Advice on small pleco needed

Candee

I have recently gone through two young albino bristle nose pleco's - both died - one I swore committed suicide the second never thrived from the moment he got in my tank. Both times I checked my water and the readings were spot on and I had brought my water to the LFS to have it checked there to confirm this and I was correct. Both BN's were probably not even 2 inches long. I do like the look of them but they seem to be fragile when they are young (at least in my tank). Should I give them another try or should I move on? Or should I try and find an adult one? If not, what other pleco should I go for? It can not grow too large - my tank is only 55 gallons. I would like one that is unique or has some colour (I don't want just a plain brown one if you know what I mean).



In my 55 g tank I have
1 powder blue Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
1 Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leeri)
10 Cardinal Tetra's (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
5 kuhli loaches (Pangio kuhlii)
5 upside down cat fish (that are always in hiding) Synodontis nigriventris
2 lyretail killifish (a couple) Aphyosemion australe
3 yoyo loaches (Botia almorhae)
2 snail eating snails Clea (Anentome) helena's

LisaC144

I like the Bristlenose Pleco and if you look around on this forum, many people agree. They are pretty easy to find in your LFS and they grow to about 5". Perfect for your 55g.

Candee

I love them too but like I said in my original post - I had 2 and both died. My tank has been established for just over 2 months now and in those two months I have had 2 young BN pleco's die on me. Maybe young ones are just more fragile? Just finding adult ones in my LFS is very slim. I do want to try again but not at the risk of having another one die.
I can't help but think I am doing something wrong. I have enough algae to go around plus daily wafers for my bottom feeders plus I occasionally give cucumber or zucchini. I also do weekly water changes of 25% and vacuum weekly. The BN pleco's were bought at two different LFS's at two different times - when the first one died (aka committed suicide) I waited a few weeks before buying the second one who didn't thrive and only lasted 1.5 weeks in the tank.
The first one climbed onto the top my decoration backdrop (wall) - it's about .75-1 inches thick - there is no water there - I assume he suffocated.

iamntbatman

Do you have driftwood in the tank? Nearly all plecos love hanging out on pieces of driftwood and many tend to gnaw on it to supplement their diets. Adding some would be to the benefit of just about any pleco you could think of.

I am a big fan of bristlenoses. Of all of the smaller species, they seem to be the best at algae control and also seem to be the most active. Another good choice is the rubber lip pleco, although these do grow slightly larger than bristlenoses (but still stay small enough for your 55g).

jeaninel

Clown plecos also stay small.

iamntbatman

And are really good looking fish. Too bad they hide all day

stephanieleah

Did he have enough to eat? (Not that I've EVER heard of a fish starving to death, but still)...My BN is quite hardy (I even once had him in an unheated qt and he did fine). He's still young, too. Could it be that the abino's are more fragile, or that maybe it's the lfs that is the problem and not your tank? Perhaps go with a different lfs that uses a different supplier.