How many Plecos are too many

[FaerieWhings]

I don't know what kind of information you need, so I'm going to give you all that I think may be imperative.

We have a 55 gallon tank. There were about 20 to 25 cichlids, including some new ones that hatched and lived over the past couple months, and 3 rather large plecos (any where from 5 to 9 inches each). There was a disgusting odor coming from the tank for a while but the fish were not only living, but thriving, till about 3 weeks ago. We're now down to 7 cichlids. All the plecos are still living.

My husband finally got to cleaning out the big tank, taking the remaining fish and putting them in the spare tank. With no gravel on the bottom I could see just how much waste the plecos create. My questions is: Do we have too many plecos for our size tank? Do we need three or could that have been the thing that was causing the disguting smell, all the waste they created and didn't clean up and in turn killing the cichlids? We want to replace the poor fish we lost but I want to know what we can and should do to help prevent this type of disaster again. It also seems that every time my husband cleaned out the tank in the past, it would cause major issues for the fish, killing them, so that's why we left it alone for so long.

Also, I loved watching the baby fish being born, hiding in the rocks and growing bigger. How can I tell the difference between male and female cichlids and do cichlids only mate with others of the same color?

 

[HN1]

Welcome to AA!

The quick and easy answer is yes. Even one "common" pleco is too many in that size tank. It will either outgrow the tank or become stunted and suffer. There are plecos that stay smaller though and can be appropriate for your size of tank.

 

[FaerieWhings]

That's what I thought. My husband thought that I was crazy because they keep the algae in check, but all the waste was ridiculous and they don't clean that up so it just sits there.

Do you know of a reputable forum where I can adopt out the plecos? I live in NY on Long Island, if that helps at all.

 

[HN1]

I don't. The best advice I can offer would be to call your local fish shops and see if they would be able to take them in for rehoming. Possibly place an ad on craigslist.

 

[spoonman]

I am guessing the fish died from the ammonia that was built up from the excessive waste from the plecos. Definitely get rid of at least 2 if not all 3. Most likely if you were not doing regular water changes and gravel vacuuming the waste built up and the Nitrates got out of control and poisoned the fish. I have 2 8" plecos that I rescued in a 115G tank with 20 malawi cichlids and they are ok but I also do gravel vacuuming and 25-50% water changes every 2 weeks and keep a close eye on ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels in that tank. If you dont already do this, you should buy a test kit that measures these three things and test regularly. That will save alot of heartache. You can see when the levels are rising, which will let you know to do a water change.

About the breeding. Usually cichlids will only breed with the same species (color) but some cross breeding will happen.

It is also important to do your research with cichlids as some types do not play well with others and will outright kill them or stress them to death.

There are others here that have alot more experience than I do but that is the basics. Good luck!!

 

[Fromthelbc]

1 pleco is too many pleco's.

 

[mgamer20o0]

1 pleco is too many pleco's.

1 common pleco but there are so many different plecos out there some good for smaller tanks others that are not.

 

[bigfish93]

you could get some bristlenose plecos. they stay under 6 inches so you could probably get 2 or 3 but I wouldn't go with anymore than that if you plan on putting more cichlids in the tank

 

[HN1]

If the cichlids you have are Rift lake, I'd skip the pleco entirely regardless of species. I've seen a few cases of plecos losing eyes to the aggresive cichlids. Not to mention they prefer quite different base water conditions.

 

[neurotik]

I have a couple bristle nose plecos in my 55 gallon tank and they are awesome. They don't get very big -- about 4-5 inches at most, and don't create much waste at all really. It's fun to feed them fresh veggies and stuff too! I've always wondered why so many people choose common plecos over the smaller types of plecos. I've also wondered why every LFS I go to that sells plecos always sells commons rather than BN which are much more appropriately sized for just about any tank that someone would have in their home. Such a mystery!

 

[Sicklid]

You also had way too many cichlids as well... 20 to 25 fish in a 55 gallon PLUS three gigantic plecos? That is one high bio-load... Even if they were juveniles, without seriously over-filtering that tank and doing partial water changes every few days you would have high amounts of ammonia.

 

[mbuna Brandon]

get rid of the plecos they create way too much waste. Their usefullness as an algae eater is far out weighed by the amount of waste they produce. Also the reason why it seems that every time you clean your tank it ends in disaster is because the longer you waite between water changes the more ammonia builds up, also the more your ph drops. Then when you finally do a water change it is too much of a shock to your fish as the ammonia falls and your ph rises too quickly.

 

[spoonman]

If you want a cleanup type fish the synodontis catfish is nice with the Mbuna.