Albino Bristlenose Pleco

The albino bristlenose pleco is a pale gold to cream colour form of Ancistrus, the small South American suckermouth catfish, usually with pink or orange eyes. Mature males grow a mass of fleshy tentacles across the snout, which is where the name comes from; females carry only a few short bristles around the rim. It is the sensible alternative to the common pleco, because it stays small enough to live out its life in an ordinary home aquarium.

Aquarium care

• Reaches roughly 12 to 15 cm, far smaller than a common pleco.
• Peaceful with other species; adult males are territorial with each other.
• Largely herbivorous: algae wafers, blanched courgette and cucumber.
• Needs real driftwood. Bristlenose rasp on wood and it forms part of their diet.
• Give it a cave or an overhang; it hides through the brightest part of the day.
• A bottom-dweller that grazes glass, wood and hardscape.
• Produces a fair amount of waste, so keep filtration and water changes up.

A good working fish for a community tank of medium-sized peaceful species, and one of the few plecos that genuinely earns its place as an algae eater without outgrowing the tank. Keep one male per tank unless there is room for each to hold a separate cave.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the current plecos.