Choose Wisely! Bristlenose Pleco vs Chinese Algae Eater

[@mattknowlton5983]

I owned a female albino bristlenose pleco in one of my 29 gallon tank for about 7 to 8 years. She was the biggest fish in the tank and the most docile fish I've ever owned. But she was also very shy.

[@Whips_World]

I finally got a group of Bristlenose to live for me and I love them. These came from a guy who went by the channel name, Misfit. They're Longfinned Albino and they're gorgeous. 😍 No fry though. They have holey rock but no "caves" and if they are laying eggs, there are so many other fish in the tank with them, they aren't surviving.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Woohoo - Congrats!

[@MatthiasBruder-xn1ik]

Got Chinese Algae Eater over twenty years ago in my tank! That was so 80/90ies 😂, today i keep Tanganyika Cichlids with Ancistrus and it works very well👍

[@nathanaelsmith3553]

I've got a long fin albino ancistrus (bristlenose pleco). He does a good job of keeping the glass clean. I've had him for years and he's got big. He is well behaved but sometimes chases fish away from food. His long fins are impressive and his face tentacles make him look like Cthulhu. He's ugly but I love him.

[@ronniebagwell4661]

I have a Chinese algae eater in my community tank and some babies in my quarantine tank. Both tanks are always spotless. I actually got the babies for the quarantine tank bc it had a big algae bloom and within 24hours the tank was spotless. I’ve seen my larger one chase other fish but never once “attack” anyone.

[@KentoLeoDragon]

Call me a traditionalist if you want, but it's getting harder to find the normal form of plecos (and other fish). Everything is long-fin and/or albino or something. I just want a good ol' fashioned pleco!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I think people are just breeding what brings in more money, but I hear you!

[@TerryLestrange]

@@PrimeTimeAquaticsi loved that super red pleco you got. Insanely beautiful!

[@TCS_Aquatics]

You can still find plain wild type bristlenose plecos. Don’t buy the common pleco unless you have a MASSIVE tank and a plan for it!

[@pitsnpistols1005]

Actually I didn’t think about that! But you’re correct, I went to 3 local fish shops today, and they all had albino or red. My Guppies are typically the color of the aquarium so I wanted a regular. Found one at petsmart, but it was the last one and I guess I got lucky! Put him in my 20gallon long and he’s chillin on the driftwood. I hope he’s peaceful like they say cuz I have 8 Guppies and 3 young Corydoras, while the pleco is about 2 and a half to 3 inches long already

[@KentoLeoDragon]

@@pitsnpistols1005 Is it a Bristlenose? They are peaceful but they have a personality and you gotta keep 'em happy. Lots of variety of foods, driftwood to graze on. They're not above pushing those corys out of the way, but they'll never hurt anything. They're active and fun and please please don't just let them be a "cleaner".

[@fij715]

I have a beautiful ancistrus bristlenose pleco and she is always busy.

[@jessevandiggelen1014]

Hi there, great video! Allthough I think not many of your viewers are aquascapers, it's worth mentioning that Bristlenose plecko's destroy (some) aquascapes by digging , also they chew on the wood and that can become very messy. For that reason I swapped (for my large aquascapes) to a Chinese algae eater. Thought it would be nice to share some experience i've had with both of 'm. Most of my tanks have Otto's though.

[@markfranklin8831]

I agree with what your saying. Thanks for sharing

[@JessicaTenaglia]

I love my CAE’s! I have 2 for about a year and they are the friggin cutest haha full of personality and not aggressive with their tankmates at all. Very playful, actually. They don’t even bother the pest snails in their tank. I def think my betta and mollies are more aggressive than my cae’s. I know it could change (they can become aggressive as they get older). I’m hoping that mine won’t since I’ve had them since they were babies and they grew up with their current tankmates (6 black phantom tetras and 4 Oto’s. I have them in a 40 gal so that might help things as well!

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

They can be a great fish in the right environment.

[@garg4531]

How big are they now?

[@JessicaTenaglia]

@@garg4531 about 6 inches!

[@JessicaTenaglia]

@@PrimeTimeAquatics absolutely 😊 they have a bad reputation, sadly, but they can be great companions!

