L002,L260, L066, L411, L201, L316???

[phantomfisher]

Hi,

I am a complete novice in keeping Plecs so I would be grateful for a bit of advice.

I have a new 4' x 2' x 2' planted tank which I finished cycling a couple of weeks ago. The tank has been planted and has plenty of rocks and bog wood on a fine gravel substrate. This tank is a bit of a blank canvas as far as fish are concerned but I would like to keep a selection of small Plecs if possible to gain some experience with these fish.

The tank currently has 5 x Otocinclus Cats, 3 x Whiptale Cats and 4 x very young 1.5" Albino Plecs.

I have had a look at the L list on this site so see what the various Plecs you have look like and they all look fantastic. Which if any of the various young Plecs that you have would be compatible with my existing fish? I have another tank which I could use to re house any of the existing fish that may be a problem.

As I said at the beginning I am a complete Plec novice so your advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Doodles]

hey, i moved your post into pleco chat as you will get more help plus the classifieds are really just for buying and selling.

4 x very young 1.5" Albino Plecs

Are these bristlenoses?

 

[Doodles]

Personally if the tank has only just cycled, i would give it a change to 'establish' for a while longer with the existing fish. The last thing you want to do is upset the balance and start having water problems.

What are the tank parameters now?
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
ph
hardness

 

[Lornek8]

First off would be to ID your albino plecs. There are a few available in the hobby & one in particular gets huge. The reason for a quick ID is for a couple of reasons, #1 if they indeed get huge, you can get rid of them before they get huge & are easier to return or #2 a better list of compatible tankmates can be compiled.

 

[Doodles]

First off would be to ID your albino plecs. There are a few available in the hobby & one in particular gets huge. The reason for a quick ID is for a couple of reasons, #1 if they indeed get huge, you can get rid of them before they get huge & are easier to return or #2 a better list of compatible tankmates can be compiled.

:yes:

Another thing to consider before getting any plecs is their dietary requirements. All the plec families have different types of diet. L002 for example is a wood/veggie eater whereas the others you have listed are Hypans and although they are omnivores, tend to be meat orientated and getting them to eat veggies can prove futile. Mixing the different plecs and diets can cause problems particularly with any that don't require much meaty food, the problems can include bloat and blockages, and just general poor health.

 

[Irene0100]

I agree, another consideration is down to what you can also reasonably get hold of. for example some are becoming scarce due to export bans.
do you just want a few different ones to look at (note many plecs hide alot and you will rarely see them) or a group of the same type to try and breed?

 

[phantomfisher]

Doodles

I think you are probably right to hang fire until my tank has settled a bit longer.

My tank parameters are as follows:

ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 15
ph - 7.2

I do not have a hardness kit so will get at the weekend.

I was unaware that Plecs have different dietary requirements, I thought they all ate vegi wafers. :dk: I told you I was a novice :whistle:

Lornek8

You have got me a bit worried about the Albino plecs, any thoughts on the best way to ID them?

Irene0100

I would like to breed Plecs in the future in a dedicated tank but I am still a long way from that. My ideal for the time being is to have a group of different Plecs that would live peacefully together, do not get any bigger than around four to five inches, are pleasant to look at, interesting to watch and easy to feed. Don't want to much really!

All thoughts and advice is much appreciated.

 

[Doodles]

I was unaware that Plecs have different dietary requirements, I thought they all ate vegi wafers. :dk: I told you I was a novice :whistle:

Lol don't worry, a lot of people think that, some even think they only need to eat the algae in the tank.

You have got me a bit worried about the Albino plecs, any thoughts on the best way to ID them?

If you can get some pics, post them up in id forum on here, they will get id'd quickly:yes:

 

[phantomfisher]

If you can get some pics, post them up in id forum on here, they will get id'd quickly:yes:

I will try to get some images of the albino plecs when they next come out of hiding.