Attack of the Plecostomus Babies!

I bought my first Bristlenose Plecostomus about a month or two after starting my 55g tank. It was probably too early to put them in, but they survived just fine on algae wafers and leftovers. It was amazing to see how fast the pleco grew over the course of a few months. I couldn't wait to see my Bristlenose with their spikes, but after about half a year I realized that my pleco wasn't getting any bristles. At that point I looked the species up and realized only males got bristles. I knew that I would have to get a male eventually.

I ended up getting a Rubberlip Plecostomus about a year after I set up my 55g. After three attempts I got a Rubberlip to survive. They were the complete opposite of my Bristlenose. He would hide all day and I would rarely even see him. My female Bristlenose would be happily sticking to the glass all day long.  The Rubberlip actually hid so well that sometimes I couldn't even find him when doing a full tank clean out.  After about six months he had grown some, but nowhere near my Bristlenose.

A few months ago I decided to upgrade my 55g to a 75g. Petsmart had a nice sale with Corey Cats for just a dollar so I decided it was finally time to upgrade my stock. Of course when I got there, the dollar Corey Cats were conveniently sold out. I decided to go ahead and buy something else. I looked for a while, but couldn't get the image of the male Bristlenose pleco out of my head. It was time to take another shot at getting a male Bristlenose. I bought a regular colored one because my female was albino. After just a few weeks I began to see bristles on my new pleco. I was completely ecstatic at the time.

After awhile I noticed the Rubberlip became much braver and would come out for brief spurts. He stayed to his side of the tank and the Bristlenoses stayed on the other. About a week later I couldn't seem to find my Rubberlip at all. I looked everywhere, but seen absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, I did find the Rubberlips carcass on cleaning day. I didn't understand how the plecos had lived in peace for a few months and then bam one gets killed. A few weeks later I got my answer...

My male Bristlenose was quite a bit shier than my female, but on this particular week he was no where to be found. I went through my weekly cleaning and still nothing! I was beginning to worry, but found my answer two days my cleaning.Baby plecos were found hiding under my driftwood and on my filter intake tube. At first I only seen a few, but at this point I have at least 50 or more! My male also started showing his face again. Surprisingly, every single baby turned out black. My parents had a batch of babies, but got a variety of colors. It is really amazing to have so many babies because my mollies did a great job at controlling their own population, but they won't touch the baby plecos.

Bristlenose Plecostomus Eggs

I'm still baffled at what to do with all the babies. I did contact a few local pet stores, but I don't know if they would take so many babies. Craigslist hates my phone carrier so I can't sign up and I really don't trust it anyway. If you are in the Indianapolis, IN area and want free Bristlenose then shoot me an email!