Plec For A 75 Gallon

[Glod]

Hi guys/gals,

Many years ago I had a catfish (which on inspection seems to have been a common plec) he grew to about 14 inches before he passed on after many years.

I've recently started a new tank (all wrong... cycling with fish) and the cycle seems to be coming to an end. Ammonia has been zero for a good while, nitrites were high but seem to be dropping off daily. If this rate continues I think my nitrites should be 0 by the end of the week which is good .

I've been keeping on top of water changes and regularly testing the water to make sure the fish don't suffer unduly, they seem happy enough - but from what I understand the problem with platies isn't breeding them, quite the contrary

So my question... I have some reddish/brown algae growing on the back glass in my tank, it's a bit unsightly tho from what I have read it will probably clear up as the ammonia/nitrite and nitrates stabilise. It's my understanding that some plecs also quite like such algae for a snack

Does anyone have a suggestion for what kind of plec I should look for that will be ok in a freshly cycled tank ? I was thinking ancitrus may be the way to go, but I'd rather seek your opinions and do it right than get the wrong fish and have it die.

Thanks in advance,

Glod.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Ancistrus sounds good- hardy, visible, algae-eating- and they're just lovely fish! My pair are very outgoing and have just brought out their second lot of fry (the first didn't make it as we were on holiday).

 

[Glod]

My lfs has some small catfish labelled Ancistrus, they are maybe 2 inches long, can't see any bristles on any of them tho. Are Ancistrus often mislabelled ? Is there an easy way to sex them at that age ?

 

[dwarfgourami]

My lfs has some small catfish labelled Ancistrus, they are maybe 2 inches long, can't see any bristles on any of them tho. Are Ancistrus often mislabelled ? Is there an easy way to sex them at that age ?

Only males have the bristles, and only as they reach maturity, so the ones at the shop may simply be a bit young - or female.

 

[Glod]

Thanks dwarfgourami, at least the tank is reasonably big. If the worst happens and it grows a bit bigger it should be ok

 

[dylema]

Although Ancistrus sp can be fairly hardy (from what I know) when they are young they are more fragile and often don't go well with changing tanks/water conditions. I would make sure the cycle has finished and everything has been nice and stable for a while then try and find some good sized specimens. The 5cm ones should be fine but maybe not the 2.5-3cm ones that you may find in some LFS'.

Another thing to know is that they will need some more food as well as the algae. Let them eat all the alga but also feed them grren vegetables such as peas, zucchini, broccoli, etc. and algae wafers when they have eaten all the algae in the tank.

Go here and do a bit of reading it is a great site for catfish reference.

Be careful not to get hooked on Plecs or soon you will have a huge tank with all kinds of rare and exotic L's and no money to live on.

Dylan

 

[Glod]

Thanks for the tips

Can't see Plecos overrunning the tank any time soon, it's my dad's tank and he's terrified of them

I have read the stuff in the Fish Index here and had a look at planetcatfish re: feeding and such, don't see that being a problem.

I'll keep an eye on the water stats and try to make it easy on the pleco