Plecos in bare-bottom tanks

[JEAE21]

Can I do this..a tank with no substrate and decor.
Or do plecos really need wood and rocks? can they be artificial?

 

[Raul-7]

They prefer a more natural environment, it also reduces stress as plecos are generally very shy and spend most of the day hiding away in their favorite driftwood or cave.

 

[Ianab]

Some plecos NEED to have some wood as part of their diet, others just like to have some to graze on.

All of them prefer to have some sort of hiding place. It can be a piece of driftwood, a rock cave or even a length of pipe. If there is no hiding places they will usually end up huddling nervously behind a filter intake or similar. If you provide more shelter the pleco will usually be less nervous and you will see it out in the tank more, rather than less.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JEAE21]

o.k. thanks.
and how do they eat those algae wafers? in like one gulp?

I already asked but how many of you had plecos mess up your acrylic tanks?
some say they bite through..

 

[??SLEEPY??]

The plecos suck on the algae wafer (my royal hated it). I also heard that large plecos can do some damage on acrylic tanks.

 

[StiffMeister]

plecs can go without substrate with no problems. had it for years and was fine. some species, panaques, need wood for their digestive system. cuz of their wood scraping teeth, they can do damage to acrylic tanks too so they are best kept in glass. they eat the wafers by scraping them down or gulp them in if they are big enuff.

 

[JEAE21]

Thanks, what about the royal and sailfin pleco?

 

[Ianab]

The Royal Plecos are a panaque. They need to have bogwood as part of their diet. You can get pleco tablets with wood mixed in them, but it's probably bettter to just have a big chunk of mopani or bogwood in there.

Optional for the sailfin gibby, but they will appreciate the cover a nice lump of wood gives.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You can get away with having no substrate, although the plecos need to have some decor like hiding places like caves, as plecos are primarily nocturnal fish and will become stressed if forced to be in the open all the time.
When not go for something like a sand substrate though?

 

[JEAE21]

thanks! what type of driftwood should I get..the malaysian or african?
also how long would a 12" wood last on a pleco tank? with only 1 royal & 1 sailfin. when they're juveniles and when they're adults..

are plecos dumb enough to eat artificial wod & rocks?


sand..might be good. what filter should I use?