Baby Bushy-nose Pleco

[Sherylee]

I had been looking for a small plecostomus for a while, so here it is. It's very small at the moment and Aquagirl assured me that it should get no more than about 5 inches at most. It's makeing itself at home with all the other guys in the 55 gal community tank. They seem to enjoy the bit of English Cucumber I put in for them. The Siamese Algae Eaters try to nibble it as well, but my baby Flying Fox cases them.

I have been cruising the net and not found much information on this specific animal, nor any really good pictures of a bushy-nose pleco. At leasst any that resemble this one for markings. At a certain angle one can see the beginings of barbles around the upper lip.

If it gets too big, I will have to find another home for it.

[traco]

No, he won't get huge. I've got bristlenose plecos in all my tanks and none get bigger than 5-6". They say the bristles mean it is a male but someone, like Brian, would know that for sure. He's bred them.

He really is cute though and tiny! Compared to the cory beside him, you get a good idea of his size right now.

[biggs]

Long Barbs around the mouth and up between the eyes is a sure sign it's a male. They often fork. Females get very minimal barbs and sometimes none at all and usually just around the mouth. 5-6" is about as big as they get with females usually a bit smaller.

Have fun!

[TKD]

My female is only about three inches and I have had her for over six months.

TKD

[coeste]

I got one recently from Safari Pets and he is about 2 inches long. Named him Zamboni. And his is doing a great job on the bog wood in my community tank. The regular pleco won't touch algae on the bog wood or rocks, but Zamboni is great at it. Brian suggested I freeze sweet potato and feed that to him and he just loves it. So do the angel fish - oddly enough.