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Hi Guys, I just recently bought a bristlenose pleco. I named his Francisco He is currently in the QT tank, and I gave him some algae covered river rocks to munch on from the main tank, and an algae tablet.

The reason I am posting is because he doesn't look like any other bristlenoses I have ever seen! Instead of having the spotted/speckled color pattern, he has the stripey look of a clown pleco, with little bristles.

I have some pictures, hopefully you can ID him for me

http://www.goldfishparadise.com/album/a ... G_0486.jpg
http://www.goldfishparadise.com/album/a ... G_0482.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Id say the fish is very stressed out...give him a cave and some wood to hide...and maybe add some sand/gravel instead of the blank bottom.

The Q-tine tank is bare bottom for easy maintenance, I have no sand or other substrate that I could cover the bottom with I do have a dolphin polyresin cave like thing that he could hide in, tho. I will put that in for him right now. There is also an anubias plant in there that he likes to hide under. No light on the tank, the light in the pics is from the flash of the camera. The darkness (he is in a shady corner of the house) will help reduce his stress as well, right?

if you remove the castle and that awful gravel, but add a big piece of wood, some pottery or a nice 1-2" PVC-pipe, it'll do much better.

it's a female bristlenose of some kind.

The fish doesn't look poorly to me if the tank is indeed in darkness, then this is a normal pattern for a common bristlenose. I'd also not like to bet my life on it being a female, those bristles might belong to a young male...

Jools

if you remove the castle and that awful gravel, but add a big piece of wood, some pottery or a nice 1-2" PVC-pipe, it'll do much better.

Guys, it's a QUARANTINE tank It's ugly cuz it's made up of left over odds and ends that I had lying around lol The main tank is all natural looking, full of caves, plants, and river rocks, so fret not ;)

The fish doesn't look poorly to me if the tank is indeed in darkness, then this is a normal pattern for a common bristlenose. I'd also not like to bet my life on it being a female, those bristles might belong to a young male...

Jools

Thanks Jools, that's what I was wondering He is about 4 inches long, so do you think he can still classify as a young male? I am a catfish newbie Now goldfish, I can talk your ear off about goldfish... ;)

Guppylove1985,
You will find there is a strong feeling around here (that I agree with) about building natural habitats. That said, you are new and folks could go a bit easier on you. Way to be a good sport about it and welcome to the site.
-Shane

Natural habitats do look a LOT better, I agree! I'm sure they are more soothing for the fish as well. I've actually just switched my 48 long tank from horrid neon plastic decor to the natural look of river rocks, plants, etc over the last 3 months It looks beautiful now.

Right now it's growing a nice crop of algae for Francisco to munch when he is out of QT.

I can't see the pictures, but if the fish is 4" long, then I'd say it should have BIG bristles if it's a male. Females of that size may have small bristles, so I'd guess it's a female.

--
Mats

Welcome Guppylove! Hope you enjoy the forum, most everyone is friendly . . where did you get your fish? Have you talked to the store, even though that is not always helpful? I was also unable to see your pics . . .

Hello Metallhd, and thank you for the welcome I see we are from the same city!

I bought him from Big Al's on tuesday, he was the only one they had and was actually mixed in with some Rhino Plecs, unlabelled. A new employee had spotted him when they were doing their rounds of the store, getting accustomed with where the fish were.

I changed the images to links now, so hopefully you will be able to see the pics

Where do you usually buy your fish/supplies in Edmonton, metallhd?