Scientific Name(s): Ancistrus temminckii, Ancistrus sp.
Common Name(s): Bristle Nose Pleco, Bristle Nosed Pleco, Bristlenose Catfish, Bristlenose Pleco, Bushynose Catfish, Bristle Nose Plecostomus
Family: Loricariidae
Species Type: Plecostomus
Maximum Size: 5 inches
Life Span: 20 years
Natural Habitat: South American rivers and streams
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons
Tank Region: Bottom
Possible Tank Mates: Community fish. Can work with smaller cichlid species.
Description: The bristlenose pleco, Ancistrus temminckii and related species, is a wonderful fish to have. They come from South America. There are dozens of Ancistrus species. Like many plecos, they love to eat algae. I have read that some aquarists say that bristlenose plecos are the best “cure” for algae problems. Bristlenose’s do a good job on attached algae and only grow to 4 to 8 inches depending on the species. Ancistrus temminckii grows only up to about 4.75 inches. Compared to other plecos who grow to 1 to 2 feet, that is small! The bristlenose looks like most plecos in general shape except for its bristles. These fleshy appendages stick out around the lips and head of bristelnose plecos. The “bristles” or “brushes” grow as the fish grows. Males have many more adornments than females.
There is also an albino version of this fish which is identical in every way apart from albino colouration/lack of colouration and red eyes.
Temperature Range 16C – 27C (although will do fine upto 30)
pH Range 5.8 – 7.6
Hardness 5° – 20°
Breeding Information: Bristlenose plecostomus are perhaps the easiest plecostomus to breed in an aquarium. When sexually mature, a male will find a suitable spawning location and claim it as his territory. This may be around or under a hunk of driftwood or inside or under PVC pipe or clay pots. He will defend the spot from other males if present. To promote spawning, Baensch’s aquarium atlas suggests doing a 75% water change in November (in the Northern hemisphere). The shorter days of winter and the water change make the plecos think it is the start of the rainy season. If the tank has a female(s), she will enter his territory and spawning site when she is ready to lay eggs. Eggs are stuck on hard surfaces, on top, hanging from the “ceiling.” The camouflaged male will guard the orange or amber eggs until they hatch about ten days later. After absorbing their yolk over three to four days, the tiny, baby plecos will immediately start to work on sucking algae off of surfaces. If there are other fish in the tank aside from the plecos, the babies or eggs can be moved to another tank to prevent those fish from eating the babies. Some breeders remove whatever the eggs are laid on into another tank and give the father a replacement site (wood, pot, PVC, etc.) to guard. The babies can be removed after hatching.
Sexing Information: Males have larger bristles and grow more rapidly.
Diet: Vegetarian – eats algae and algae wafers. Suppliment with fresh vegetables such as zucchini slices, rommaine lettuce or spinach.
Temperment: Peaceful; Peaceful, and quite sociable. Excellent for community tanks.
Common Diseases: None specific to species.
Hi I’m New to keeping tropical fish so I’m still learning. I have a male and female bristle nose that are breeding like mad. I have left a few of the fry in my tank and are now 1 inch but they have just had another batch. I have 4 of the fry that I managed to seperate in a small tank just so they don’t get eaten in a 15 litre tank…..just until they get a bit bigger. Is this ok. If it’s not sorry I’m just starting out. Should I just leave them in main tank and hope for the best.
moving them is just fine its what I do usually well before they even make it to an inch in size just a thought though your main tank is only 15 litres with 2 BN’s in ? I’m hoping thats a typo and you mean 150 litres
I’d get rid of all but the adult male. I started with a male and a female. I ended up with HUNDREDS – they bred like mad. As it is, a 15 gallon tank is too small for two adults. With my tank and all the fry, (it was 20 gallon) we couldn’t keep up with the cleaning. We vacuumed it as much as we dared every DAY and it never got better than murky brown water. Save yourself while you can. I posted in my local FB forum that I was giving away all my plecos and, luckily, one guy came and took them all. At that point, I was just plain grateful and was burned out beyond belief.
Can I put this fish in a tank with fancy goldfish?
Sure they won’t bother each other as long as it’s warm enough remember goldfish are cold water and bristlenose are tropical but they do cross over well enough in the low 20 centigrade area
I’m really not sure. I do know that I’ll NEVER do it again. We had a 20 gallon tank & accidentally were given a male & female pleco (we requested 2 females or 2 males). They bred (in a slightly overpopulated tank) 1 time – to our surprise). We left for a 3 wk vacation and our house sitter didn’t keep up with the cleaning. We returned to hundreds of bristlenose! We were stunned. Tried to clean it. Did an over eager clean EVERY DAY and finally gave up the fight. Couldn’t sell them in a few day period and my daughter’s room smelled awful – we worried about health risks. Finally just gave them away to a really nice enthusiast nearby and sold the tank and equipment. The tank was pretty dark bc of the condition so I’m thinking dark would do well. FB has a great enthusiast group that you’d do well to join – got SO much information there. It was Portland based and had pdx and aquarium in the title. GOOD LUCK!!!
