common pleco X p. maccus?

[chrisinha]

i got this little guy as a common pleco today. however he looks a lot like my p. maccus. could it be because he's very young? can someone id him for me?

[Birger]

however he looks a lot like my p. maccus.

Looks to me like you figured it out yourself...I think you are right

Birger

[MatsP]

Definitely not a common pleco - P. maccus is spot on. They aren't very expensive, but a bit more than a common pleco, so you got yourself a bargain, I think.

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Mats

[chrisinha]

thanks guys!
the only thing is i bought him because i have a tank full of algae and i didnt want to move my "humongous" common pleco to do the job, but my p. maccus has never been a good algae eater....

[MatsP]

thanks guys!
the only thing is i bought him because i have a tank full of algae and i didnt want to move my "humongous" common pl*co to do the job, but my p. maccus has never been a good algae eater....

That makes a lot of sense - they are primarily wood-eaters. To get a good algae eater, I would recommend an

Ancistrus sp(3)

- they don't grow too large, and are excellent algae eaters.

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Mats

[chrisinha]

i'm assuming it's a hard one to find?

[MatsP]

Shouldn't be hard to find at all - On aquabid they are usually selling (often Albino and/or longfin) Bristlenose/Bushynose pleco. It's a lot harder to find brown ones on there - presumably because they don't sell well when the shipping is 3-5x the price of shipping.

Shops should be able to get them too.

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Mats

[chrisinha]

I didnt realize Ancistrus sp and Bristlenose were the same fish (duh). I had one before. Unfortunately he passed. If I still were in California, I would know exactly where to get them, but here on the east coast I have no idea. The only stores I know are Petco/Petsmart/Petland and I've never seen a bristlenose in any of those before. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. Thanks, Mat!

[Plecofanatic1989]

Where abouts on the east coast are you? If you are near me I know some places...

[MatsP]

I didnt realize Ancistrus sp and Bristlenose were the same fish (duh). I had one before. Unfortunately he passed. If I still were in California, I would know exactly where to get them, but here on the east coast I have no idea. The only stores I know are Petco/Petsmart/Petland and I've never seen a bristlenose in any of those before. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. Thanks, Mat!

Perhaps you could update your location, as it still says "California" in your user profile - go to the "User control panel" at the top left of the page and set your location to where you live now, and I'm sure someone can help - there's quite a few east-coasters, as far as I know.

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Mats

[chrisinha]

Where abouts on the east coast are you? If you are near me I know some places...

i'm in brooklyn, ny.
i've just changed my location, sorry guys!