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two questions for you fine folk

what are the differences (temperament, requirements, ease of keeping etc) between a common bristlenose and a clown pleco?

is there a difference, apart from colour, between a normal bristlenose and an albino?

To my limited knowledge, the BN is a superior algae eater and is less dependant upon driftwood than the clown pl*co. My clowns have also hid much more often than BN's, but that may not be true everywhere. And of course, BN's are far easier to breed. I haven't attempted with clowns, however, but have had no trouble with BN's.

As far as differences between browns and albino BN's, there shouldn't be a difference in behavior among tank bred fish, but wild ones will obviously be more skiddish. I can reach in and pick up my albinos and browns, but they're all home-grown fish. I have heard that brown fish will grow faster and larger than albinos, but that may be a function of inbreeding. There is a picture of a huge female albino in the catelog, so this may not be totally true.

And...albinos sell for more $$, if you decide to breed them.

Hope this helps,

Andy

i have always planned on getting a bn, but recently the clown has been legalised, becoming the only small pleco available here, as far as i know. the fact that it's new and somewhat rare attracts me to it, plus it's so pretty. maybe i should get one of each

As Andy said, Clown plecos are more reclusive. It's rare that I can see any of mine unless I go looking in caves and such.

They also aren't great algae eaters, but they will eat wood! You need to have some sort of soft-ish wood in the tank for them to be happy. Mine look like they have swallowed a golf-ball, both the females and the male...

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Mats

In genereal Albino species do not grow as large, as fast or live as long as the regular specie. This is not always true though. Some examples from my experiences.

African Clawed Frogs - Bought an Albino and regular one around the same time...within a couple months of each other. The Albino was always larger and is still alive after approx. 3yrs. The regular one died a couple months ago due to a disease. I think I bought the Albino after the regular one.

Regular Pl*cos - My Albino is just under 1ft and my regular one is just over 1ft. Again bought around the same time and both were about the same size when bought. They both grew at about the same rate and are both still alive. They are both approz. 3yrs old. My friend has an Albino taht is around the same age as mine...maybe a couple months older and his is only about 9inchs.

I have no facts to back my original statement but many people on here will agree with me I believe.

You need to have some sort of soft-ish wood in the tank for them to be happy. Mine look like they have swallowed a golf-ball, both the females and the male...

I have the hard heavy wood that is used for plecos( I can't think of the real name) but what is this soft wood? MIKE

Ok, so one of the common wood here in the UK is something called Mopani. It's a fairly hard, and quite heavy (sinks when it's dry). Small panaque's [1] will eat this, no doubt about that. But soft wood, like pine or such would be a more easy to chew diet.

[1] And it appears that Ancistrus eat it too, since I have at least one piece that shows prettty noticable pieces missing on the end where I cut it.

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Mats

the map wood you spoke about I've never heard of here in the US. But pine we have plecnty of. Are you sure that it's good for them? I would think it's not a nature wood from the plecos wild habitat, Dogs and cats like antifreeze but it will kill them. MIKE

Well, to be honest, I haven't got any pine in my tank, but I've got cherry-wood from my tree in the garden, and another couple of branches that I'm not sure what it is [got it from the neighbour, and it was laying on his "wood for fireplace" pile]. Some kind of shrubby tree, that's for sure. Quite soft, judging from sawing it into smaller pieces. Fish seem to like all three: Mopani, cherry and "unknown". Mine have also halfed the walls on several pieces of bamboo that I've got in the tank - they seem to like to hide in there.

This thread talks about what Panaque Nigrolineatus eats in nature, and good substitutes in more northern climes.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... s&start=15

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Mats