Bristlenose Pleco Care

My current set up:
29 gallon- 1 female betta, 5 neon tetra, 3 albino Cory. Planted tank, heated, filtered, and been running for two weeks with seachem prime and stability.
10 gallon- 1 male betta, fake plants, heated, filtered, running for 2 months.

I've tested both waters and all of the levels are stable. A previous problem I had in my 29 gallon was algae, so I'm planning to get a bristlenose Pleco to help with algae. I'm going to get back up wafers.
I'm going to get it from petco, and wanted to quarantine it for about a week before putting it into my 29 gallon. And placing algae wafers as food. I have an empty 1.5 gallon tank with gravel that I can fill with water.

Would it be okay to put the Pleco in the 1.5 gallon, or should I place it in the 10 gallon, and move my male betta to the 1.5 gallon temporarily?

 

That depends on how large of a pleco you get. One week should be fine if it's still a juvenile/baby. A bristlenose won't completely clean your tank though, and it'll poop a lot. You choose what you want, but I'd personally go with nerite snails. They're algae eating machines!

 

I feel like plecos produce more waste than its worth (If your intending to get one just for cleanup), Nerite snails or amano shrimps would be a lot better. Keeping in mind bristlenose require wood in their diet and need a proper diet just like any other fish with fresh veg.

 

In all honestly, with new plecos I never bother to quarantine them, mainly because most are bought as tiny babies that need to feed on whatever slime they can get from an established tank between feedings. The most I do for quarantine is placing them in a planted 10gal with my betta so they can grow more before being tossed into whichever larger tank I plan. It's worked 5 times so far for me.

I highly recommend BN plecos simply because they are interesting fish. I wouldn't get them mainly to eat algae, you will have to feed them algae wafers and blanched veggies, driftwood is also a very good thing to have for any kind of pleco. As others states, nerites snails are the best algae eaters ever, they can even scrape up the harder types unlike most plecos.

 

My BN pleco doesn't make a noticeable difference on the amount of algae in my 29 gallon. They live up to 15 years, so I'd only get one if you like them for reasons other than algae cleanup.
It would probably be better to put the betta in the 1.5 gallon since they produce less waste.