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Hello, I have a 20 gallon long tank with 5 Black Skirt Tetra, 3 Albino Cory Cats, 1 Platy. and I am hoping I can get a female Albino Bistlenose (The black skirts are fin nippers, so I'm playing it safe. I have a piece of driftwood in the tank, and a rock cave for cover with a nice amount of plants. Is this too small a tank for 1 bristlenose? Can they thrive in a tank with only being 1 with no friends or lovers? Any information would be appreciated, the tank is good right now, just missing that 1 piece, and this pleco will do it. I have researched a lot of plecos, and this although very common, seems like the best algae cleaner, and tankmate with it's personality and size.
Josh

Yes they can do quite well by themselves and with just one you don't have to worry about spawning but with the fin nippers I'd stay away from long fin varieties. I would also make sure enough food is getting to the bottom as you already have 3 bottom feeding cories in there add some fresh sliced veg. sunk in the tank every week to feed the pleco and/or sinking algae tablets.

I LOVE my plecos and once you start getting them it becomes almost an obsession or at least it has with me. Good luck to you!

A Bristlenose should do well on its own and as huffmagx says plecs become something of a passion

I would consider returning the Black Skirt Tetra tbh as they can be fin nippers they are always going to limit future additions to your tank. However saying that regarding the Black Skirts I have never known them to nip the fins of other fish and would suggest if you want to keep them adding another 3 or 4 to make a nice home aquarium school.

TBH 5 of them is pushing the usual schooling numbers and may explain why they are fin nipping ... in a large enough group any aggression is worked out between themselves

Also never assume despite what your local store / INTERNET may tell you plecs while they eat algae will never be efficient tank cleaners and also require actual food. If algae is the issue then consider nerite snails or a really rigorous cleaning regime

Hope it helps

Thank you both... I ended up getting 1 Albino Bristlenose. She/He is AWESOME. (I tried to get a female.. because the Black Skirts might find the bristles of a male too tempting. I got a juvenile and it was hard to sex, too young I think.
I have had the black skirts for a while, so they're staying, I know about schooling numbers but my 20 Long can only handle so many fish. They are not that aggressive toward each other, or any of their tankmates.
The BN is very cool. My tank is now complete. Will be upgrading at some point, for now, all is good.. Thank you.

How much and how often should I be feeding by Albino BN Zucchini/green Beans (what other veggies? should I use a veggie clip that suctions to the side of tank?
Thanks again...
Sandman

As often as you like, really. I use a stainless steel teaspoon to make vegetables sink - just pierece the veg with the teaspoon, and let it sink somewhere you can see it.

Beans usually sink by themselves, so shouldn't need any special effort.

My artcile about feeding plecos gives lots of other vegetable food suggestions (link to the right of my post).

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Mats

Thank you Mats. Your article and responce was more then helpful. I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain a little. What other pleco is a good algae eater and has a striking pattern? As I have posted I have an Albino BN who I love allready. I have done a lot of research a while ago on this site, just off the top of your head, good algae eater and looks pretty cool. I know a lot of the cooler looking plecos don't eat algae. Thanks again.
Sandman

Typically, striking patters (contrasting stripes and bright colours) are more likely on meat-eating plecos than they are on algae-eaters.

can be a bit more colourful, and eat algae fairly well. However, they also grow quite large, generally speaking, and can be a bit tricky to keep.

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mats

Hey Mats, thanks for your replies and advice. My BN plec just got done nibbling on some zucchini.Pretty cool. I tied it to a rock with a rubber band.
L200 Green Phantom Pleco looks like a good choice for me when I get a bigger tank. Only grows to 5.9'' and is stunning! In a big enough tank could I house multiple BN and Green Phantom Plecos together? Do I have to worry about male/female ratios for territorial fighting. Sorry for all of the questions, I appreciate and value your advice.
I think I have been bit by the Pleco bug : )

Do you mean or . I think the former would be a slightly better algae eater, but I have only kept , which wasn't a particularly great at eating algae.

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Mats

Yes, I meant Baryancistrus demantoides.

My only comment would be that they aren't that common, so you may have to travel or mail-order to get some....

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Mats

Hey Mats.. The Zucchini was a success without blanching it (missed that part in your article) Today I am trying sweet Potatoes. I blanched it for about 30 seconds. What should the consistancy be for my little Albino BN? I could dig my fingernail into it a little bit. I;m thinking it has to be softer? Maybe being in the water will soften it up? Thanks again.

If the fish is big enough to sell (around 1"), it should be able to eat raw sweet potato. 30 seconds in boiling water should certainly be enough.

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Mats

Hey Mats... sorry to bug u again... How about L183 starlight BN? I'm assuming they can be housed with Albino BN... I also really like the "red" BN don't know the name of them, their just a color Morph of the regular BN pleco I think.
I'm either going with a 75 gallon tank, in which case I wouuld house 3 BN and a bunchh of other fish, or a 125 gallon, where I would get 3 Albino BN and 3 starlight BN. I have all of the other fish allready picked out, but after getting my first pleco, I think I want more plecs.

I personally won't recommend keeping two species of the same genus in the same tank. Edit: That means "Do not mix albino with L183".

(L183) also requires soft water - they can be established in hard water, but it takes a fair bit of time, and is not always successful, from personal experience.

Edit: And yes, "Super Red" is a captive bred variety of the common variety. If you mix Red ones with Albinos, and they breed (which is likely, as it's often harder to make them NOT breed than to make this species breed, you will get brown ones, as you need the same genes from both parent's to make the red or albino colour form).

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Mats

hi, I'm new. I tried to keep ancistrus and I really loved them, but they kept dying , so I gave up, not wanting to kill any more poor fish. It was really weird, because everybody I talked to said they looked like really healthy fish, apart from the fact that they were dead. Could anybody think of anything that might be wrong that I can fix, because I really want to keep some of the cute little guys, but as I said before, I don't want to kill any more.

Ok, so my Albino BN Pleco keeps my tank almost spotless, and eats her Zucchini. I also have a staple pellet,algae wafers, and shrimp pellets. I have noticed that she eats zucchini during the day. I drop in pellets and algae wafers (not at the same time) at night, alternating when the light go off. I have 3 Albino Cory's, some tetras, and 2 platy's in this tank.
Should I be dropping an algae wafer in during the day? Are plecos supposed to be nocturnal like Cory's? I have been waiting at night because the other fish will eat the food if I drop it in during the day, maybe I could get away with a whole algae wafer (the tetras porbably can't pick that up and eat it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Sandman

They are more active at night, but being almost continual grazers, they do eat at all times, if food is available.

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Mats