Bristlenose Plecs - Fecal Machines?

[skiltrip]

I am thinking about adding a Bristlenose Plec to my african mbuna tank. i used to have a Gibby pleco and it pooped so insanely, like, it was horrible.

do Bristlenose's poop like that?? where there will be long string of feces draping over my plants like toilet paper hanging off of trees in my front yard after halloween?

i've heard they don't poop as much, but i wanted to check with you bristlenose owners out there, how bad is the waste factor??

 

[Teelie]

They do poop a lot but not as much as Gibby's IMO.

 

[mikster]

Yeah they do poo quite alot, im guessing the gibby will poo more though as its full grown size is alot bigger, dunno how big you gibby was though, i have a 3.5 inch bristlenose and it can poo quite a bit, if i stick corgette in it will just sit on it eating it all night and pooing at the same time and when i turn the lights on i get a big pile of green poo in the tank.

 

[skiltrip]

looks like i should steer clear of all plecos then. my mbuna poop enough as it is, i have to vacuum the sand every other 2 or 3 days to get all the poop up, otherwise, it looks horrible.

i'm thinking maybe an SAE or shudder, CAE might work better for me. I'm not to fond of the CAE, but I do have a couple SAEs in another tank and they are quite good at cleaning up.

 

[Teelie]

Definitely don't get CAE's. If you absolutely need an algae eater, go with something smaller like an Oto, though with mbunas, that might be a good idea.

 

[skiltrip]

Definitely don't get CAE's. If you absolutely need an algae eater, go with something smaller like an Oto, though with mbunas, that might be a good idea.

In regards to CAE, Do you mean, that might NOT be a good idea? I'll assume that's what you meant.

 

[Teelie]

No, they are definitely not a good idea. When CAE's get larger, they go from sucking glass to sucking slime coats on other fish.