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Eurwentala — Hannibal the Catfish
Published: 2013-05-06 08:02:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 2663; Favourites: 54; Downloads: 0
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Description
Meet Hannibal the bristlenose pleco (Ancistrus dolichopterus). This is his face, and he's not much less weird when viewed from other angles either. Plecos and other loricariid catfish have a highly specialized mouth that can be used to hold on to the bottom in swift currents. It is also a surprisingly versatile feeding apparatus, with different kind of teeth in species with different kind of diets. These teeth belong to an omnivore with an appetite for algae. There are also species with almost vampire-like teeth that eat snails, and others with spoon-shaped teeth that eat huge amounts of rotting wood.I bought Hannibal because my biggest tank needed an algae-eater that would not be bullied by the larger, territorial catfish and curious bichirs. Hannibal is covered by bony plates that makes him almost impossible to bite, and on both cheeks he has a bunch of long hooked spines that he rams into the opponent if he loses his nerve. Very quickly he and the other fish learned to respect each other and there haven't been any problems since.
The name was given by my roommate, who for some reason isn't particularly fond of Hannibal.
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Comments: 18
Me too, but I needed something to take care of the algae. 
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I think that one is large enough that he adds more to the pollution output, though he would have some aesthetic appeal.
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How big does a bristlenose grow? I don't have one, but I do have a delightful youngster (a Pterygoplichthys pardalis) in my serpae tank and also one more in my gourami tank. How did you get bichirs though? And what are these snail-eating plecos? I have been having snails in my serpae tank for a while now, and I have to pick them out by hand! They're a menace!
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We've got a Pleco too. It keeps our tank very clean of algae.
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Ahhhhh, bristlenoses 
I have two of my own, a brown male (who is aggressive towards me, but not the fish he's with) and a docile little yellow one of uncertian gender. I hope the yellow one is a female though, it haven't shown any sign of bristles yet...
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I used to have a Freshwater Aquarium that my family adopted from my aunt when she moved down to Florida. It held an Algae Pleco "forgot the species" a few Black Mollies, Tiger Tetras, Red Gourami's, and at one point a Clown Loach. After a while, the entire tank started dying off... But the Pleco lasted for an entire year by itself before disappearing... XD
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Bristlenoses and a few other kinds of plecos used as algae eaters are able to endure incredible amounts of abuse: yours is not the only story of this sort I have heard. Mollies and gouramis, on the other hand, are fragile little things. I do feel sorry for the fish. I wonder what went so badly wrong that all the fish died.
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They were technically my younger brother's fish, and after a few weeks interest died down.... It became increasingly common to hear my mother yell to my brother to feed the fish and water changes grew less and less frequent... And now it's happening AGAIN with his new Guinea Pig
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I used to have Ancistrus sp. 'hybrid' aka Common brown Bristlenose. Those were shy critters, which may or may not was triggered by the small size of the tank.
Since 2009 I have Ancistrus sp. L 156. These are enourmous Bristlenoses in size, at 17 cm now, it seems they can even reach the 20 cm border. Alltough they live in a tank big enough, they are also extremely shy (probably because they're wild-catched).
They have literally no interest in algae or vegetables now. At smaller sizes they sometimes ate Cucumber together with the Apple-Snails.
Also, try to catch a side-view of him, Loricariids have such beautyful eyes.
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Ancistrus aren't among the most visible and active fish even on their best days, but are you sure there isn't something wrong with them to make them so shy? Maybe there isn't enough cover and they don't feel safe?
Many loricariid catfish change their diet as they grow, often away from algae. For example, sailfin plecos (Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps) are algae-grazing herbivores when young, but become mostly detritivorous as adults. Maybe L 156 is similar in that regard, which would explain their lack of interest in vegetables.
And thanks for making me check. I remembered the scientific name wrong. It was concluded a few years ago that the Common bristlenose pleco, though a hybrid, owes most of it's genes to an Argentinian species that was imported for aquarium trade decades ago. But it's called A. cirrhosus, not A. dolichopterus.
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No worries, they seem alright. They have enough hidings, nearly invisible the whole day. All in all they seem to be more nocturnal than I can remember of other Ancistrus.
About the feeding habits, I'll check if I can find a ventral view of mine to compare the dentition.
A. cirrhosus is only used in the english-speaking world to refer to the Common Bristlenose as far as I know. But well, taxonomy...
A. dolichopterus is a real beauty amongst the Genus in my opinion, but even that fades with age.
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I love bristlenose plecos they are just so cute!
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