Has anyone ever heard of a clown pleco? they are cute and I was told that they are the dwarf of the bristlenose. I moved one into my tank, they say that they scrounge around the ground too, not just for algae, I lost my Bristlenose he got caught in the castle I had in there, I felt awful, we almost had him a year too. no more castle, I filled it with fake plants instead..any input would be greatly appreciated..thanks so much

Heres some info for you.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile80.html

Clown Pleco's are their own species.Their sub-family is Ancistrinae(Bristlenose come from this sub-family) Their Genera is Panaque(Maccus). Clown Plec's are cool little fish that grow to about 5 inches(I have never seen them that big) If you are looking to watch him,or have him help you control an algae problem,then you can forget it.They are hider's,and algae is not big on their list.They are definately Wood Eater's,and must have a piece of Driftwood in the tank,and because of that,they are big waste producer's and need a good filter. Clown Pleco's also need fresh Veggies such as Cuckecumber's/Zuchinni/Sweetpotatoes/Squash,etc.I have two that also eat algae wafer's,Pro-Gold,Fish Flakes,etc. They can get territorial when it comes to someone trying to hang out on their little area that they call home. I love my two,but as I said,they're "Hider's" so you don't get to see them too often.Hope this helps.

thanks u guys, I have some brown algae in the tank that I have been removing with a sponge, but I got him mainly for scrounging along the tank bottom, I don't seem to have much luck with cory catfish, I have lost two of them within a year so I opted for this little fella, I just don't want him going after my goldfish, thats my main concern, he wouldn't suck on the goldfish would he? the pet store woman said it may happen, but she hasn't had too many problems with them.
the website was quite helpful, I have algae wafers, do I just dump one in at night so the goldfish don't see it?? also should he get fed every night?? my bristlenose was great! but I didn't think he did much for the algae, my algae for some reason, on the glass is very hard, thats why I use the scrubber brush
thanks again

Hi kit,
Dev's has given you very good information about the clown pleco's.

I have 2 clown plecos in my goldfish tank and have had them for at least 6 months. They have never bothered my goldies where the other common pleco's, as well as the chinese algea eaters, have befpre this much time has passed.

The biggest problem I have is that the goldies will eat there wafer food and the clowns will start to nibble on my plants. I do not have any driftwood in my tank since I have trouble keeping my PH stable, and it is my understanding that driftwood can affect the PH. I do try to get the wafers IN their little hideouts, away from to goldies, also feeding them after the tank light goes out and the goldies are settled a bit. I also make sure I vacumn the gravel under their "hidey-holes" when I clean my tank.

Good luck with your decision.

*note* there are some instences where clown plecs have been bred on algae foods that will induce algae eating (mine does anyway) mine is not very active during the early part of the day, but its fascinating to watch these guys go around in the late afternoon and scavenge for rotting plant matter and eat algae but during the day they are pretty inactive. Mine likes bogwood to rest on and its also an essential part of their diet

They definately need wood as a staple in their diet.As I said,I have one tank that I have to watch the ph on,but when I realized that the wood lowered the ph,I took steps to maintain it.Here's a rare shot of one of my Clown's,you can't tell,but since I've added the snails to the tank,he's getting rather chubby from eating all the veggies I put in there. I thought veggie's were good for one's shape? Anyway,he comes out more than the other guy does.All it seems to take is a piece of pro-gold and he makes an appearance from his driftwood.The other guy waits until dark...Maybe it has to do with the almost 9 inch beast of my Goldfish,Marmalade living in his tank!

Wo1, devs! how old is yours?

Dev's what are you doing to maintain the ph in your tank with the wood? What type of wood do you have, as well?

The one in the pic,I've had since June of 2004.The other I've had acouple three years maybe? My memory is not the best-it's probably longer!

Sorry Connie,didn't see your post. Anyway,I did the Baking Soda Method for a while,but I just was having the hardest time getting the level right,so I switched over to a bag of Crushed Coral in both of my Filter Media baskets.Works it up to a good place now.As for the wood,I bought it quite a while ago,so truthfully I can't remember.If you give me a little bit of time---I may come up with it.

would like to know what type of wood myself, my ph is 7 how much higher will my ph become if I add the wood? also, I gave him an algae wafer in his hidding spot after "lights out" and my goldies found it and began to attack it like crazy, so I don't know exactly how much of it he ate does the wood act as a diet sort of thing to them as well?? sorry with the 50 ?'s love the pic, he looks like mine hes already done a pretty good job at cleaning my brown algae up..

Okay Dev's.... I am defiantly going to have to try the find the crushed coral. The only thing I have found so far is Cichild mix that is suppose to keep the ph stable. I use them in the HOB media baskets and I am still having to add BS to my water.

The wood my lfs has is from Malaysia is states the it will help to "soften the water". If I am correct (it's been soooooo long since I took chemistry) softening the water brings down the ph, correct?

Here is one of mine