[@scorpio663]

❤👍 Definitely go with the Brissle nose . I like their size and the fact that they don't get huge and you can keep em in a 20 gallon tank . Who wouldn't want a walrus looking face like a cute looking Brissle nose . 🤗

[@Sfeightyeight]

Good video. Glad you didn't bash the cae. You were honest. Some are jerks, some are fine.

[@EuroGupper]

I have a full grown Siamese Algae Eater and also it continues to search for algae bits to nibble on. Not as enthusiastic compared to when it was smaller bit it still does sort of like a hobby 😅

[@Odipodi]

I've got 3 Ancistrus plecos with 20 corydoras. They are the long fin variety. They love green bean spears and algea wafers. I've noticed that my Julie corydoras are trying to breed with my sturbai Cory's!!!??? Is this normal?????

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I’ve definitely seen it. 😀

[@TCS_Aquatics]

Bristlenose will always be my choice! Love them….

[@twoface9959]

Cool video, will there be Bristlenose Plecos vs SAEs (normal or reticulated) or Panda Garras or Otocinclus catfish?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

You never know 😀

[@Jay10137]

I just got a young albino BN pleco in my 125 with tetras because the driftwood has tons of diatom he went in and hit in my pvc pipe tunnel right away then under a hour later he’s gone to work

[@TerpeneGamer]

I have both of them !

[@JaymePaladino]

Thanks. And thanks shady Grady

[@thaisfakiani8514]

Would the golden chinese algae eater be ok in a 75 gal with dwarf chain loaches?

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Ya, that should work

[@afish320]

My favorite has to be my chocolate blue-eyed long finned Bristlenose. He's just SO cool!! 🤩

[@roxiereed4061]

Hey how's it going I've always liked the bristlenose myself

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Great fish!

[@isolatebody]

My bristlenose has survived over a decade with multiple tank mates including bluegill. Found out they can bite while cleaning his cave in the sink not knowing he was still in there

[@MissTalula71]

Has anyone had experiences having a bristlenose pleco with pea puffers? I'm considering introducing one to my puffer tank... hoping it will go well.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

I have done it - no issues

[@garg4531]

Bristlenose plecos are literally one of my top three fish, been a fan of them ever since I first laid eyes on them 😍 Hope to get one one day, doesn’t even matter to me if they’re male or female, regular or albino, just as long as they’re healthy and happy ❤ Hope to spoil them with plenty of delicious foods too!

[@reggie2803]

Great profile. What food (cube) is that in the tank? It doesn’t appear to be the nortfin kelp wafer. I have had better success with the bristle nose. They just mind their own business in the tank.

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

That was repashy!

[@LakeMissoulaAquaticsandPlants]

The CAE gets a bad rap. I have a trio in a 75, been there four years now. Community tank with pea puffers, guppies, shrimp, snails and longfin leopard danios. They chase eachother around a bit and only seem to pick on other fish if they get in their territory. Probably because it's community members are small fish but haven't had any problems with them going after other fish slime coats. I prefer the CAE because it loves hair algae too and does better in a wide range of tank parameters. Pro tip, once in your tank you will probably never be able to catch them. They are fast! Also in the four years I've had them, I haven't had to feed them once. I've tried pellets and vegetables but they just want to eat algae.

[@Chonsta]

i finally got my first bristlenose pleco a few weeks ago and its a juvi so i have no idea if its male or female and the suspense is killing me !!!!!!! 😂😂😂

[@AgxntAqua]

Is it normal to be a little stressed out when you setup your first tank? My plants are melting and I know it's probably just an adjustment period for them but I'm kind of freaking out a little lol

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Definitely- just have patience and learn as much as you can!

[@Karp_Keeper]

I find that they eat diatoms algae very well but not so much with hair algae

[@donhabel1590]

Always look forward to your videos keep up the good work 👍😊

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

Thank you!

[@sewerrat7612]

My bristlenose doesn't get along with anything has a 10 gallon to himself. Found them to suck on other fish will also go after pagoda snails. Cool fish but wouldn't get with the intention of using in a community tank again.

