pleco and goldfish

[rreekers]

is it okay to have a pleco living with common goldfish?

 

[Fishie]

I think so. (right everyone??)

 

[rreekers]

the only reson I ask is because I have been told its not because their different needs for water temp. and well the increased risk of high ammonia and nitrates

I was curious what your opinions were

 

[Fishie]

the only reson I ask is because I have been told its not because their different needs for water temp. and well the increased risk of high ammonia and nitrates

I was curious what your opinions were

Don't know to much about goldfish though what kind of pleco?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

How big is this tank?

Generally it should be okay, depending on what kind your talking about. I have a sailfin pleco in my grandmas goldfish tank that has been in there for two years.

 

[rreekers]

Don't know to much about goldfish though what kind of pleco?

common pleco....

the pleco will be rehomed with a month and so will goldfish, 55g tank

I'm just curious

 

[Chronos313]

In a 55g you should be fine. Just remember pleco's will stop consuming algae as they grow, so any thoughts on cleaner fish? Maybe a school of cory's? They have personalities. There are smaller pleco's out there if your worried about eventual size. I think snowball pleco's are gorgeous.

 

[absolutangel04]

Common plecos have been observed sucking the slimecoat off of goldies effectually giving them hickies which can get infected and lead to problems for the goldy. It happens more often with fancy goldies, but has been observed with the common goldies as well. Not all plecos do it though. Just keep an eye it.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

I'm pretty sure plecos will eventually need a 125G+ size tank & the goldfish will need one way larger then that or at least a pond for common/comet goldfish
You also need to do 50% pwc once or twice a week
Since both of these fish have extremely large bioloads

 

[rreekers]

i just want to add.. it is my 14 year old sisters tank, at our mothers house 45 mins away from me... so i do not have total control of the tank.

i am trying to get them to get rid of 2 of the 4 common goldfish they have (I KNOW THE TANK IS VERY OVERSTOCKED, AND GOLD FISH NEED TO LIVE IN PONDS)

i have my mom convinced but not my sister. also we are working on getting the pleco rehomed but it is hard to convince them.

i have been doing 50-60% water changed ever 4 or 5 days... since i do not live there. i went there yesterday and did a water test: amm:1 Ites: .25 Ates:20-30

so i did a 50% water change, added prime, filled it back up, tested the water again. did another water change (55%), added prime, filled it back up, tested again: amm: .25 Ites: 0 Ates: 5-10

I tested the tap water and there is .25 ppm traces of ammonia, so now working on getting my mother to buy RO water for the tank.

what else can i do to help this tank????? i feel so bad for the situation. my sister believes that because the fish are alive and have lived in worse conditions that they are fine and that she does not need to do water changes more than 1x per month.

also, i am facing issues with the tank being super cloudy, i will attach a picture of the cloudiness AFTER the 2 water changes

 

[rreekers]

In a 55g you should be fine. Just remember pleco's will stop consuming algae as they grow, so any thoughts on cleaner fish? Maybe a school of cory's? They have personalities. There are smaller pleco's out there if your worried about eventual size. I think snowball pleco's are gorgeous.

what do pleco's eat once they get larger??

and i would love to get some cories but im pretty sure that the goldfish would pick on them. the gold fish are nit picky, sometime towards eachother,,, this is the 2nd biggest reason i want to rehome at least 2 of the goldfish, if my sister is not ready to part with all of them

 

[rreekers]

cloudy tank after 2 water changes in a row... why could this be?? the tank is about 5 months old. the is the 3 episode where it has clouded up like this. lasting for long periods of time, through water changes

 

[jlk]

With the bioload the tank is carrying, i suspect that this tank may never fully cycle because you are still getting fairly high levels of amm/nitrites after 5mths. Daily big water changes would probably reduce the cloudiness but i know you are not there to do this! Hopefully, your sister will reconsider rehoming these guys soon! I woul not recommend the pleco with the goldfish but in a very large tank this may be managable. Plecos do suck the slime coat off of goldfish & this can create quite a few problems. I wish you luck!!!!

 

[rreekers]

thank you!

thanks everyone for the info.

still curious regarding what the pleco eats now?

 

[Murano22s]

thank you!

thanks everyone for the info.

still curious regarding what the pleco eats now?

Depends on the pleco some eat wood, some vegetation, some are scavengers. Most will eat any food that falls to the bottom of the tank. Most plecos are not algae eaters and buying one for that reason is a waste. As far as tank size again depends on the pleco. Some get huge others stay small, though the large ones usually only reach about 8-10 inches in an aquarium. I'm not a goldfish person but I understand they are more of a cold water species, plecos like it warm from 75 to 82 degrees.