# new plec for good reasons



## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

my gfs best freind is starting a fish tank and she bought a pleco, and she doesnt know anything about fish tanks, she doesnt even know how to clean it

so i went down and scooped it out and brought him home
and helped him hide, i even got him a algee wafer

(she didnt have food for him)

what kind is he, and are his need the same as my common plec

hes only 2inches, tiny guy


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

i don't know their scientific name, but our lfs sells them as "chocolate albino pleco's". maybe that will help you get info?


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## Good Wolf (Mar 5, 2008)

I can't tell you what it is but it looks cool. 

Good job on saving it and giving it a good home.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

http://www.petsolutions.com/Chocolate-Plecostomus+I47006+C40001574.aspx


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I'd say it is an albino bristle nose pleco 
























They will eat algae wafers, veggies, such as zuchinni, and wood.......therefore you should have some driftwood in the tank
From the size (2"), and lack of whiskers, I'd guess you have a female.....by that size, the males usually have "bristles" on the nose. Females either lack the bristles or have noticeably less than the males.


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

Hate to disagree with you Bob,

Its an albino chocolate a.k.a Albino hypostomus plecostomus.

They get enormous...

You really shouldn't purchase fish without knowing any of their requirements.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

I've seen those at Petsmart....they are like different colorations of Commons, right? Same huge size, just a lighter color.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Clerk: She said she rescued it out of a dirty tank. She did not purchase it. 

Now the thing to do would be move to house it correctly, or get it to someone who can.


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## TREASURECHEST (Mar 31, 2006)

Yep, it's what is being sold as "Albino Chocolate" pleco. Definitelty not an albino bristlenose (Ancistrus).


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

I have seen these sold as Bronze Bristlenose or Dwarf Bronze Bristlenose as well.


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2008)

It isn't a Bristlenose though....its a different coloration of a Common pleco (hypostomus plecostomus). No Bristles are gonna grow on that guy/girl. 

There are such things as Albino Bristlenose plecos that are darker than others.....and probably labelled as Bronze, but that is not one of them. If those ^^ (hypostomus) are being labelled as BNs, they are mislabelled.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I think the unfortunate thing here is that by being albino it makes it even harder to identify. IF it is an albino bristlenose AND female, well that would make it even harder to ID as a BN since females don't grow bristles. 

What may help is if you can get a really good close up shot of the fishes back, and of it with its dorsal raised. There may be enough coloration to distinguish patterns. 

BV77 I just looked again at that picture you provided: Holy BN pleco farm batman! When I first looked at the top pic I only saw 1 and confused the others as part of the background!


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## welchrock (Jan 4, 2008)

I have one of these and when I bought it, it was titled simply 'Albino Pleco'.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help but enjoy the fish! I've had mine over a year and he hasn't grown that fast. Probably gone for 2.5 inches in overall length to 5.0 inches...and the growth rate has been slowing.

If yours is anything like mine - they're kind of boring outside of the dusk hours. Otherwise they hide most of the time.


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## TRITON (Apr 15, 2008)

Clerk said:


> Hate to disagree with you Bob,
> 
> Its an albino chocolate a.k.a Albino hypostomus plecostomus.
> 
> ...


Last time I bought a pleco from a petstore was for my 10gal tank and the sales person at the time said that it would stay small and it was only about 2". 4 1/2 years later its 13" and in a 100gal tank!


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## CukeTheExile (Nov 26, 2007)

Just settle things right here, it is *NOT* a bristlenose pleco of any sort. there common name is Albino Chocolate Pleco, or any other order of the same words... it's a very agrivating plec to find any info on. It is a off-shoot of the regular common pleco. It dosent get quite as large as the common but has been known to get very big(20"+). There diet is the same as any regular common pleco. they are more agressive though(t'word other fish) but still peacefull, givin the correct habitat.


> Last time I bought a pleco from a petstore was for my 10gal tank and the sales person at the time said that it would stay small and it was only about 2". 4 1/2 years later its 13" and in a 100gal tank!


 lol, let that be a lession to you Triton. There is in fact a lesson to be learned from simple mistakes like that, and we all do them, no one is an Ultimate Aquarium guru when they first start. Anyways, just rember to research what you want to get and make sure you can provide for it before you commit. and Aidas quite a noble thing to do, just make sure you can house the poor pleco or try and find someone who can.
(acting like I know everything...


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