[@Bogrin]

I love my albino male bristlenose! Named him Dragonite haha

[@JaymePaladino]

Love that name!!!!

[@DavidTorres-fb9lh]

I gave up on bristle nose plecos because they ruin my scapes . And never liked Chinese algae eaters . Ottos and blue neon goby’s do so much better at eating algae ! Plus you can keep a bigger group of them !

[@sparkdrive2900]

David, dont be a Lemon bro 🍋

[@aperm2698]

awsome!

[@michellebarnhill5130]

I love my bristle nose catfish!

[@seanyoung7713]

How do you feel about the reticulated Siamese algae eater or flying fox instead of the Chinese algae eater

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

They tend not to do much with surface algae - better for black beard and maybe green hair algae.

[@yashtapase3821]

In my case the Chinese algae eater was so aggressive to my albino cories and i lost 4 of them But when i switch to longfin bristlenose pleco then things gone smooth.😅 ive never sees he's disturbing other fishes even to cories always minding his own business 😂 But sometimes if the serpae tetra pick his long fin he also went to there 😂 so hilarious to observe 😂

[@sparkdrive2900]

Hi im new. How can chinese algae eater kill a cory when it does not have teeth?

[@debbieakelly7557]

Albino Bristle nose ❤

[@madisonglattli9748]

At first I thought “Chinese algae eater” was referring to Hillstream Loaches, which are really cool and it’s surprising that theyre not talked about as much as bristle nose plecos. The bristles always just gave me the creeps! 😅

[@Whips_World]

The Hillstream loaches are cool, but, for the most part, need more specific water parameters to thrive, including cooler water.

[@garg4531]

Bristlenose plecos breed very easily in captivity, so they’re very hardy and readily available Hillstream loaches are harder to find and soo many people think they’re difficult to care for

[@madisonglattli9748]

@@garg4531 All true, but somehow the one I have has survived disease outbreaks, tank moves, re-scapes, and even falling on the floor. Tough little guy.

[@garg4531]

@@madisonglattli9748 Dang, and yeah! Pretty much everyone says they need cold water and high oxygen or they’ll die in a normal tropical tank, but I’ve heard people kept them exact opposite conditions and not only did they show no signs of stress, but they even *bred* without any intervention from the owner, showing that they seem to thrive in a wide variety of environments (Seems to me like this is the case for many river-dwelling species like barbs and danios, which makes sense to me seeing as how rivers aren’t exactly the most stable environments)

[@garg4531]

@@Whips_World Not really They’ve been known to thrive and even breed in standard conditions, high temperatures, tanks with no filters, etc. They’re very hardy little guys!

[@MattKeepsFish]

Both very protective of food however. Maybe it’s just the males, but if there’s food on the bottom mine wouldn’t let anyone touch any of it

[@donandsharonfralick7642]

Love my bristle nose

[@MFSB208]

My Bristlenose has decided that unless he has plenty of wafers everyday, instead of eating algae he will start attacking my mystery snail. This happens even if I give multiple wafers every other day and there is algae for the eating. He starts smacking the snail into the glass trying to get at it to eat. Throw a wafer in and it stops 🤦‍♂️

[@dant6616]

It needs a higher protein fish food not just algae wafers, algae wafers are only enough when they are really small.

[@Bakedea87]

Chinese algae eaters do better in situations were a slow moving pleco couldn't survive like in turtle tanks or predator tanks in my opinion.

[@BobPantoja-x4u]

I have a Chinese Algae Eater, he is small and a bully to my Betta...

[@PrimeTimeAquatics]

That can be a common occurrence with those guys.

[@leenderdhoutzager9389]

Plecos any day get a siamese algae eater never a chinese algae eater

[@WarrenVenter.]

The Chinese algae eater is one fish for sure I'll never keep. I've heard to many horror stories.

[@alasdairgibb2596]

As someone who has kept a CAE, I can indeed confirm all the horror stories are true.

[@Rollinghillsconservation]

Neither one! They are both horrible at their intended jobs. Not to mention they both suck in community tank settings. In my personal experience I’ll take 12 Otto or like 4 Farlowella over a pleco or Chinese algae eater.