bristlenosed pleco size questions

hey everyone so first off, happy new year to you all i hope it is a great one. now i have a lovely bristle nose named marvin, when i bought him i was told he would grow to match the tank size and he was maybe 5cm when i bought him hes now almost 10cm long with lovely bristles and i would just like to know will he or wont he outgrow the 40litre he is currently housed in. i have had conflicting advice about this. if he will i will have to look into finding him a new home

 

I hate the way LFS's say that a fish will only grow to the size of the tank! To a degree that is true, but only because the fish is suffering by being cramped and effectively having its growth stunted!

I cannot off hand remember how big bristlenoses get? Or which family they belong to? Ancistrus springs to mind, but not sure which one??

I'll get back to you if no one else has?? Busy night!

My advice would be to find a larger tank, as it will give more space to exist! Even an 80L would be better, but the bigger you go, the better it would be for the Bristlenose!

Cheers
BigG!

 

Bristlenoses Don't grow much bigger than that... But BigG is right, you might want to get him a slightly bigger tank.

 

The bristlenose is one of the smaller cats. And yes it is in the Ancistrus genus. It depends what species it is - bristlenose is used as a common name for many I think. Some species can grow up to 15cm... But I doubt yours will get much bigger than 10cm. He might be a little cramped in a 40L - are there lots of spacious hidey holes?

oh and I think they like a bit of bogwood btw...

 

Post a picture if you can then that way we can try and figure out exactly what you've got

 

Hi Windfire
You most likly have what was in the past refered to as A. timinki. It is virtually the only Ancistrus commonly and for a reasonable price in the pet shops. The size is with 13-15 cm about right but a 40L tank is diffinitly to small. It is sad that you so far away because i'm looking for a male at the moment and would swop. If you are looking for a "sucker catfish" for your tanksize =Pecoltia or Hypancistrus are manly small 6-13max.

 

ill try get a pick for you guys it wont be easy though hes a tad camera shy lol. Dane he has claimed the hollow rock cone i have in the middle of my tank and the adjoining piece of wood though he seems more enamoured with the rock he's actually a bugger to get out of there even when i lift the rock out the water he stays inside it. i might have to catch him and take a quick pic with him out the water to give you guys a better idea, his dorsal fin isnt very large and both it and both tail ends have creamy white markings on them, at the tips, and of coarse he has the bristles and spotties he can be quite cocky and nasty with the other fish especially the cories but he seems to have chilled off a bit, he pretty much stays around his rock and the large sword i have planted next to it but goes gaga for the bottom feeder pellets. i you guys would believe it iv found yet another tank up for sale where im working at the moment lol, internal sump,mirror backed the whole cabootle, mayb a 2footer could be a 1 foot tho im not so good with the whole measuring by eye thing, but i recon it might be a lil bit out of my price range il ask my boss what his son wants for it tomorrow. i am seriously tempted, yet again, but where il put it is a mystery to me mayb if i shuffle my room around a bit hmmmmm, MTs strikes again lol

 

well goodluck with the haggling!! i'm not a fan of a mirror back but thats just my taste.... i'm sure your bristlenose (which I'm very keen to see a pic of) will be grateful

 

Yeah it irritates me how many people believe that so easily.

It's effectively only true for Koi and some other species who release a chemical/hormonal balancer in the water, which effectively stops them from growing larger than the space they are in.


*Horribly unscientific explanation, I know.

 

I always reply, if thats the case, can I keep my child in a shoebox, as i dont want her growing up too much.

 

hey guys well still trying to get a decent pick of old marvin but its not goin so hot he tends to disapear when t flash goes and then i gota wait for awhile for him to get back. i was looking at that tank again today, my boss's son said he'l give it to me for R1000 everything included which is an awesome price. the problem is where do i putit and how do i convince my folks to allow me to get it, ill buy it myself, with my first pay check hehe, but they giving me stick about space issues. id love it to stay in my room but if i cant then maybe the lounge... hmmmmm anyone a skilled negotiator? lol. if i dont get it i know ill be kicking myself later over it. maybe if i mention marvins growing issue.....

 

But to keep your fish in optimal health, you need to do regular water changes, thus eliminating the hormone content in the water, which leads to the fish actually growing...

 

Put the tank you have now in storage and set up the new tank as your only tank?

OR get a tank stand where you can have one tank on top and one below. I used to have a 3 ft (110 litre) on top with a 2 ft (60 litre) below