hello. I will be getting more tropical fishes later as my aquarium is rather big but at this moment, i have one redtail shark, one bristlenose catfish and one angel assorted longfin. so redtail is the only one swimming around at all times, angel stays behind a plant, comes to the front sometimes and runs off when i approach to play with them. meanwhile bristlenose is behind the heater i moved him using the net to get him to eat, he played dead for 5seconds then went straight under the car he’s been under the car for 20 minutes. Im worried cause he wont eat. help me please. also what would be a good hiding place for my angel pls? shes too big for the ornaments that i have. thank you in advance.
He’ll eat when he’s hungry assuming you’ve given him food he likes. They can be very timid and chasing them with a net will just panic him also if it’s bright he won’t come out that often especially if he’s new to the tank and just settling in. Just put the food in and leave them alone he’ll be fine.
For the angel they don’t really hide once they’ve settled in but they do like to be a pair rather than a single. If you get some tall plants like Vallis etc then the angels will mingle in and out of those quite happily
Hi Im new to keeping/breeding bristle nose plecos, any information is greatly appreciated. I had to put my eggs in to a old ice cream tub with an air stone in it as my male BN kept nudging them out of his cave. does anyone now when breeding BN weather they prefer the light or dark?
They like dark that’s why they use caves. A fresh/young male will kick a few out while he works out what he’s doing it’s fine to just leave him and the eggs he’ll eventually get the hang of it unless your desperate to keep every one when an ice cream tub and airstone is as good as anything as a little hatchery.
Just watch for eggs going white/furry they’re rotten eggs and need separating and throwing away
It seems to b shaking its tail so its still alive
Ive got a baby pleck it seems to b at the top of the tank it has been there since yesterday is this normal
not really baby plecs normally sit around the bottom of the tank and rarely swim up while they’re small they usually hide in small cracks etc.
I think my pleco has laid eggs in cave as the male is in there more than usual & guarding entrance.should I remove cave & male to my spare tank?
Up to you depends whats in the main tank you can usually leave them there unless you have something that is likely to eat the fry or you have an overly aggressive filter which could suck the babies in. Sometimes moving them can disturb the male and cause him to kick/eat the eggs could be worth while waiting until just before they start to hatch to minimise the risk. Either way congrats on the babies 🙂
I have an adult male bristlenose in a 164ltr tank, do you think it would be ok to introduce a young bristlenose (not sure what sex it is) into his tank?
He’s very territorial as when I introduced a catfish, all hell broke loose, had to remove catfish asap.
Thanks.
If he’s already abused a catfish then it may not be a good idea. Theoretically 2 bn’s even 2 males in a 164 litre tank (as long as it has a large floor surface area) should be fine but if he’s being agressive it may not work out.
Having said that a smaller fish he may ignore more and not notice as it grows also you can perhaps calm him down more my making loads of hidey holes/caves/plant cover just fill the tank with loads of places for him to go and hide and he may calm down/not bother with the new visitor.
I’ve gotta picture but it’s not great tbh but can’t seem to find icon here to attach the file.
upload it to somewhere like http://imgur.com/ and post a link in the comments I’ll get it from the link
My albino female has grown a large spike on her back any ideas?
Any chance of a picture? it could just be one of the bones or plates sticking up (they’re armoured sometimes the plates can get damaged) or it could be some form of parasite i’ve personally never heard of a “spike” but if you can get me a picture I can do some checking.
Ummm, not exactly sure as I wasn’t trying to breed them. That said, I know this much, temp was on or about 80. Lots of caves where they can “do their thing”. And didn’t feed them anything special, just typical algae tabs. Also, had lots of live plants. Hope this helps (they didn’t breed until bt 2 and 3 inches possibly even 4 in length. Believe me, they WILL eventually breed … we got rid of ours … there were the mama and papa and as many as 60 to 80 fry…
Hi thanks for getting back to me ..question is alder cones i have used thry do tint the water which i like depending the amount but i read Almond leaves are good … i am ordering for the first time to try but then i read banano leaves so it made me think what about slder cone leaves .. thanks
Anything wood/cones/leafs will release tannins in to the water and turn it brown. You can minimise it by boiling them before hand but it does the fish no harm. I’ve used both cones and almond leaves before have seen no real benefits but also no real negatives either so up to you I guess.
hi what should the tds be to breed bristlenose .. when i started to breed angelfish i read uou beed this you need that but do most things we read need to be updated …… your views please and are almond leaves good and black aldercones are they good with bristlenose …..look forward to hear from you … billy
There is no hard and fast TDS or hardness I’m aware of however certainly softer water is better though. I once read a theory that higher TDS and harder water means the egg shells are harder for the fry to crack but I have no scientific backup for that just a “read on forums” thing. Below is the measurements of my local water which I’ve had no issues with once a chlorine neutraliser has been added something like Prime for example. While almond leaves and cones aren’t again a requirement they do help soften the water up (as does bog wood) and I quite like the brown tannin colour of the water looks more natual to me than crystal clear stuff. Almond leaves do put a mild antiseptic property too as far as I understand.
