Sand with 50g aquarium with pleco?

[Fishie]

Could I have 50 gallon aquarium sand in it with pleco. And snails or shrimp? Would it kill them?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Could I have 50 gallon aquarium sand in it with pleco. And snails or shrimp? Would it kill them?

Yes. Depends on what type of pleco you would like though.

Not sure how shrimp will do. But IMO plecos aren't snail eaters. That's a title loaches wear.

 

[Fishie]

Ok thanks! Also do pleco. Eat fish food to or just algae?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Ok thanks! Also do pleco. Eat fish food to or just algae?

IMO plecos only eat so much algae before they want prepared foods fed to them. I have also heard driftwood is an important part of their diet as well.

What kind of pleco?

 

[Fishie]

Hypotosum I think also called common pleco. Is driftwood just wood and is it expensive. Where can I get it.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Hypotosum I think also called common pleco. Is driftwood just wood and is it expensive. Where can I get it.

Unfortunately, a common pleco will get too big for that tank in the long run. Before you know it he will be 2 feet long. A Bristlenose pleco is one of the alternatives you have for plecos however

Driftwood is wood that floats down on rivers. Most good-stocked LFS should have some. Simply boil it very well to leech all the tannins and sanitize it.

 

[Fishie]

Wow thanks for the info I almost did that twice but thanks to here it stopped by stupidy I might get the other plec

 

[fadetoblack06]

I have a royal pleco and snails in my tank with sand. They seem to like it better. You can get descent size driftwood at Petco already leached and not floating cheap. Also I've found too that plecos only eat algae till they get a certain size then they stop. Mine eats algae tablets and cucumber so I picked up a baby high fin for the algae.

 

[Fishie]

Do you drop all of the DW to feed your pleco or only a little?

 

[fadetoblack06]

The driftwood stays in the tank all the time. Makes for good hiding places too for them. Then they munch away as necessary to what they're hungry for. If you look at the right side of my tank you can see the driftwood piled in there.

 

[Fishie]

Thanks!! By the way nice tank!

 

[fadetoblack06]

Thanks. I did the coconuts myself and the rest took a lot of time and mind changing to get it set up just like I wanted it. Btw I also used pool filter sand in mine. Wasn't sure what kind you planned on using.

 

[Maltimomma]

I got my dw on Ebay because I could get like 10 to 15 pieces that are different shapes and sizes. Then a lot of boiling and soaking. I have 4 juvie bristlenose pleco that I bought from Todd here on AA and they love it. They chew on it and hide under it. I didn't realize there is a problem with using sand with plecos. I was planning on using sand on a new 55g I just got.