Starting to get brown algae in my big tank now, freaked and got a Pleco. In two days I have more long hard pieces of poop around the bottom of the tank, and all he does really is eat the cucumbers I put in there! I'm hoping he wasn't a mistake, but I won't be hurt if I needa take him out. What do you people think?
Plecos... Good idea?
- Thread starter oneball
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partypalooza5
Aquarium Advice Addict
I will never buy another pleco again, mines totally useless and doesn't even come out EVER. (maybe because he jumped out of the tank twice and lived..) If there's an algae problem its best to just fix whats causing it instead of getting something to clean up the symptoms.
partypalooza5
Aquarium Advice Addict
Heh mine did that too when I first got him, then he just sorta stopped doing anything. Then he jumped out and since then won't come out from under the rocks. (yes he's still alive)
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
You don't want to feed the pleco veggies if you want him to eat algae. When he is hungry, he might be more interested in cleaning up. Otherwise, he is just a poop machine. <That is esp. if he is a common pleco .... they get big (12") and make lots of mess.>
spoonman
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not to mention, even under the best circumstances plecos dont eat that much algae. You are probably overfeeding or the tank is getting too much light. Need to fix the problem.
exodon king
Aquarium Advice Freak
first off, plecos should not rely on algae to survive. if you are going to keep plecos, you need to feed them veggies and dry foods to suppliment their diet.
second, your problem is diatoms, not algae. and plecos do not eat that. this is an entirely different problem all together.
and lastly, if your whole point of getting a pleco was to get rid of algae, you will soon discover you made a terrible mistake. even if they did get rid of every bit of algae in the tank, the produce easily twice as much waste as they consume in algae. unless you increase yourbiological filtration, you are looking at a major jump in your bio-load.
oh and a side note: if its a common pleco, it will potentially outgrow your 72g (assuming thats the pleco, and tank combination you have)
second, your problem is diatoms, not algae. and plecos do not eat that. this is an entirely different problem all together.
and lastly, if your whole point of getting a pleco was to get rid of algae, you will soon discover you made a terrible mistake. even if they did get rid of every bit of algae in the tank, the produce easily twice as much waste as they consume in algae. unless you increase yourbiological filtration, you are looking at a major jump in your bio-load.
oh and a side note: if its a common pleco, it will potentially outgrow your 72g (assuming thats the pleco, and tank combination you have)
mgamer20o0
Aquarium Advice Addict
agree 100% with this.
see thats the problem. bought the fish for all the wrong reasons with out understanding about them.
partypalooza5
Aquarium Advice Addict
Diatoms are a natural process that your tank goes through. Just wait and be patient and they will go and pass. Patients is the key. Also if they bother you that bad you could take the decor out and scrub it off but i would just wait.
Well I've been fighting the same stuf for a year in my 30 gallon. I think it might be my water, it's well water through a softener. Only problem I have is this stuff.
guy at my lfs said my water could be high in phosphates and silicates and I need a remover in my filter... What do you think?
Sounds like the guy at the LFS nailed it to me (for the first time in history).
Well water tends to be very hard. Especially in phosphates when living in certain places. It can be that way here, that is why i use a tap water/Water machine at store combo for my tanks.
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