Need a good pleco for my tank

Whiteysfish · Post by **Whiteysfish** » 05 Mar 2004, 00:08

What is a good pleco to be put into an african cichlid tank with a pH of 8.4?

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 05 Mar 2004, 18:48

There isn't a good pleco for these conditions, there are a small few that will survive. why exactly do you want one?

fmueller · Post by **fmueller** » 05 Mar 2004, 19:24

I assume it would be as algae eater, and I would recommend a bristlenose pleco for this purpose. pH 8.4 is not be an ideal condition for a bristlenose, but most of them have been breed in captivity, and aren't really dependent on the exact water conditions that are predominant in their native biotope. In fact, my brother and I had good success breeding bristlenose plecos in hard water of around that pH. It came out of the tap like that were we lived, and we decided that having stable water conditions was better than having to play around with lots of chemicals all the time. Also, bristlenose plecos are good algae eaters - active and vegetarians - stay comparatively small, and are widely available. You should be able to find them at most any LFS.

Stay away from common plecos, because they are not good algae eaters - less active and often prefer other food - can grow to a huge size quickly and have the metabolism to go with it (lots of poop!). Also, don't be tempted to take one of the many great looking "L-number plecos" home. Many of them don't eat algae at all, and would die quickly in your water conditions.

Whiteysfish · Post by **Whiteysfish** » 05 Mar 2004, 20:48

Thank you for your replies! I really appreciate it. I raise and breed different species of plecos, and this fish was not for me, rather a friend. I have several tanks, and one of them is my cichlid breeding tank, and in this tank I keep one of twelve different species. The species Im keeping are in a photo album at http://www.cichlidtank.com, if anyones interested Thank You again!