I'm Now Plecless

[MHunt]

My female BN plec died yesterday leaving me without a plec in my 200 liter tank. I'm wondering if there are any suggestions for replacement. I do like BN plecs as they are interesting and stay relatively small, But I am open to opinion.

Also I wnt to be sure I care for these fish properly, I suspect the BN that died couldn't find enough food, that's despite there being plenty of natural algae in my tank (i really should clean the glass more often). It did enjoy cucumber when I put it in on a couple of occasions but this wasn't on weekly basis etc, and I did feed with algae tabs too although these were often munched by my angels before the plec could get to them.

 

[rdp50734]

How about a rusty plec? There are loads you cold have! With regards to feeding, when the plec has found its home in a cave under wood etc... Try placing the algae wafer in/just outside its home! And try cucumber/courgette etc.. a bit more often all the fish will love it!

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

My common plec loves courgette, and honeydew melon lol.

You can buy a courgette or something and blanch it (part cook it) and freeze it so it will keep well. Then put it in a couple of times a week.

I like feeding mind honeydew melon becasue the other fish can't eat it where as they do eat the courgette a bit.

 

[MHunt]

I spotted a nice Royal Panaque today while in one of my p@H, but they appear to get quite large. I also saw some little Banjo catfish in one of my other LFS's the other week.

 

[kiriyama]

My common plec loves courgette, and honeydew melon lol.

You can buy a courgette or something and blanch it (part cook it) and freeze it so it will keep well. Then put it in a couple of times a week.

I like feeding mind honeydew melon becasue the other fish can't eat it where as they do eat the courgette a bit.

When I had the juvenile plecs they likes cucumber, butternut squash, carrot , potato yum and occassional bloodworm, I also caught them eationg the corry pellets
When I see honeydew melon being mentioned can you tell me what colour of melon this is, I get melon selection frequently and have been tempted trying it out my plec ?
Cheers

 

[james_fish]

Have you considered the Queen Arabesque Pleco or the Snowball Pleco? Both veryyyyyyy nice.

James.

 

[Carlovel1]

L134 Leopard Frog Pleco

 

[JenCliBee]

Giving a species for you to chose is quite hard without knowing tank setup. What substrate is in the tank, what temperature is the tank kept at?, is there plenty of hiding places?, current tank inhabitants?.

What do you want from the plec?, all the above are very important to give a better idea on a plec suitable for your tank, soooo many species that could be housed in a 200litre tank but knowing the conditions before hand will narrow down what really is best for your needs and your current tank setup.

 

[MHunt]

You can see the almost current stocking of my 200l in my profile, give or take a couple of cory's and the bn plecs. tank substrate is sand and it's mainly planted with rocks and bogwood.

In terms of what I want the fish to do? Just be a nice community fish, and potentially be able to breed given the right conditions. For those reasons I keep coming back to the BN despite there being loads of other great species out there.

 

[JenCliBee]

You can see the almost current stocking of my 200l in my profile, give or take a couple of cory's and the bn plecs. tank substrate is sand and it's mainly planted with rocks and bogwood.

In terms of what I want the fish to do? Just be a nice community fish, and potentially be able to breed given the right conditions. For those reasons I keep coming back to the BN despite there being loads of other great species out there.

In that case yes, BN's sound ideal for you. tbh trying to breed some of the other nice species like 134 (peckoltia) and things like 260, 66, 333 etc (hypancistrus), i would recommend a species tank to get far better results. The factor is i doubt very much if your current stock will tolerate the ideal temps for the hypan species, breeding usually requires hiking up the temps to 84 possibly 86 and not many fish will adapt. BN's on the other hand will be fine in the temps you need to keep the rest of your stock happy .

Have you thought about trying some of the other species of BN, maybe LDA08 claro or even super reds, a little harder to source and a bit more pricey than common bristlenose but both stunning fish in there own right. There is also L59 and L34, the latter of them as far as im aware either hasn't been bred in captivity or bred in the UK so could be a little project for you.

Basically the BN seems to suit you ideally, choosing one is a different matter lol. have a look at the species ive mentioned and go from there, all the above ancistrus species will be fine within your 200litre tank given plenty of hiding places and conditions for them to breed..ie caves etc.

Good luck choosing