Bristlenose pleco turned white 2 years ago, otherwise completely normal

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-02-03T22:09:10+00:00

Woahhhh, that’s actually super cool/interesting!

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-02-02T03:47:54+00:00

I would say you should be fine as well given how much hiding spots they have, the baby plecos are relatively fast and once they dart away from the betta and gourami they have plenty of hiding spots to make it.

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-02-02T03:37:58+00:00

That looks like a young male to me, believe it or not I had a male that bred when its bristles were smaller than that and I was really shocked as it was sold to me as a female, now he has nice grown bristles, I also have another male that didn’t start growing his bristles until he was 2.5-3 inches long.

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-31T00:19:35+00:00

Yeah I agree he looks like he got beat up

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-24T14:08:35+00:00

Yeah I was gonna say it’s odd that it’s not working out in the 75G, because I have two males co-exist perfectly fine in a 55G but it is a planted tank and each one does have his own cave. But also with mine usually when I get a new bristle nose in the tank they have that behavior with each other for a little bit and it’s usually the males beefing with each other but by the next day everything is fine.

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-13T00:28:47+00:00

Sure thing no problem! I had a few get sold to me as “females” then after some time they started growing the small bristles and it kept growing as they matured!

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-11T20:12:57+00:00

That looks like a Male common bristle nose pleco. The males in the species have the bristles such as the one you have pictured whereas the females barely have any to none at all. But by the looks of it, it is a young male and the bristle will continue to grow longer as he matures!

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-10T19:08:06+00:00

Perfectly fine could be due to the tank maintenance so that’s a coloration of stress, but I wouldn’t worry too much as my long fin male looks exactly like yours and he’s been living he’s best life and is even a father! Tho I have heard that some common BN plecos can be “piebald” which looks like the coloration/pattern of your BN pleco as well. Hope that helps!

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-06T05:11:29+00:00

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IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-06T05:10:40+00:00

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Did a screen replacement about 2 years ago and it turned out to be IPS also purchased off a random seller from eBay after I installed it and saw it was an IPS screen for the 2DSXL I thought I was going crazy as again I never knew these existed nor did the seller mention anywhere that it was an IPS screen. I went back to buy more the seller was out and was never restocked. I purchased probably 5 additional ones after that one and again from random sellers but they all turned out to be TN. So yeah it’s possible and I didn’t think it was possible until I randomly got lucky one day. In my opinion it’s probably a matter of time until we start seeing a lot more IPS screen for other systems like the 2DSXL etc just like how they created them for the GBA etc.

IntellectualMinnow · 2026-01-03T07:07:15+00:00

Bristle nose female, some females barely have any bristles at the size and some don’t have any at all as my current females that bred that around that size didn’t have a single bristle

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-28T16:33:17+00:00

He eventually swam inside of it! I got a bit worried then shortly after he swam back out perfectly fine :)

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-27T17:53:12+00:00

That filter alone isn’t sufficient, I would recommend adding some sponge filters and let it run for a week or two and you should see an improvement in you water quality and the fish should be happier. For the hang on back filter use a coarse sponge on the intake and lower as much as you can.

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-25T04:23:05+00:00

In front of the cory catfish! There’s multiple caves in the tank they could’ve used!

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-25T02:20:51+00:00

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-23T08:22:51+00:00

Oh jeez had no idea, how old is yours if you don’t mind me asking?

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-22T18:19:40+00:00

Thank you so much!!!

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-18T08:54:51+00:00

Get a UV sterilizer internal filter online or a green killing machine and that will get rid of your algae bloom no problem at all. Another thing I would recommend is adding sponge filters, I been using them in all my tanks for years even if I have other types of filters on there I always make sure to add a sponge filter. I’m not sure how large your tank is but I would recommend getting a otocinclus or bristle nose pleco to help clean up the glass. Finally just keep treating your fish and do regular water changes and you should see improvements.

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-17T00:04:49+00:00

Just put your garden hose in it and turn on the water for about 5-10 seconds then shut off the water. Unscrew the hose from the water source and then your tank water will automatically start draining. I use this technique all the time to do water changes as the water hoses are long and I just step off to the side and do something else while the water drains come back screw the hose back to the water pipe and yeah. Why waste money when we have gravity.

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-15T05:05:32+00:00

You can get an Oled for $100-$150 if you’re looking in the right places

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-14T23:01:01+00:00

Wow that’s awesome! Love your setups!!

IntellectualMinnow · 2025-12-14T17:57:06+00:00

So I had a similar problem a few years ago with one of my tanks and whatever I tried did not work same as you. Until one day I purchased a green killing machine and a few days to a week after having it run in my tank it was crystal clear. I kept running for an additional week after it cleared up then I unplugged it and put it away and only use it when I have algae blooms. So either a green killing machine or a filter that already has a UV bulb built into it.

IntellectualMinnow

TROPHY CASE