Currently trying to breed during off season for common bristle nose and found that if I changed water then simulated a storm I get great results they laid in a large cave and they filled it to half way with eggs. also now looking for a male long fin to service my female but their so hard to find.
Quite a lot of people claim to have good luck with storm simulation or blacking out their tanks its never worked for me personally what does seem to work though is a nice big water change with slightly cooler water.
Long fins are quite common around me but can’t really comment on your locality.
How long b4 I can safely give the babies away? Didn’t want babies … in fact, I was assured the ones I got were both female! My daughter is over the moon excited though. Will getting rid of the caves prevent this from happening again? My daughter is over attached to her plecos and would be very upset if I gave one away!
if you get rid of the caves make sure you put plenty of other hidey holes/places for the fish otherwise they’ll get over stressed without their caves to hide in. As for getting rid of the babies I normally wait until they’re about 3-4cm long ish sometimes a little longer just to make sure its about 4 months if I remember right.
My big old mummy has started eating the babies in the shells. Never had this problem with her with other babies she had. She still lays more eggs and the male still does the job but once those little snail looking babies get to near her she eat them. She is getting a little old so could she be losing it? Or do I just have a hormonal fish and a tank of death at the moment?
From what I understand it’s rarer for the female to eat them its usually the males as the female is uninvolved once she’s left the cave.
It could just be she’s over bred recently perhaps separate male and female for a while interrupt the cycle for a few weeks then let them try again
How often can I put veg into my tank(cucumber slice) to feed my two brisstlenose pleco?? I have a 200 litre tank is this big enough for the two bn?
200l is fine for just 2 bn’s could probably have more as long as it’s a tank with a large floor area rather than tall and thin.
For the veg if they haven’t eaten it in 24h take it out and put new in
i have a 30 litre tank with a brislenose pleco and he keeps growing is my tank big enough, what should I do
unfortunately not even close enough to being large enough I’d never put even a bristle nose in less than a 50 litre tank. If you want to keep the fish get a bigger tank they’re pretty cheap.
Thank you great advice x
Any advice on breeding in a group please ?
Good quality clean water ideally a little bit on the soft acidic side (not strongly on either though) lots of caves that are barely bigger than the fishes body but quite long some where in the region of 2 caves per fish keep a ratio of no less than 3 females to each male more the better and be prepared to take the male out in to his own tank every so often to give him a rest as if you don’t he’ll constantly breed back to back without looking after himself at all.
Hi, so I was wondering if anyone could help me with a bit of a problem. I have two bushy nosed plecos in a 20 gallon tank (I did do my homework before I got them, and try the shopkeeper told me it was fine, my water parameters are perfect and they have lost of hiddy places although the male does prefer his rock cave) I’ve had them for a couple of months so they aren’t at breeding age yet but I’m positive I have a male and a female, there both less than two inches but ones has got loads of long bristles now whilst the other one hasn’t shown any signs of developing them. So the thing is that I’ve read everywhere that they are social, peaceful, non-territorial fish that are not aggressive, but my male pleco has started to chase the female. Not in a mating sort of way either if he sees her near him he will flare up his fins and dart towards her in a threatening sort of way so that she swims off. I don’t know what this means I’m not looking to breed them but I do want them to be happy together in the same tank ? so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know ?
Males can be more aggressive especially when they start to mature the first time they want to start breeding with inexperience especially if the female isn’t ready yet they can be a little pushy. The act of breeding plec’s can seem quite abusive at first as the male really does bully the female in to his chosen breeding cave/home but its pretty natural. As long as the female is feeding well don’t worry too much about it they’re strong fish and can tolerate a bit of bullying without any issues.
Something very odd happened tonight. As I was feeding the fish I noticed my Bristlenose Plec in his hiding spot on the driftwood, he was looking a bit dark and I couldnt see any movement so I went to fetch something to ‘prod’ him with to no reaction. So thinking he was dead I took out the driftwood to fetch him out of his hole, he was very black and still not moving, it seemed he got stuck in his hole and suffocated, so I got my mallet and chisel and took out a bit of the wood so I could get to him. During this time I was pulling on his tail to see if he would budge but nope, after 5-10 minutes of trying to get him out he suddenly starts flapping his tail and spreading his fins. Now seen as I thought he was dead this was quite a shock!! I have put the wood back into the tank and after 15 minutes he squirmed out and swam off. Now, my question is this; could he have been hibernating or asleep? Or even just playing dead?
