite easily. I keep my male and female in different tanks until the fry from the previous batch are gone. Then I put them in the same tank and within 2 weeks I have eggs. And no, they need to be a little older to sex. Good luck.

[josh7]

Thanks I guess I think I will just get a single bristlenose thanks for the replys.

[vanillarum]

You could always look for 2 males or 2 females that are sexable.

[josh7]

I know I just want 1 because I just don't want to push my tanks limits to much by adding these.

[nvcichlids]

Just so you understand, if you get a pair of bristlenose, you will eventually have gazillions, as they breed quite easily.

This is a false statement. I cannot keep bristlenose alive to save my life let alone breed them. I can breed tons of other fish, but bristlenose just ain't one of them.

I do agree though that you can easily get overrun with bristlenose. Every month it seems like there are more and more and more people trying to sell bristlenose on aquabid and the auctions go un touched.

I personally adore the clown plecos. They aren't nearly as good as bristlenose at algae cleaning (which is where i use nerite snails in my fishroom) but they are adorable and fun to watch and mine are always out in the open.

[vanillarum]

Well then, it is not a false statement, it is only false as it pertains to you. The same is true with me and red cherry shrimp. I can not keep them alive to save my life. So, I stopped trying, after killing probably hundreds. I just looked in my male red ancistrus' cave (I put him back with the female on 2/14) and their is a huge clutch of eggs. So into the grow out tank he will go, eggs, cave and all. Good luck all.

[Shane]

I do 50 percent water changes weekly

I would not consider this at all extensive. It is the same treatment all my tanks get. In fact, some of my tanks get even larger, more frequent water chages. There is no such thing as too frequent water changes (provided the chemistry and temperature of the new water is similar enough to the old). Many of us could learn from folks that keep really sensitive fishes like Discus.

Many Discus keepers do 25% water changes three times weekly and some very dedicated ones go as far as two 100% water changes daily. Several studies done for aquaculture further confirm frequent, large water changes as one of the most important factors in fish growth. Believe it or not, it ranks even higher than amount and type of food available in impact on both health and growth.

Sure many fishes will thrive with far smaller, less frequent water changes, but how many more catfish species might we spawn if we took things as far as Discus folks do?

I was wondering if you guys think I could add a clown or bristlenose pleco.

As other have said, you could add either or even both. Your current tank population, filtration, and water changing regime are giving you a lot of space to add fishes. If you do choose

Panaque maccus

keep in mind that they 1) need driftwood (more is better) and 2) like all other wood-eating fish make quite a mess.

-Shane

[vanillarum]

And to add to what Shane said, you could keep both. The BNs will be much more visible than the panaque maccus. I have both in my 46 gal BF, and while the BN is out all the time, the panaque spends most of its day hidden, only coming out when food is present, or when it is dark. Males spend most of their time in a cave, wagging their tails at you, and the females are hidden around the males cave. Good luck.