I Need A Sucker.....

[MrMagoo]

What are some really good plecos to put with my african cichlids. I will have a 75 gallon in 2 months so I am planning it out well. I need one that can take a hit but something that is not your regular pleco. I kinda want to show off this tank. Any help will be great! Thanks all!

 

[Colin_T]

we use plecostomus and gibbiceps.

 

[MrMagoo]

Can gibbiceps take a hit? I mean I will be having 8 cichlids in there. Plus I have been thinking of a cat fish or something just to be a bottlom feeder or maybe something like a rope fish or something you know? Just to see how it goes.

 

[Colin_T]

it depends on how agro the cichlids are. Some big cichlids aren't very agressive at all and will be fine but others can be real nasty. And they do come from South America where there are some big agro fish.
We have them in with Peacocks, Opthalmotilapia sp, Scianotchromis ahle, and other reasonably peaceful stuff. We do have a Malawi eye biter (Dimidiochromis compressiceps) in with them and it is fine. I have seen them with Frontosa and they didn't have any problems there.

What cichlids did you want to keep with them?

 

[WaterBender1995]

Bristlenose/Bushynosed plecos are fantastic in mbuna tanks PLUS they keep algae down. common plecos wont bother with algae.

 

[MrMagoo]

it depends on how agro the cichlids are. Some big cichlids aren't very agressive at all and will be fine but others can be real nasty. And they do come from South America where there are some big agro fish.
We have them in with Peacocks, Opthalmotilapia sp, Scianotchromis ahle, and other reasonably peaceful stuff. We do have a Malawi eye biter (Dimidiochromis compressiceps) in with them and it is fine. I have seen them with Frontosa and they didn't have any problems there.

What cichlids did you want to keep with them?

So what I know is this.
1 Yellow lab
1 red zebra
1 all blue no stripes
1 snow white something lol
1 cross breed of something.....I will try to get pics but he is way too active
1 yellow on bottom and black long stripes on top

 

[Ace Of Spades]

are blue phantom plecs good ina mbuna?

 

[stang1]

Blue Phantom Plecos are quite sensitive and wouldn't be a good idea to keep in a Mbuna tank.
The majority of Plecos don't like a PH of more than 7.2 whereas Malawi prefer a PH of 8 and above.
It doesn't sound like much but it's best to keep fish in a PH that they prefer rather than what they can tolerate.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

Blue Phantom Plecos are quite sensitive and wouldn't be a good idea to keep in a Mbuna tank.
The majority of Plecos don't like a PH of more than 7.2 whereas Malawi prefer a PH of 8 and above.
It doesn't sound like much but it's best to keep fish in a PH that they prefer rather than what they can tolerate.

agreed this is far too sensitive to go in.

the best thing to use is bristlenose plecs, i have a trio in with my big tank of malawis.

 

[dthoffsett]

Just thought I'd help you by giving you some possible scientific names. Also, if you don't already know, mbuna do best in groups of 1m/3+f, you can try an all male tank, however, it generally takes a lot of returning overly aggressive fish to acheive a nice balance.

So what I know is this.
1 Yellow lab labidochromis caeruleus
1 red zebra metriaclima estherae
1 all blue no stripes this could be any number of fish, but the most commonly seen around me is metriaclima callainos
1 snow white something lol most likely pseudotropheus socolofi (albino)
1 cross breed of something.....I will try to get pics but he is way too active
1 yellow on bottom and black long stripes on top probably melanochromis auratus, like all melanochromis species (if that's what it is) they are highly aggressive and IMO should be kept in a species only tank of 75gal or more.

Also, I'd like to second (or third or fourth ) the recommendation of a bn pleco. They are an excellent fish and well suited for mbuna. It's funny to watch them completely ignore any mbuna that are trying to intimidate or dive-bomb them, bn's are just unfazed by anything.

 

[jumpman]

Just thought I'd help you by giving you some possible scientific names. Also, if you don't already know, mbuna do best in groups of 1m/3+f, you can try an all male tank, however, it generally takes a lot of returning overly aggressive fish to acheive a nice balance.

So what I know is this.
1 Yellow lab labidochromis caeruleus
1 red zebra metriaclima estherae
1 all blue no stripes this could be any number of fish, but the most commonly seen around me is metriaclima callainos
1 snow white something lol most likely pseudotropheus socolofi (albino)
1 cross breed of something.....I will try to get pics but he is way too active
1 yellow on bottom and black long stripes on top probably melanochromis auratus, like all melanochromis species (if that's what it is) they are highly aggressive and IMO should be kept in a species only tank of 75gal or more.

Also, I'd like to second (or third or fourth ) the recommendation of a bn pleco. They are an excellent fish and well suited for mbuna. It's funny to watch them completely ignore any mbuna that are trying to intimidate or dive-bomb them, bn's are just unfazed by anything.

Fifthed!! Bristlenose plecs (Ancistrus sp) are the way to go...