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hi all, is having substrate impt for plecos? i'm currently having a bare bottom cos it's easier to vacuum the pleco poo. if substrate is recommended wad is the best thing to use? thanks.

Hi!

Well bare bottom are good and easier to vaccum, but can be subject to fungus, it asl can scare the fish as they can see their reflection on it, so you should paint the outside bottom in black.

Sand bottom are more esthethic, they are not so hard / difficult to clean.

I personnally find them better!
Cheers
Yann

Hi.. Yup barebottom tanks are better cuz when using substrate, no matter how good your filter after a while, bad bacteria would still build up Plus its so difficult to siphon the dirt even with a gravel washer.

I will have to differ on that. I believe in having everything as natural as possible for all the fish. To begin with, the aquarium isn't a natural habitat. We, as responsible fish keepers, should make their lives as happy as possible. Having no substrate in the aquarium, where to begin with is not natural, leads to a more stressful situation. I am sure that in the wild there are not many smooth substances to hang around in. Having a bare bottom tank will not make their lives any better.
Apparently, pl*cs act differently with a bare bottom. I see them trying to "attack" the bottom.

I do have substrate and I have followed, as closely as I can understand, Shane's article on the Natural Aquarium. I just use a thinner layer of substrate so that dirt in not trapped in. The substrate that I have is just enough to cover the bottom. I make sure that I clean the tanks very well. I don't just take the water out with a hose, suction and gravity but I really go through the bottom with my gravel washer. You want a really good gravel washer that a lot of people have attested to and stood by, get a PYTHON. I just think it is no excuse not to give your fish the best care possible. If you can't give them, at least, the "natural looking" habitat, how well can you actually provide for them? If you are so afraid of dirt in the tank, then make sure that you CLEAN the tank thoroughly without fail. I have actually been flamed in this forum for saying that I clean my tanks and substrate every other day.

Bottom line, IMHO, is great and essential for your fish. If in the wild they have that, makes no excuse why you can't give it to them.

ahh thanks for the responses. i luv the look of sand bottoms too, juz wondering how can i clean it without sucking out lots of sand everytime. mokmu, it's great dat u do wad u believe in. If it works for u, then it's great. i guess everybod got their own guidelines abt how natural their habitat is. sometimes ppl have to measure how feasible it is to do a certain thing versus the needs of the fish. i myself have given ppl flak for giving animals an inadequete environment to live in but many times, we have to see if the subject matter is really so vital in comparison to practical reasons. it is already very unnatural for the fishes to see us ard looking at them everyday n poking our hands inside to clean up the place. some of them are absolutely terrified. but yeh u got your pt, i'll see if i can get a nice appropriate substrate for my purpose.

i prefer to use a thin layer of small 1-1.5 mm gravel in my pleco tanks,looksgood and the plecs and banjo cat like it. i haven't got around to a sand tank yet.


to get the "best of both worlds" you can make a tanks using slate or clay tiles siliconed to (or just set on) the bottom of the tank as as a base substrate with a super thin layer of similarly colored sand/small gravel on top. You get away with less sand/gravel because it easier to hide the similarly colored tile than with glass and the tiles take up space making it look like theres more sand/gravel than there really is (works real good ifyou bevel the edges of the tile that meet the sides of the tank in the front and on the sides). the waste doesn't get trapped as bad or at all because there isn't enough or sand/gravel to do so. cheap "quarry" tiles work good for this. It takes a lot of work but you can make a good looking tank with this method, I have seen several nice looking tanks set up like this. the only problem with this type of tank (this also happens with barebottomed tanks) is that driftwood with slate on it looks out of place unless you use the slate piece its attatched to as one of the tiles or take it off the slate and attatch it to one of the tiles your using.

i juz thought of something, i've seen fish stores sell a type of dark coloured styrofoam rock background. how abt i use dat at the bottom instead. would styrofoam be a prob?

Im guessing your talking about something like this. If it it then I would guess it would be ok but then never use this myself.

if the foam is porus and there is no water flow through the foam i would be concerned about waste build up and anaerobic bacteria that could produce hydrogen sulfide.

Is it hard foam? Something like resin? If it is then I think its fine. If it is the soft type, the type that tears and crumbles at the touch of a heavy hand then forget it. I have used foam filters and decors and have found that pl*cs rasp on the thing. I'm not to sure if that is a good idea. But, of course, this is from my own experience. Other experts may have a different approach to it.

Mike D.

its just a piece of styrofoam board glued onto the tank using silicon.
i'm using it for all my tank and nothing seems to be wrong for the past 5 months.

caril...i'm the guy who bought the 1 L205 from u.
so u have no probs with the foam background? do the plecos eat it? it seems like they might be able to keep sucking n breaking pieces of it.

hi quix,
i have no prob with the small ones, but my 7 inches royal tend to remove bits of the styrofoam when he sticks his mouth on it. my advise is dun put the styrofoam if u have huge plecos. theres another type of background deco that is made from fibreglass, i think it should be more suitable for huge fellows.