Green Phantom (L200) Compatibility?

[StevesPrettyCool]

i'm lookin into a type of algae eater for my 55g African tank (Mbunas most likely). Did some research and basicly came back with mixed results. Some people say certain plecos do better than others, some people say all will do fine, and i've read some instances of many types gettin shredded up.

I been looking at a Green Phantom (unique in color and max size is around 7" compared to the common pleco's 1-2'). For people that own or know about GREEN PHANTOMS or L200's, I would love to hear from someone with first hand experience, because like i said, I've found very mixed answers so far.

I understand that plecos grow slowly, and i can always return a common back to the lfs once it outgrows, but i plan on keeping these fish for many many years and would hate to have to give up someone i have gotten attached to due to size issues...

thanks everyone, this forum has quickly become my favorite site on the web!

 

[Patterson333]

I can't give you a good answer as to whether or not it'll work, but it just so happens that I've got a Green Phantom in my all male Malawi Haps and Peacocks community tank and he's doing great!

He's been in there for about 4 months now. He was already fairly large when I got him, but now he's probably full size. I watch my tank often, and none of my fish bother him at all. He spends all day perched on a rock in plain view right in the front of the tank, which is really nice because my other two plecos (a longfin albino bristlenose and a gold nugget) have hidden spots that they spend most of their time in.

I drop a few algae wafers in the tank every now and then for my plecos, but honestly, I've never seen them touch them. They seem to sustain themselves off my algae and driftwood (btw, make sure you've got some driftwood in your tank if you plan on getting a pleco, many species need driftwood in their diet).

Again, this is just my personal experience, but I could say that he's doing pretty well in my tank.

 

[StevesPrettyCool]

veryyyy awesome fish!! speaking of how you said yours was fairly large, thats what i was thinking since i was planning on getting my mbunas young. hopefully since they grow up around the already fairly large green phantom, they wont be aggressive towards it.

Very intersting about the driftwood in the plecos diet, i knew they devoured the algae but thats the first i've heard of driftwood. I got a killer lookin piece on Malaysian driftwood in the tank this green phantom would be going in, kinda the centerpiece of the aquarium, so the phantom would look great perched on that. But i have other plecos in other tanks and never even thought to put driftwood in to benefit them. thanks!

 

[Patterson333]

Yea no problem man. Oh and as far as the driftwood, I've heard it from other members on here, and also from employees at a really good LFS, so I think it might be true. I've also got some Malaysian driftwood in my tank. I think it looks great. Here's a pic of my gold nugget munching on the driftwood. My plecos have to share my two pieces lol.

 

[StevesPrettyCool]

thats another awesome fish!! love the gold nuggets. is that the same tank as the phantom?

I ended up going to the lfs and talked to them about the green phantom. the people are cool, every thursday its buy one get one free fish. they said they would look into ordering one for me. for now i bought two commons, cant beat buy one get one, and they said when they locate me a green phantom, i can return the commons and just pay the difference for the phantom. sounded like a deal to me since my tank is in dire need of a cleaning crew... noticed some brown algae on my rocks yesterday

also picked up three synodontis petricola catfish (bogo again, since there were only three he gave me a bunch of apple snails also that i put in another tank). The catfish are soooo small 1/2-3/4". it was so fun watching the cats and plecos immediately attack the algae!!

 

[Patterson333]

Yea, they're in the same tank. It's a 120, and everything's nice and calm in there lol.

Btw, just out of curiosity, how much are they going to charge you for the green phantom? They can get rather pricey at some places.

 

[StevesPrettyCool]

honestly im not that sure to be honest with you. they usually have good prices and are very fair. i'm sure if they find a reasonable price i'll be the first to know. i told them my max price was 20 and thats pushing it tho... they had a rhino pleco and a clown pleco but i wasnt very drawn to those...

 

[StevesPrettyCool]

i was kinda avoiding the gold nugget also because i read a post where a guy described how his cichlids destroyed his gold nugget, but seeing yours nice and happy makes me think otherwise now

 

[Patterson333]

i was kinda avoiding the gold nugget also because i read a post where a guy described how his cichlids destroyed his gold nugget, but seeing yours nice and happy makes me think otherwise now

Hey if you want to try it, I don't see anything blatantly wrong with it. I'm friends with 2 other guys who keep cichlids. They're brothers, and in their house they've got 3 all male malawi Haps/peacock tanks (2 75s and a 150). They keep plecos in all of them. They don't have any common plecos, but I know they've got bristlenose, clown, green phantom, and maybe a few more, and they've never had issues with the cichlids killing them.

That said, you have to remember that just because something works for me it doesn't mean it'll work for you and vice versa. Every tank is different, especially with African Cichlids, since their personalities vary so much.

Gold nugget plecos can be rather pricey. I'd recommend testing the waters so to speak with a cheaper pleco like a bristlenose, and if there's not too much of an issue there, then consider trying the gold nugget.