PlanetCatfish.com

Hello all
i have a 55g african cichlid tank and im having a problem with algae. i have a 6-7 inch common pleco in my tank, but he doesnt do crap, he is always in his cave, and never comes out during the day.
I am thinking of returning him and getting another, smaller, more active pleco. In the pet shop right now they are selling some gold nugget plecos and some royal plecos, these are nice but i dunno if they are compatible with african cichlids and if they are able to tolerate the high pH which is about 7.6 and my temp is 78.
Any suggestions on what plec's will do best for my needs, i dont care that much about beauty, but it would be better to get a nicer looking one, i just want one that i can actually see swimming around and cleaning all day.

I think bristlenoses would be better suited for your needs.

thanks
i will look for them as soon as possible
i hate seeing dirty tanks

Bristlenose seem to do great in african tanks and everyone seems to really love them but everytime I move a killer male with lots of bristle into an african tank with med sized adults or larger the bristles get much shorter and this is why I suggest the Gibbiceps for the community tank that has adult cichlids as the Gibbiceps are great at taking care of themselves and I have seen one go toe to toe with a 7" Male Fossorochromis Rostratus at feeding time. These guys seem to learn when to be active based on when you feed the tank so they are a very fun fish and even though they will eat just about anything they also love algea.

the one reason people prefer Bristlenoses over Gibby's and Common Pleco's is the adult size!

A Common Bristlenose (Ancistrus domesticus) reaches 4", maybe 5 if it's a really old, big male.

Common Plecs and Gibby's reach 1,5 feet or more......

I had a person the other day ask how large does a Gibbiceps get and here on PlanetCatfish it says 18" and from my own expereinece I have never had one over 8" or 9" and I had that fish 2 years(most of the time had a PH 7.6 and GH was a little high as well). Seems like they grow allot slower than a regular pleco and that there is a major difference in adult size as well.

What is the biggest Gibbiceps that anyone here has ever owned?

My lfs regularly gets in returned fishes (P.gibbiceps, P.pardalis, P.joselimaianus) that are well over 45 cm! The owner tells me that most of these fish are over 10-15 years old, so a 2 year old would still be a young one.
In the Frankfurt Zoo they have P.pardalis together with Potamytrogon motoro and they look as big as the rays...so they must be over 60 cm by guess.

WOW:!: Thanks for the great info.

Dykemyster,
With your sig. file stating

Rift Lake Junkie

For these types of tanks I'd suggest Chaetostoma spp. instead.

They tolerate the higher pH and hardness in a Rift Lake environment much better than Ancistrus spp.. That, and they tend to be less of a target for aggression from the more boisterous Rift Lake Cichlids.

Do U have any personal experience w/ this fish in the rift lake environment?

I wouldn't have recommended it otherwise.

They'll hold up to most Malawians, Victorians and many Tangajikans, however shell-dwellers and fish fighting with them for caves is generally not a good thing.
Just make sure there is plenty of caves to go around.

I don't second this as Chaetostoma often likes it a bit cooler than most Riftkeepers keep their fish.

They do fine in the 20-25'C range, but a lot of Riftkeepers (esp Malawi keepers) keep their fish at 26-28'C wich is NOT good for Chaetostoma's.

Pturley; check the temperature range given for Chaetostoma in the link in your post!

The natural range of this members of this Genus would include areas with a higher water temperatures than that stated in the Cat-ELog, easily to around 26 C (~80F).

As a rule of thumb for the Genus, I would say the Cat-ELog is correct in providing a safe recommendation. However, the Genus as a whole does have much greater range than that.
I would agree that 28C (83F+) or higher would be pushing it. But for many species 24-26C (76F-80F) would be fine.

The Cat-ELog is absolutely correct regarding the higher oxygen demand of these fishes though, and cooler water does carry more DO.

Perhaps I should have provided a link to a different species.