Plec With An Over-active Digestive System?!?

[jungleistmassiv]

Hi guys and gals

In my 60 litre tank, i have a plec, which is about 5 inches long. I feed him half an algae wafer a day, which he eats some of, and the rest of my fish pick at it. Thing is though, He just seems to be constantly churning out poo! It is unlikely to see him without at least a 4 inch string hanging off him.... Within 24 hours of cleaning the tank, it looks disgusting again.

Is this normal? Should I be adding and other lotions or potions to the tank to help break down all this waste he is producing?

Thanks in advance

Rich

 

[Darkstar]

Welcome to the world of plec keeping. Plecs crap....lots.

Any idea what type of plec you have?

 

[jungleistmassiv]

without sounding stupid, no i am not sure what type he is, but I shall get some pics of him up soon

Thanks
Rich

 

[LisaLQ]

Yep it's normal, plecs aren't the tank cleaning wonderfish LFSs make them out to be - they poo far more than they clean up

Only way to get rid of it is with the wonder of elbow grease - ie. a gravel vac and a bucket lol.

Depending on what species he is, he'll need fresh veggies at least twice a week, and some bogwood to nibble on too (if he hasnt got that already) so there's more to come yet

He does sound rather large for your tank though, in a 60l I personally wouldn't go for anything bigger than a queen arabesque, which max out at around 3-4" at most. You could get away with a bristlenose, but it would mean lots of tank maintenance, which by the sounds of things is something you want to avoid lol. If you pop a piccie up we might be able to id it for you - if it's a common or a gibby though you may have to think about rehoming or a tank upgrade, as they can get to 12-18" (common) or 18-24" (gibby/sailfin). Yet your LFS will tell you they're just fabulous for your tank...to make a sale

 

[jungleistmassiv]

Well here he is! Meet Pete everyone! Unfortunately he is very hard to get a picture of, every time I went near him with the camera he scarpered off behind the wood

And here is my tank

I'll get some better pics of him when I clean out the tank in the week sometime.

Thanks all for your useful input, been a big help

 

[KathyM]

Pete is a handsome common plec (liposarcus pardalis). The downside to that is he'll need a much bigger tank ASAP.

 

[jungleistmassiv]

yes I do need to sort out a bigger tank, looking to move house soon though, so when I have more space the biger tank will be first on my list!!

 

[LisaLQ]

He's looooovely

Being a common, he'll need a 4ft x 18" x 18" tank minimum, as they get to 12-18" That doesn't mean just for him though - that's just so he can move about ok, so you can have top/middle level fish in there with him

 

[paul_219]

The tank is gr8. Yeah pleco should be remove to a bigger tank, u can have him for only 2 or 3 month in your tank before removing them. But the tank is gr8

 

[LisaLQ]

In 2 or 3 months, that plec will be 8-9", so it cant wait that long...