lyndatu

Hello

We are looking for a good cleaner fish/shrimp/snail for our tank except for the common pleco(because of its size and heavy bioload) and ottos(there isn't any here) for our 20-gallon tank. We found this orange-white pleco in the Local Fish Store and we thought it was called "Albino Pleco." Is it different from the common pleco? Will it grow very big and requires a 50 gallon tank?

Thanks in advance!

Dino

Sounds like one of the strains of albino bristlenose.
Albino/nonmelanistic hypostamus plecostamus are more brownish than orange.

The bn's get to about 4 inches max size.

Barbrella

Could be an albino ancistrus (sp.3)

As Dino said, they stay quite small and you could have several in your tank. They are mostly vegetarian/algae eaters and must be fed vegetables when the algae has been eaten.

I have a couple of them and they're great. Did it look like this?

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lyndatu

Thank you! I'll get one for my guppy tank! But I'll try to research some more. They look like that one on the picture.

lyndatu

Got the pleco! It's now in the quarantine. Here's a pic. Sorry for the low quality, just using a camera phone......

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Barbrella

Cute! You should give him food right away, since they're usually hungry when they come from the petstore.

He needs hiding places and driftwood as well.

SParsons

Hey I have the same pleco. They said he was albino too. Looks just like yours. Got him named Spike LOL. Did you find out if they grow to be as big as the average Pleco?

Sabi

The bn's get to around 4in. as dino says.

lyndatu

I gave him a veggie round last night and he was crazy over it! He would tear it to pieces and gobble each one up. Sorry I can't get a pic, I need to turn on the lights for my camera but the pleco goes away and hides in the cave when the lights are on........

Oh and did a little more research on them and yes, they do not grow as big as common plecos and stays around 4 inches. Good. Oh and I found a REALLY huge common pleco in the pet store in a 75 gallon tank. It was about 16 inches long. Disgusting!

darkwolf29a

Get them used to the lights and they won't run. Seriously, most of my fish do that from the store. It takes a little while, but if you turn on the lights, and feed them....they'll begin to associate the lights with food and will, happily, come out when the lights are on.
I have a common in my 75...I'm hoping he gets that long. He's not disgusting, he's cool.

Barbrella

The more hiding places they have, the more secure they feel to come out in the open.

I have tons of plants, rocks and driftwood in my tank, and my BNs are out most of the time.

Butterfly

Unless of course it's one of these http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...?species_id=88
A couple of years ago I bought an "albino plec" and it turned out to be a
Pterygoplichthys pardalis . It lives at Dinos fishhouse now
Carol

Barbrella

Well...they're cute when they're small!

Butterfly

Yes ours was beautiful and still is. I just didn't have a big enough tank to keep him. This is what he looked like when he went to visit Dino

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Barbrella

He's a beauty alright!

I swear that's the same type fish the employee at the LFS tried to sell me when I asked for an albino BN. It was very small, but something about the look of it told me it might get big.

I'm glad I passed on it. Not everyone is as lucky to find great homes for their big fish the way you did!

Butterfly

Your so right He went outside in tubs that I bred fish and raised plants in several summers in a row. He was really beautiful and looks even better in Dino and CWC's tank
Carol