# How to sex bristle nose plec's



## Guest

How do I sex bn plec's? As my lps said that they could order a few when I'm ready for them. So how do I sex them and is there a ratio I should get like with live bearer's with 1 male per 3 females or something or will getting 1 male and female be suffiecent for them to pair up? Also he said that they can be expensive depending on the rarity of them, so I'm thinking it will be best to get just the regular brown kind, what are they called (specie's) as they may ask what specie's of bn plec's I want? Also pics would be nice (fullgrown ones and young ones as most of their plec's are young, like between 2 to 3 inches).


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## dwool36

I'm not sure of a ratio but the bristles are much shorter with fewer branches for a female than for a male. The females may not have any bristles at all. Keep in mind that drift wood is a must for them to chew as well as plenty of hiding spaces.


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## violet

You cannot tell the males from females reliably until they are teenagers and then the males will begin to grow bristles. Females may also grow smaller bristles. It isn't until they are fully mature that the bristles begin to grow from the top of the snout up the center of the face headed towards between the eyes. ONLY males get the line of bristles in the center of the face.

These fish can be VERY territorial and one mature male in a tank is the safest. A big tank may be able to handle two males, I think it is a bad idea personally.

A lot of these fish are sold before you can determine male or female. If you just want one for algae control it doesn't matter. One will take care of a 55G.

If you are determined to breed them you can buy 6 or 8 young fish and let them grow out and then sell off all but one male and all but one or two females. You won't want or be able to keep all the fish probably. Too much fighting. Downside is the fish will probably be related and it takes time.

Having a male & female (or 2 females) doesn't mean they will breed. Usually they will and will produce spawns indefinitely. Then again tey may not. I have a lovely pair I have been trying to get to breed for months now. Also the fish may spawn and the male may eat the eggs of wigglers. It happens.

There are many species of ancistrus. The commonly kept kind is a nice dwarf size. There are other brown ancistrus which do not stay as small.

Use Google for pictures.


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## Damon

You should send Fishnut2 and Mp a private message. They both have experience with these fish and Fishnut2 has bred them. (I think Mp has also).


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## Guest

Thanks simpte 

Violet, the reason I kinda wanted a pair was so I could make money off them by selling their baby's.


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## violet

Yes, they are a good choice of fish to breed, fry are very easy to raise. I have about 75 little ones which are almost ready to start selling off. That pair has been very reliable with 100% albino lineage. The longfins are the reluctant pair. Murphy's Law at work.


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## Guest

So is there anything special that I have to feed the fry or can they eat like the parents with algae wafer's? I don't believe any of my lps sell driftwood (new lps a few miles away might sell them, but not sure), once I get the wood, how do I boil it, I mean do I boil it in dechlornated water or will tap be fine? Since most likley any piece of wood I get will be to big for a pot or pan could I just fill the bathtub up with very hot water instead, or would the soap and stuff be an issue?


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## Osiris

Hi

Yes, the albino's can tend to be more pricey at your LFs but regular's run about $8-12 here for adults at like 4". 

Here is a young male, notice the red spot also on top of his head that females from what i've experienced don' t have it.










then notice the female on the right side:










If your looking at breeding them, this would be cave that would be most ideal:









They spawn in anything but that cave there seems to be what they spawn most in.

I don't do anything special with their water just water changes, they breed in, don't need RO, don't need rain water, they are like guppies lol.

As for ratio, 1m/1f would be best, we've spawned them with 2m/1f but other male wasn't doing anything so took him out. I don't experience aggresion at al with these i currently have around 200 1-3.5" of bn's don't notice any aggresion.


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## Osiris

As for feeding the fry, i just use the Hikari algae wafers and once and awhile, cucumber skinned and put onto a fork, run under hot water to soften lightly for the fry.

I never kept driftwood in the tank it isn't needed but i noticed it helps keep them that nice golden color doesn't hurt. I wouldnt do the bathtub but a 5g bucket should work use that instead.


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## Guest

Thanks for helping mp, do you have male and female pics of regular bn plec's or are they both identifible by the same thing? Also thanks for telling my about the food for the fry. Would you think that the bn they order would be at least 4" so you can see their bristles? If so, should I get a male and about 2 to 3 females so he find a female to pair up with then sell the other two females? If not, should I just get a few of them and wait till a pair forms?


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## violet

None of mine form relationships. If a female is full of eggs, almost any male should be accepted as a mate. Same with females. If she's got eggs he will welcome her into his love shack/clay cave. I have 3 lines of browns and 4 lines of albinos, I just put unrelated males & females together.

Great shot of the eggs in the cave MP.


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## Puffer Pita

MalawianPro said:


> I never kept driftwood in the tank it isn't needed but i noticed it helps keep them that nice golden color doesn't hurt.


That's interesting. That goes against everything I've ever read about bristlenoses. Everyone says they do need wood in their diet for optimal health. I know all of mine spend a lot of time chewing on driftwood, but I wonder whether it really is better for their health or not.


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## Osiris

if your keeping them for life longterm non-breeding, then yea go for it, i do keep driftwood in with my red marble bristlenose pleco's as makes them darken up alot more.

But in breeding it isnt necessary, been breeding bn's for i think almost two years now. i keep some java moss in there for fry to get lost in 


If your keeping wild bristlenose then it may be the case as they would have been used to it, but BN's have been so far developed and their DNA so much into tank bred it's not a necisity but a pleasure.


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## Puffer Pita

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I don't plan to breed, I just like them. I try to have one in each of my tanks if possible, they're just so cute!


