Pleco In An African Tank

[jackel931]

Is it possible to keep a common pleco in an african tank? If so how do you acclimate him properly? If it is one of those things where he will be able to stand the ph difference but in the long run it will cause unwanted stress and eventually kill him I do not want to do it, but if it is possible, and it wont hurt him he would have alot better life in my big tank.

The ph in my african tank is 8.2 and the ph in my community tank (plecos in there) is 7.2.

 

[darrel69]

i think its ok, yea. my LFS have pleco's in their african tanks. i remember asking how they got on when i was considering a pleco & they said " no bother at all". he was pretty big and in a tank with malawi mbunas. If you do put him in the tank with 8.2ph, id put him in a seperate tank (or large enough bucket) with the water he's in now and slowly raise the ph to 8.2 over a period of about 1hr, then put him in. just putting him straight into 8.2ph may shock him.

 

[Ferris]

I have a common Plec in my Mbuna tank - Ph is 8.1. I just acclimatised him carefully - took around 2 hours gradually adding small amounts of tank water to the floating bag before finally adding him to the tank.

 

[jackel931]

thats awesome because he is huge (around 12-14 inches) and is in a tank way to small for him (55gallons). The african tank is 120gal so hell love that. You think hell be better off in the 120 with the ph at 8.2 (with proper acclimation) then in the 55 with the 7.2 ph. Also I am slowly raising the ph of the african tank because Frontosas like their ph in the upper 8's. Would he be able to handle that? Because of his size does that mean he is older and may not be able to handle these changes? Do you guys think I should move the pleco into the 120?

 

[Ferris]

He should adjust OK if you acclimatise him properly. Might be worth doing it sooner rather than later so he can gradually get used to the Ph as you slowly raise it.