Pleco Suitable For Mbuna Tank?

[Hero]

I would like to purchase a pleco for my mbuna tank once they are moved to the 55 gallon.... what would be my best choice? That is ofoucrse if i can have a pleco in my Mbuna tank!

 

[jackel931]

if your asking if its suitable due to aggression i think you will be ok ( I had one in with piranhas and they did not mess with him, he was bigger then them tho) so get one the same size or preferably bigger then your fish. If your asking because of the ph levels you will be ok as well. I have one in my african tank and the ph is like 8.2 and he is great. ive never done mbuna tank but from my experience with plecos he should be ok

 

[WaterBender1995]

Bristle Nose plecos ( Ancistrus temminckii) are better suited for mbuna tanks, they'll work for you too by cleaning up any algae.
Not just any pleco will survive the aggression of an mbuna tank jackel931.

 

[typhoon]

yeah waterbender is rite altho alot wil go into mbuna tanks alot also arent suitable, they mtie survive but will they b happy>? not if it isnt rite for them and its the fishes intrest u gota keep in mind! bristlenoses are good because they can put up with the aggression and the water stats. but saying that i have a royal and a snowball in my mbuna tank.... alot it trl and error but jst make sure u can get em outa there if they hit trouble

 

[jackel931]

waterbender no where in my response did i say "just any pleco". way to point out something that was never said

 

[WaterBender1995]

( I had one in with piranhas and they did not mess with him, he was bigger then them tho) so get one the same size or preferably bigger then your fish.

This would lead anyone with experience to conclude you have a comon pleco..... B)

 

[jackel931]

i dont see how you would assume that (unless its because they are cheaper then most others) but yes it was infact a common. i guess that makes you sherlock holmes

 

[Hero]

i dont see how you would assume that (unless its because they are cheaper then most others) but yes it was infact a common. i guess that makes you sherlock holmes

Sorry but I'm going to have to agree with waterbender. After reading your post i would feel it is ok to go and buy a common plec and place it into a 55 gl tank with 12 other fish. Definitely not trying to argue with anyone, I just feel you could have been a little more specific to stop a disaster from happening.

All in all I have decided to go with a bulldog/rubberlip pleco. If the aggression starts bnothering him or I notice any trouble he will be moved into a 20gl with 2 x blue rams, 1 x gold stripe panaque (maxes at 3.1") and 6 x albino corydoras.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i dont see how you would assume that (unless its because they are cheaper then most others) but yes it was infact a common. i guess that makes you sherlock holmes

actually, it makes perfect sense:

1) commons are about the only inexpensive "supersized" plecs that are readily available on the market, thus are the most likely candidate for a big plec to test in a predator tank.

2) commons are also known to be fairly aggressive in protecting their territory and are therefore more suited to life with semi-aggressive predators (like red bellies)

3) commons are also one of the sturdiest of plecs and are thus more likely to survive and fight off the inevitable exploration attacks of said semi-aggressive preds

so, no, not Sherlock Holmes. just one more member with a decent amount of experience; after a while, most of these things can be deduced.

--edit--
that being said, i have to agree that not all plecs were created equal. a lot of the fancier ones are very shy and retiring--although not all of them. but common plecs and bristlenoses are good little toughies due to their territoriality. but even then, some cichlids simply will not tolerate any competition and you'll be better off just going without.

you do know that most mbuna are primarily herbivores, right? with a magnetic algae scraper, there's really no big reason to have a plec in a mbuna tank unless you just really, really want one.

 

[Hero]

Well... I did some research to try and prove you wrong (to much pride). After researching I have come to prove myself wrong! Until this day I was under the impression that a common pleco that cannot reach up to 2' can be placed into a 4' tank. I apologize... now I want to buy this pleco from the LFS that is just BEAUTIFUL.

One of THESE.

EDIT Side Note: It's an absolute must lol... I'm becoming a bit of a plecoholic!

 

[chishnfips]

Nice pleco!!

The problem you would have with that one though, is that its a carnivore so trying to feed it would become difficult, you dont want to really mix carnivores with mbuna. Mbuna cant eat any meat at all apart from the odd bit of brine shrimp now and then, as they cant digest the food properly.


I would just stick with the BN pleco, I have one in my tank and he does fine, also you could have a syndontis catfish, I have an upside down one in my tank as well, they can handle the mbuna no problem and originate from africa too.

 

[Davo86]

I would reccomend either Bristlenose or Bulldog plecs, A friend did have a common pleco in with his mbuna, but IMO the pleco looked really out of place in that setup,

an alternative could be CAE's. there are two in our mixed malawi tank at work, the malawis sometimes chace them a bit but there are no real problems

 

[WaterBender1995]

Actually he could house that scarlet very easily no matter what it eats. It's all about thinking ahead and if it were me I'd find a nice tube like structure that the scarlet would live nicely in and since plecos are nocturnal feeders I'd place the hide out towards the front or a front corner where I could easily slip in some specific food for him/her @ her hide out.
I've done this for years and it works out perfectly for all.

There are always new ways too look at things and sometimes us older cronies know a few things

 

[Ferris]

I wouldn't rule out a scarlet in an Mbuna tank - they can look after themselves and an adult could certainly do more damage to Mbuna than the other way round. They are a stunning Plec and are on my list of fish that i must keep 1 day - damn expensive here in the Uk though.

 

[jackel931]

haha sorry for my original post. i will try to be alot more specific from now on and always give a disclaimer at the end of my posts!