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## Fishnut2

The most reliable way to sex BN is by the spot on thier head, as MP mentioned. It's harder to see on browns...but using a flashlight from above the browns will help a lot. Females can have bristles along thier lip. But (almost) never along the nose, or on thier head. 
Proven breeder pairs sell for $40 for browns, and $50 for albinos. Anything less then that should be considered, a great deal. I personally prefer breeding a male with 2 females. Pairs work fine, but won't breed as often. I've never experienced any aggression between BN, except the normal pre-spawning rituals...or an occasional squabble over food. BN are a great community fish that get along with everybody, and are great algae eaters...kepping your glass clean. 
Parental care is done by the male, and he'll usually kick the clutch out, as soon as they're free-swimming. They aren't fussy about caves, and have used almost any cave I've provided.
Fry readily accept bbs,cyclops,algae (wafers or on the glass), and zuchinni. I'd stay away from using a fork to sink the zuchinni, as any sharp edges can be hazardous to your fish. If they get spooked, they poke out an eye, or damage a fin. Spoons work well, with a rubberband around it to help the zuchinni to sink. 
BN are relatively cheap, stay small, are extremely hardy, easy to breed, great algae eaters, and have descent sized spawns. They are an excellent fish to start a breeding program with!


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## Guest

Thanks for the info fishnut. Would you think that if they are over $15 that that price is to high and that I could get it cheaper off the net?


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## violet

I can't agree that the red spot on the head is the single most reliable sign. My largest breeding female always has a visible red patch, it becomes brighter before breeding. Her partner has a much brighter patch which changes from the wide V shape to a big red blotch and both get flushed bodies. A couple of my brown males are very dark and the poor fish which just got examined with a flahlight on his head had no sign of the mark. And he has been actively courting his girlfriend this past week. He so exciteable he is flaring at me. If I had to pick a single feature it would be the bristles in the center of the face.

But really each fish is individual and with young fish the best ID will be made with a group of fish so comparisons can be made. Males will be widest at the spike brush on the sides of the head (not raised). Females will have a fuller body. Females may get a stubble of bristles but never the big forked rack of the males. And of course the red spot will be more prominent earlier on males.


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## Osiris

All female bristlenose i have dealt with, have never had bristles, and i've been through ALOT.


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## violet

Okay. My biggest female has a very distinct stubble of bristles, clearly an exception to the rule. And she is young, both her and her partner's bristles continue to grow. She is not a very feminine fish. She is built like a tank, discredits the *dwarf* description a bit and has a cranky disposition, one of my more aggressive bushynose including all the males, she just isn't territorial. Being albino she is not some misidentified L-something ancistrus.


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## Fishnut2

I have sexed thousands of BNs...and the spot is 100% reliable. I pulled 8 trios 2 weeks ago...and 3 of them have spawned already. Violet...are you sure the red blotch on your female is in the area I mentioned?


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## Guest

Now if only regular bn plec's would be that easily identfible. lol


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## violet

Yes Fishnut2, she defies all the rules. She is the one with a stubble of bristles too. She gets that red flushing on her body as she becomes ripe with eggs, just as bright as her partner. I sold her sister (which I regret) but she was very classic female, no bristles, no red spot, nice rounded figure and nice disposition. Se would only get a little blush when she was ready to spawn.

I don't usually name my fish but if I were to, this one would be something like *Moose*. She lives in a big thicket of java fern but if I can catch her on one of her rare forays I will get a picture of her. She's a beast. She's only thrown 100% albinos so I doubt she is some mutant hybrid. Maybe she just has some messed up x or y chromosomes.


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## Fishnut2

The 2 females in the pic I posted (might look like more from the reflection) have red in the cheek area...but none on the head. This method has been reliable for browns and albinos...as well as regular fin and Long fin.


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## violet

My posts were not to argue. I have a female who has male characterists. You may doubt that if you wish or doubt I have any ancistrus at all. It does not change the fish I have. It could be a very effeminate male except that would not explain the fry guarded by the only other adult ABN in the tank. Or that *it* fills with eggs and then one day is slimmer again and the partner is in the cave with little balls the color of chicken eggs yolks.

If I post a picture of her will you then compliment me on my skills with Adobe Photoshop?

This is utterly pointless. Since I don't hang out in chat for 2 (or 12) hours a day I'm not part of the gang and not a word I write has any credibility. If you have to rely on a spot of the fishes' head to establish gender that pretty lame.

Go ahead, have the last word Fishnut. A letter and 3 asterisks isn't a four letter word. It was single letter with punctuation, nothing more. Now if I really wanted to write a naughty four letter word I would have to take a peek at my handy character map...


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## Guest

Geez violent. Take a chill pill and take a deep breath. Fish, you shouldn't have just like denied anything violet said.


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## Fishnut2

My intent was not to argue, but to stay on topic. "How to sex BN plecos". If Violet has a fish that is 1 in a million...she should be VERY proud. I just wanted to prevent the other 999,999 people from being misinformed. The method I mentioned is reliable. Maybe the numbers are exaggerated (the million is an assumed number).
I never denied that Violet had such a fish. I asked where the mark was, to verify if it was in the right area. I also provided pics to clarify it. 
It seems that she made statements, trying to change what I posted. "That she doesn't have any ancistrus at all"..."that she might change a pic with Adobe photoshop"...and that "she is being treated differently because she doesn't go into chat 2 (or 12) hours a day. Then she said my method of sexing them was pretty lame...and resorted to an unacceptable 4 letter word (before it was deleted).
Personally...I'd love to see a pic of her fish.


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