Plecos--I needed a warning!

[RackinRocky]

I wish I had stuck with Dojo loaches! Don't get me wrong, I love my plecos, but they are FILTHY! Before I got my BN plecos, I only had to clean my Penguin filter every 6-8 weeks, and even then it wasn't bad at all. Now, after only one month, the biowheel was slowing down considerably, and the water level in the tank was good, the tube was more or less clean, so I cleaned the filter and YUCK! So much gunk, I couldn't believe it. Its a 20 gallon with two BN, 3 inches long. I already have one BN in my 55, and am going to moving one of these out of my 20, into the 55, and I'm HOPING this will cut down on the gunk in the 20. I guess I was spoiled before. Now I feel like I have to watch the biowheel like a hawk. I got them partly for algae control, and because I like how they look, but I'm not sure if its worth it, with all the mess they make. To me, the mess almost cancels out the algae control. If you had a minimum of a 40 gallon tank, I'd say 1-2 at the most might be okay, but no more!

 

[Luananeko]

Plecos are really one of the worst ways you can "clean" a tank, for the exact reasons you're finding. They're awesome fish and I recommend them to people who are willing to cut back on their stocking to make room for them, but definitely should not be considered a "cleaner" fish... Shrimp, snails, SAEs, and Otos are the only ones that seem to clean more than they mess things up. And of course, nothing compares with regular water changes and live plants

 

[RackinRocky]

Luananeko, you are so right! Even though I researched a lot, for some reason, their messiness got by me somehow. I even have to keep a close eye on my nitrates now that I have the plecos. Even though I do a 30% water change every week, religiously, sometimes the nitrates will climb t 40 by the 5th day. And this is just because of the plecos, because my nitrates were always 20 or below before I got them.

 

[Luananeko]

Do you have any live plants in there with them? Plants do a great job at helping control the nitrates from the pleco poop. Make sure you stick to either floating plants (need to be floating stems if you're using a HOB filter, as the lily pad types can't take the HOB's surface agitation) or sturdy ones that root well, otherwise the plecos can uproot them a bit.

 

[Brookster123]

They are the most efficient poop machines in the business... i rehomed my mature bn, it was just too much to deal with..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[bettaowner]

I know lots of people who purchased a pleco to eat algae and ended up regretting it. I personally buy a pleco if I researched it and like how it looks. I treat it like I would any other catfish and if it eats algae I call that an added benefit.

 

[Brookster123]

I still have one, it just looks awesome and only feeds at night... my bn used to beat the crap out of my other fish trying to eat off the bottom..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[jim532]

Plecos don't eat much alage at all. Especially if they are fed a diet of algae wafers. They right way to control algae is with water changes. If you want some tank occupants to cleanup algae, then get some Nerite snails and Amano shrimps.

 

[PNWaquarist]

I appreciate the comments in this thread. I have been considering setting up a 20 long South American tank with a Bolivian Ram and a Clown Pleco as my bottom-dwellers. And I wanted this to be a one-30%-WC-per-week deal. Corys sound like a better bet now.