What not to feed Bristlenose Plecos?

I have had Bristlenose Plecos in the past and had a wonderful male who was a great Dad. I fed him Blackworms and found him dead the next day. I have an Angelfish show tank that I feed Blackworms and would like to add a few Bristlenose Plecos to keep the tank algae free. Can I safely keep Bristlenose Plecos in the same tank while feeding the Angelfish Blackworms?

JohnnyAMH

Hi,no it wouldn't be a good idea to keep them in that tank in my opinion.Also if you plan on breeding them the angels will eat the babies.Bristlenoses shouldnt be fed any meat based foods at all really,although some people give them a very small amount of it.I have never given any of mine any kind of meat based food whatsoever.Mine get Tetra pro veg crisps,canned green beans cut in half length ways and beans removed,cucumber or courgette maybe once a week and Hikari algae wafers (but not too often).


Bristlenoses

Thanks Bristlenose,
I don't intend to breed Bristlenose in this Angelfish show tank but I would like to use them to keep the glass clean. I feed the Angels Blackworms and seldom do they miss any but I did have a disaster once when I fed Blackworms in my Bristlenose Breeder tank. I think the Bristlenose didn't have much of a choice and ate too many Blackworms. Do you think the same thing will happen if the Bristennose are exposed to a few Blackworm scraps?

not from scraps. I keep some bristlenose in my display tank with oscars and other south american cichlids and they get fed all sorts of meaty foods. The bristlenose will often be seen mopping up the scraps. its all to do with a balance.

Hi,If they only have access to a very small amount and are fed plenty of other foods it should be o.k but you would just have to be careful and keep an eye out for any bloat or anything just incase.



Bristlenoses

I always feed fresh veggies 30 mins to an hour before feeding any meaty foods. This allows the BNs to fill up on the more appropriate stuff first and hopefully they won't have room in their stomachs for too much meat. This is along the lines of what Doug said about balance. Hope this helps.

Thanks guys, you all have been so helpful. I am trying to get back into breeding Bristlenoses so expect to see me hanging around...

Hi,

Just a note on keeping BN with Angelfish. Make sure your BN have plenty of cover such as driftwood etc , and place their food somewhere relatively inaccessible to the Angels so they can feed in peace.

Only put very well grown juvenile or adult BN in with them. Angelfish like harassing BN. They will poke at and chase them when the BN are on the glass where the Angels can get to them. I have found this more the rule than the exception.

Angels are very territorial, they do fine with fish that respect them and move away, but are aggressive toward fish that don't.
BN can and will gladly eat Angelfish eggs, also a good reason for Angels wanting to keep them away.

BN do make fine additions to Angelfish tanks as long as these issues are taken into account.

Sarah