Plecos in bare-bottom tanks

[Ianab]

The wood will last for years in the tank. they just rasp at it like sandpaper. Eventually it will get worn away, but it takes ages. Type isn't that important, any of the ones sold for aquarium use will be OK. You can collect your own, but knowing a bit about trees and wood is a pluss there. Some types of wood will leach sap into the tank and cause problems. If you dont know, buy a lump from the pet shop.

Plecos will rasp over any surface, wood, glass, rocks, plastics ornaments etc and scrape off the algae and micro-organsims that may be living on it. They wont harm a glass tank, but some of the bigger ones can mark a perspex tank.

They like those ceramic 'hollow log' ornaments as a hiding place. Set it up so you can see inside, the plec will sit in there and watch the world go by, and at least you can see it.

Filter type... get a good one one.. Plecos are Poop machines

I use a thin layer (1/2") of fine gravel in my tanks just because it looks better than bare glass. With a thin layer you can work it over with the gravel vac and keep it fairly clean. See the poop machine comment above

Cheers

Ian

 

[JEAE21]

haha what about the floating turtle log?
which one are you talking about?

and like a power or canister will be good? maybe a strong one?
what are their feces like?

 

[Ianab]

what are their feces like?

Hard to describe unless you have seen one..

But yeah, they can lay a cable thats twice their overall length

I will leave you with that visual in your mind

Cheers

Ian

P.S. The gravel vac is every pleco owners best friend

 

[FishGoneWild]

Not all pleco poop like crazy but majority of pleco specy will poop like crazy so be ready to do water changes and have a powerful filtration setup. Sometimes plecos frustrate me because I never get to see the damn fish in the open or swim around.

 

[JEAE21]

haha Ianab, do gravel vaccums work in tanks without..gravel..?

can filters pick up solid fish feces?
lol, I have a book that has a picture of a young sailfin swimming in open water.

 

[Mr_Sea_Turkle]

your vacuum will work without gravel...my fiancee does it all the time.

she used to complain that my pleco pooped too much, and the filter wouldn't pick up the mess.

 

[JEAE21]

ok thanks.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

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?

I wouldn't advise keeping a royal and sailfin pleco together, the royal in particular will become very territorial towards the sailfin as it matures and the sailfin may too towards the royal as well, see here;

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=151

Royals in general are not tolerant of other large plecos in my experience, they may be ok as juveniles, but they will become more territorial as they grow larger/older.

 

[JEAE21]

thanks, i'll probably keep them together as juveniles and separate them if any problems occur!