Pl*co help please!

Cory_love · Post by **Cory_love** » 16 Sep 2007, 05:41

i have adored pl*cos since i was a little girl, and i would love to get one! i don't really know alot about them, but i am in the process of researching them. the only problem is, that i only have a 10 gallon tank

i was thinking that before the new year, i would like to upgrade to a 15 gallon tank.

can anyone please tell me a good species that will do ok in this size of tank? (10 - 15 gallons please. maybe a 20 gallon if i get lucky!)

his/her tankmates will be corydora, snails, and shrimp

(see siggy) thank you!

fishlvr · Post by **fishlvr** » 16 Sep 2007, 07:00

Try bulldog/rubbernose pl*cos. They're fairly readily sold at petsmart. They aren't expensive either. I'm going to try to breed them.

This is the species I see the most:

[Mod edit: Use persistant Cat-eLog link -- Mats]

Matien · Post by **Matien** » 16 Sep 2007, 09:08

Hello,

Small concern about bulldog plecos : these fishes need fast moving water (which is not the case of the rest of your population).
May be you could have a look to the panaque maccus : this is a fish which support easily slow water, is interesting to look at, even if it become more active during night time.
It is a wood eater, so you need to have roots available in the tank

Good Luck
Matien

[Mod edit: Change to persistant Cat-eLog link]

Seedy · Post by **Seedy** » 16 Sep 2007, 10:27

Perhaps an might work in this situation?

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 16 Sep 2007, 10:57

Small concern about bulldog pl*cos : these fishes need fast moving water (which is not the case of the rest of your population).

I would agree with this.

May be you could have a look to the panaque maccus

However I would disagree here. I think a is not really suitable for a 10g, as they produce vast amounts of crap, and you really need a hefty external power filter to deal with the mess they produce. I would say a 30g with a filter of at least 500lph would be a minimum for a dwarf Panaque.

I use a 2300lph filter on a 50g tank, which is the only way have have found to keep a tank clean for three .

As i recommended in your other thread, or would be the best bet.

Remember need warm water (27C+), so that probably won't work with your Corydoras sp.

are great, but they need to have been in the shop for at least a month before you buy them. They need to be in tip top health and fed lots of veg.

They can die off rapidly if not in good health.

Matien · Post by **Matien** » 16 Sep 2007, 17:59

You are right Racoll, I missed the volume conversion. Even a 20gUS (about 70 l) will be to small for the panaque maccus.

Cory Love, in the volume of your tank, I would not even recommand one comon ancistrus (they will reach or exceed 4 inches) except if the height of the tank is small (to keep a large surface on floor).

There are some species which may not exceed 3 inches, I think you should look closely to these ones, but they usally more difficult to find.

Matien

Cory_love · Post by **Cory_love** » 16 Sep 2007, 21:03

thanks everyone for your replies and help! i will reasearch the species you reccomended and when i get my larger tank, i think i'll get one!

if you guys have any more advice, please share! thank you

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » 16 Sep 2007, 23:23

You could have a look at LDA025, Pitbull pleco.
This is a really small species.

Post by **Birger** » 17 Sep 2007, 01:16

I am sitting here typing this with a tank of Ancistrus claro beside me, a great "little" ancistrus and not impossible to find.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 17 Sep 2007, 07:13

You could have a look at LDA025, Pitbull pl*co.
This is a really small species.

Good call Mustang. I should have recommended these; I have a group of them.

are perfect. Small, very hardy, easy to feed, tolerant of a wide range of temperatures, and good algae eaters.

Thoroughly recommended.

fishlvr · Post by **fishlvr** » 18 Sep 2007, 02:28

Birger wrote:I am sitting here typing this with a tank of Ancistrus claro beside me, a great "little" ancistrus and not impossible to find.

Where did you get them? I looked them up. They seem pretty cool

Post by **Birger** » 18 Sep 2007, 06:15

I got mine from a LFS that I frequent but that won't help you, bit too far of a drive, ask around in your local shops or look for someone closer online that has them or if you have a local aquarium club check them out they may be able to point you in the right direction.

good luck