I have noticed an odd pattern in my experience with bristle-nose plecos. I had an albino and a standard pleco in my 125 and the tank was always clean, but when the brown one died my tank got funky in a hurry. The albino ended up dieing during an extended power failure. Fast forward to today, I put two brown 1" in my 300+ tank and they cleaned it spotless in a couple of days. As an experiment I put two 1" albinos in the 125 after a thorough cleaning. They are slowing down the regrowth, but the algae is defiantly starting to reappear on the glass and rocks. Is this something anyone else has noticed?
Albino bristlenose vs. Standard
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The genetic differences should only apply to skim pigmentation, or at least that's what I'd assume. Some plecos have different appetites for algae and it's possible that the albino's you're working with are hybrids and might account for the differences in food preferences. It could also be a myriad of other reasons. I think you'd need much more controlled, extensive testing in order to come to any real conclusions.
I believe that albinos in general have issues. My community tank has several red fin sharks, both albino and black. The Albinos tend stay hidden during the day and are much smaller. I don't know maybe the albinism causes some kind of stress due to sensitive eyes or similarly related issue.
I also came across this statement in multiple locations while researching my theory
"The incidence of albinism can be artificially increased in fish by exposing the eggs to heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, selenium, zinc)"
If this is the case I wouldn't be surprised if there were health issues involved.
I also came across this statement in multiple locations while researching my theory
"The incidence of albinism can be artificially increased in fish by exposing the eggs to heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, selenium, zinc)"
If this is the case I wouldn't be surprised if there were health issues involved.
and this short article
"Albinism is a lack of melanin (pigment) in hair and skin. If it is lacking in the skin, it is also probably lacking in the brain, where lies the biggest problem.
There's a lot of evidence to show that albino animals are more prone to neurological (nervous system) problems than non-albinos. Ironically, the famous white mice that we are used to seeing in laboratories, may be among the worst affected. They lack receptors for some chemicals because of their lack of melanin; as such, they should not be used in most clinical research.
In her book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin goes into a lot of detail about why albino or nearly albino animals (such as Dalmatians and painted horses with blue eyes) make bad pets and unpredicatable livestock, due to their neurological problems.
Albino animals are also very prone to sunburn, deafness, vision and immunological disorders.
Please don't think all these things necessarily apply to albino people, though. Intelligence in humans, for instance, is much more complicated than how many melanin receptors you have. Anonymous"
"Albinism is a lack of melanin (pigment) in hair and skin. If it is lacking in the skin, it is also probably lacking in the brain, where lies the biggest problem.
There's a lot of evidence to show that albino animals are more prone to neurological (nervous system) problems than non-albinos. Ironically, the famous white mice that we are used to seeing in laboratories, may be among the worst affected. They lack receptors for some chemicals because of their lack of melanin; as such, they should not be used in most clinical research.
In her book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin goes into a lot of detail about why albino or nearly albino animals (such as Dalmatians and painted horses with blue eyes) make bad pets and unpredicatable livestock, due to their neurological problems.
Albino animals are also very prone to sunburn, deafness, vision and immunological disorders.
Please don't think all these things necessarily apply to albino people, though. Intelligence in humans, for instance, is much more complicated than how many melanin receptors you have. Anonymous"
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Unless of course, the brown ones they are buying are a different species of bristlenose than the albino ones. There are close to a hundred different Ancistrus species after all.
Or as prov356 suggested, it could just be an individual thing. In the past, I've bought bristlenoses out of the same tank (suggesting they were all the same species) and spilt up into different tanks, the rate of algae eating was never the same. Stuff like sunlight, lights, filtration, tankmates all impact algae growth so it makes it very hard to say.
Or as prov356 suggested, it could just be an individual thing. In the past, I've bought bristlenoses out of the same tank (suggesting they were all the same species) and spilt up into different tanks, the rate of algae eating was never the same. Stuff like sunlight, lights, filtration, tankmates all impact algae growth so it makes it very hard to say.
I'm not arguing the the food preference, but simply suggesting a reduced metabolism, tendency to avoid light or similar difference in behavior. And I do not present anything as fact but simply am throwing out a theory and seeing if it sticks or if anyone else had seen similar evidence.
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