i see alot of you have plecos?
- Thread starter robinanne
- Start date
Robinanne, never too many questions, especially when it comes to health of your fish. I try to keep a pleco in all my tanks for algae control, however there are a lot of different methods to keep algae down. I too like the way plecos look, their armor and color can be super cool, depending on which ones you choose. Plecos, though, are not mandatory for every tank. They create a lot of waste and will generally grow too large to keep in most aquaria. There are some species that stay small like the rubberlip/rubbernose/bulldog pleco and the bristlenose that both don't grow over 5". If you do get a pleco for your tank, just make sure to research the kind you will buy. The common pleco can get over 2' long and is not suitable for most home aquariums. Hope this helps robinanne.
I agree 100% with the above.
You can look into other choices to see what your preference is. For me, I'm going to use apple snails as a cleanup crew. Some people use siamese algae eaters, lori cats, shrimp and well there are sooo many others.
It is my understanding that there isn't enough algae in the home aquarium to keep a pleco fed and happy and that their diet must be supplemented with algae wafers. And like mentioned above, common plecos are tankbusters that imo contribute their share of ammonia which could potentially lead to poor water conditions and other problems.
You can look into other choices to see what your preference is. For me, I'm going to use apple snails as a cleanup crew. Some people use siamese algae eaters, lori cats, shrimp and well there are sooo many others.
It is my understanding that there isn't enough algae in the home aquarium to keep a pleco fed and happy and that their diet must be supplemented with algae wafers. And like mentioned above, common plecos are tankbusters that imo contribute their share of ammonia which could potentially lead to poor water conditions and other problems.
in all the five fish stores we went to today all they offered was the common pleco. i have had these before and know how big they get. besides i wanted something different. they didn't have any of the cat fish that were not tiny or other options mentioned. not even snails. i thought i read the snails reproduce so fast you have to keep eliminating them?
im looking into some other algae eaters
im heading to petsmart at the end of the week to see what they have to offer (ive done some googling) and also looking into what kind of plants they offer because i just read a post the other night about some LFS selling plants that are not actual aquatic plants
ill keep ya posted
im heading to petsmart at the end of the week to see what they have to offer (ive done some googling) and also looking into what kind of plants they offer because i just read a post the other night about some LFS selling plants that are not actual aquatic plants
ill keep ya posted
while I prefer plecos, I also have snails. One snail option though is the nertile snail it can live and thrive in FW but to reproduce successfully it has to be in SW. So no worries of being overrun. I have heard they are a very good algea control option. I have a heavy population of hitchhiking pond snails in a planted 10G and they have little effect on the algae in the tank. There are many things that can cause algae so if you are experiencing a heavy amount you may need to figure the cause of it. While algea is not always a bad thing and I like a certain amount of algae in my natural tanks some do consider it an eyesore.
Most plecos do get large and usually stop eating algea when larger and prefure wood so i don't keep them. I have an algea 'crew' in my tank. I a siamese algae eater, a few otos, a couple algea eating shrimp and a ton of malaysian trumpet snails.
I like these snails cause the look cool and they mostly stay under the substrait durring the day only to come out at night. Also they do not eat plants.
And yes chinse algea eaters become agressive twoards other fish when mature
I like these snails cause the look cool and they mostly stay under the substrait durring the day only to come out at night. Also they do not eat plants.
And yes chinse algea eaters become agressive twoards other fish when mature