He’ll just have been hiding in his safe spot though do watch out as they can sometimes get stuck in their favorite hidey holes I’ve had a couple I’ve had to split wood from before to free them. If he was almost black he must be settled in well to the tank and developed nice strong colouring as they go light/white when stressed/ill.
His stillness will have been a little bit of him playing dead probably. He should be fine if he’s swamp off again now.
Thanks for the reply, I just found it odd that he didnt react at all to my prodding he didnt even react when I grabbed his tail, when I took the driftwood out or when I was hammering into the wood to get him out. It was only when I was really trying to get him out (with pliers in the end as he was proper wedged in there) I started to feel some resistance, then finally after about 15 minutes out of the water he started flapping so I quickly rushed him back to the tank.
If I kept all males together and all females together would they fight ?
Unlikely with all females little bit more likely with all males but keep them single sex if you put a single female in with loads of males they’ll be fighting and the same other way round
Just bought my first bristle nose will it be ok by it’s self or should I get a second one?
They’re fine on their own they’re quite solitary fish
I’ve had my tank up and running for 3 weeks now only to discover my brisstlenose pleco dead this morning. It had two white marks on its side? Never saw him feed I had pleco wafers in twice a week can you give me any advice before I get myself another one? My temp in tank is set to 27 ph is sitting at 7.2 my kh is 180 gh is 0-50
Waters a little warm ish but its within the range bristlenose are comfy at so its fine. It sounds to me like it had some kind of parasite if you saw white marks on the outside or could have been a fungus of some description. Whitespot is quite common when purchasing fish from a fish shop and is aggravated by the stress of moving tanks etc. It may be worth while just treating your tank with a broad spectrum antibiotic and anti-fungal when you put a new one in just to be on the safe side apart from that I can’t really say anything else / give any other advice without finding the real reason for the death.
Can I put my large plec in the same as my adult piranha
While I’ve never done it myself most of the larger plecs are quite heavily armoured and are some of the few fish that can live with piranha. In the wild they share the same environment too. The main issue would be if your plec is a common and you’re feeding the piranha meat/high protein food that may get too much for the plec and give it digestion issues. Remember though piranha are omnivores and will quite happily eat veg too they’re not the pure meat eaters most assume they are, but they do eat a lot so make sure the plec is getting food too.
Assuming your large plec is a common or a panaque of some kind you should be fine they have pretty strong armour and defensive spikes so it seems they should be quite fine together but as I say never done it myself only what I’ve heard / seen / read from others.
hi Dave
I have a breeding pair of pleco’s and they have had two lots of baby’s the first lot all died and now the second lot are disappearing fast what am I doing wrong they are in a 3ft tank with some platy’s and 3 tetra’s should I remove the babies to a separate tank or just leave them in the main tank and hope for the best
regards
lyn
If you want to keep them I’d personally move them into a separate tank. The platy’s and the tetra’s shouldn’t really bother baby plecs so its unlikely to be they’re being eaten by them. Are they getting enough food over the parents? Is it good vegetable based good not high protein food? Check your filter inlet is it large and open for a baby plec to fit through they’re so small when they come out they can easily be sucked in. I have foam over my filter inlets to stop them from heading in to the filter. Is the water in good condition?
Finally and if they’re 2 shop bought parents you probably won’t know but are the parent’s related? if its sibling breeding this can lead to weaker offspring of their own (commonly called line breeding I believe) eventually if you do enough line breeding you weaken the gene pool so much that the babies die almost instantly.
No new fish for awhile lost a three lined cory Sat night/Sunday morning before the w/c. weird thing is that was the last from my original batch bought at roughly the same time. did 25l change in a 64l tank and swapped one filter sponge in u2 filter been doing fortnightly changes but had quite a lot of snails hence the 25l change. but thought she would’ve been ok before my masked corys and serpae tetras. Think may go back to doing it weekly just a 15l instead. I’m gutted love my catfish and plecs 🙁
More than likely on a tank that size with a water change that size it swung the balance to much and it recycled probably. In small tanks like that it’s best to water change little and often. Put a 2l jug next to tank every day one jug out one jug in on a Sunday do 2 jugs 🙂 that’s a 10% per week water change near enough
I have a male and female BN, but don’t think she is a BN now as she doesn’t have any bristles. They have so far had three sets of fry and at present I have over 40 very busy babies! Is there a time of year for breeding or will they just continue over and over. I have to get them to a certain size before the Aquarian shop will take them. Very entertaining though. She ant shy at all but he disappears as soon as he sees you.
They’ll breed all year round. Females don’t always have bristles sometimes they have a few smaller ones other times they have none at all. Most fish shops won’t take fey until they’re 1.5″ to 2″ in size