So I purchased my clown pleco about 2 weeks ago and I have only seen him once... I have a 55 gal community fish fw with a piece of driftwood and fake plants. I also have 2 of the rocks that have holes in them and I cave looking thing and I'm pretty sure he always stays in the cave with my kuhili loach.. Any suggestions of maybe getting him out of there? Or is that what clown plecos do? I'm not even sure if he's getting enough food? I haven't bought any algae wafers because he's never outside of the tank.
Clown pleco
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Wow that's a really long time, ahh that kinda sucks though I'd really like to see him.
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
plecos of any kind always hide underneath a piece of driftwood, rock, or whatever crevice/space they can find. they're not that sociable when it comes to community tanks. so if you want they to swim across the tank and back like regular school fish such as tetras, then i wish you good luck
I was expecting that... I was expecting them to be on the side of my driftwood and or rocks
I'm not a huge fan of how the bn look. Ill just stick with my clown for now
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
yes, they're always on the side of decor that's hidden from plain side. my pleco would be underneath a piece of driftwood and away from plain sight. so if i'm lucky, i would see him once in a while. other times, i simply forget i have him in the first place
yes, they're always on the side of decor that's hidden from plain side. my pleco would be underneath a piece of driftwood and away from plain sight. so if i'm lucky, i would see him once in a while. other times, i simply forget i have him in the first place
Hmmm well that kind of sucks ha. I should have done a little more research and maybe got a different algae eater
JRMagno
Aquarium Advice Activist
The only time I see my clown pleco is when I occasionally move things around to vacuum. If I look very close I might get a glimpse of him here and there, but he's never on the glass like the common pleco I had before I learned how big they get.
Yup that's the only time I've seen mine. Yeah I also made sure I didn't get a pleco that got really big. There were a couple other plecos that I really liked then ask how big they got and was like yeah... That's not going to work for me ha
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
if you're looking for algae eaters i would suggest otos. they have small bioloads and do heck of a job in cleaning up the fish tank. plus, you actually SEE them moving around. if you have the tank size, siamese algae eater is best algae eater out there. if you're currently overstocking your fish tank, adding a couple nerite snails wouldn't increase the bioload that much, not to mention they will eat algae and left-over food from your tank.
Yeah I'm pretty stocked already for fish. You think going with snails would be a better choice? I just don't want my fish bothering or eating the snails
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
what do you have in your fish tank already? from what i know, most fish won't bother the snails. snails such as the japanese trapdoor and the nerite snails do well in tanks that don't have aggressive fish or fish that eat snails. and you don't have to worry about population explosion as you would with regular pond snails.
JRMagno
Aquarium Advice Activist
The other option is to adjust your lighting power or time to reduce algae in your tank. Adding fish or inverts to control algae can become an ongoing issue, when you can take care of the issue from the source. Algae is generally caused by an imbalance in nutrients and light, find the correct balance for your tank and you're set.
I have 9 tetras
2 DG
1 clown pleco
2 rainbow sharks
1 kuhili loach
1 Bolivian ram
2 Cory's
I also want to make sure my pleco has enough algae also.. It's not like my tank is just filled with algae I just get spots of it on my tank walls once in awhile.
Well I have my light on a timer and its set for 10-12 then 6 to 10. I'm not sure about the whole nutrients issue. I need to buy a good test kit, do you know of any?
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
with the current stocking, i would suggest the nerite snails as none of your fish pose any sort of danger to the wellbeing of the snails.
a note on plecos: as they mature and age, they become increasingly aggressive, not whole lot but you can definitely tell the change. their diet also changes from mainly vegetative to a need for meaty food. hence that's why you see a lot of plecos hovering over dead fish whenever they get the chance to. the the thing about snails is that they're maintenance FREE!!! They will clean up after themselves and find food on their own so you don't have to worry about whether there's enough algae or whatever.
dragonfisher33
Aquarium Advice Addict
API master test kit is a good choice. don't get the strip testing kit cuz they're known to be inaccurate.
JRMagno
Aquarium Advice Activist
The API freshwater master test kit is a much. Since you don't have any live plants you're not adding any nutrients, which means the algae is most likely cause by light. 6 hours really isn't excessive, so my only guess is that your light might be too powerful for your tank. I believe your loach will eat any snails you put in, but I'm not entirely certain?
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