I noticed that my Bristlenose in my 10 gallon hid a lot. There were times that I wanted to scour the tank and look for his dead carcass as I was sure that he was dead considering that the tank is overstocked. Then out of the corner of my eye, I woud occasionally notice his little tail flapping about as he was probably busy feeding off some dead plant matter or algae. Now, I see him coming out more and more even when the lights are on. I was beginning to think that maybe he was sick as this is not his normal behaviour. Then, I realized that he only came out to the spot where I place some microwaved zucchini. My guess is that there is probably little or no algae for him to feed off or dead plant material so his hunger is forcing him to come out in daylight where the zucchini is placed. He usually devours all of it within minutes, then disappears like the Loch Ness Monster.

I have not noticed any Bristlenose induced plant damage, and it has been many months that he has been in that tank, so I am convinced that he will not harm the plants as long as he is fed. Some say that BN Plecos can do a number on java ferns to the point that there are no java ferns left. I have two java ferns in the tank and just added a third. They are perfectly intact and the other two have been for over a month. Mind you though, I was fortunate that there was no algae on the java fern leaves and no algae formed on them to date, otherwise I am not sure what he would have done to them.