Topic: Need an Algie Eater... A tough One.

[OCP]

Yesterday I found my pleco attached to one of my down spouts.  Very dead.  Noticed he had been hiding behind the thermometer for of couple of days so figured he was getting the hard life from one or more of the other fish.

What can I get to work on the glass and such that is pretty tough in a Cichlid tank.  The algie has made major advances since his demise. He was pretty small but very active at his job.  Just a bigger Pleco?

TIA

Mike

"The more we learn, the more we find out how much we do not know."

[Fenster]

Wassup O.C.P.   In da fiznish forum holla'in for some pleco 411, yo?     

 

what kind of pleco did ya have there? was it the common plec that gets real big?

actually I dont know much bout different plecs and tuffness. I think commons are pretty stout plecs, while the many of the other varieties (i.e. Royal, Zebra, gold nugget,etc ) seem to be more sensitive to certain conditions. Just from reading Ive done.

My experience researchin plecs for my tank: wasnt going to have one, not 18"+ poop machine. Driftwood developed algae salad bar so I got a bristlenose cause they only get 6-8" hopefully.  great on the algae. my tank's not real aggressive so far so he's done well for couple months.

Dont know if you were lookin for bigger one, very humble opinion is you dont need a huge pleco, they do poo plenty.



Y'O.C.P., any dat 411 make sense dawg?   

[JC]

What can I get to work on the glass and such that is pretty tough in a Cichlid tank.  The algie has made major advances since his demise. He was pretty small but very active at his job.  Just a bigger Pleco?

A magnetic floating algae scraper    Sorry dont' mean to laugh at your pleco's demise, I myself have lost two plecos this weekend, due to probably the same thing that yours has suffered from, likely aggression from an overcrowded tank    because I can't really make up my mind at this time of what stays and what goes, i've decided to forego plecos and stick to the loaches as bottom feeders w hich means manually removing the algae on teh glass.   Right now's probably a bad time to add a cleaner to your tank, considering it's current bioload and all those fish's natural aggression level. So till then, you're probably going to have to take care of the algae wiht a bit of elbow grease 

[wacked]

Dont know if you were lookin for bigger one, very humble opinion is you dont need a huge pleco, they do poo plenty.

thats the main reason i dnt keep plecos i hate the loooooong line of poof around my whole tank eventually leading to where the plec decided to chill (lol) . i prefer cleaning it by myself i dnt havta wory much bout another fish . or for african tank i got a red bellied tilapia and i havnt seen a fish do a better job of getting rid of algae or plants. as jc said "you're probably going to have to take care of the algae wiht a bit of elbow grease  " 

[OCP]

Many thanks as always to all for the feedback.   I am still at the point of not wanting to let any of the fish go although I know I need to or go with survival of the fittest.  The gang is growing very quickly.  Very little aggression at this point but clowns disappear as fast as I can put them in the tank.  At $8.00 a pop they are an expensive snack for which ever fish is getting them.  Of all the fish the Texas is the one that stays in his cave the most.  I have found him out swimming around but for the most part his head is all you ever get to see.  He is a mighty pretty fish when you do get a look at him.

Been doing the elbow grease thing.  Normally crank up the Diatom and start cleaning the glass.  It does a great job of cleaning the water up in a short time.  So far I am not having any problems maintaining water quality even with the quantity of fish.  I will be getting rid of the red fish by what ever name soon.  After that I just don't know.  Really love the GT's and JD's.  Saw a tank on a TV show last night I would love to have.  Looked like it had a foot print not much larger than my 55 but twice as high.  That would give me twice the volume without a larger foot print that will not work in my living room.

Thanks again to all.  Very much appreciated.

Mike

[Gerry]

The higher tank will help dilute your bio load, But will not help when the aggression starts, As only a bigger footprint will solve that (or less fish of course)
 
So many nice fish, Not enough tank space, It's a bummer ain't it , We all sing the same song, I want more tanks

[OCP]

The higher tank will help dilute your bio load, But will not help when the aggression starts, As only a bigger footprint will solve that (or less fish of course)
 
So many nice fish, Not enough tank space, It's a bummer ain't it , We all sing the same song, I want more tanks

Amen on more tanks.  I would get a 100 or larger if I had the room.  Really liked the looks of that tall tank but undersatand the need for more width.  I can't get over how fast my fish are growing and hungry all the time although I feed them well not to mention the clowns they chomp down on..  If i walk by the tank they all gather in the corner where I feed them acting like a bunch of puppies waiting for a treat :-)

Worse than anything I keep seeing fish on here that I just have to get.  Self control is tough........

[Gerry]

 
 
 
Worse than anything I keep seeing fish on here that I just have to get.  Self control is tough........
 

 
You can say that again, Every fish is a wanna have.
 
Cichlids are fast growers, But must be the best beggars on earth when it comes to wanting food.

[JC]

Worse than anything I keep seeing fish on here that I just have to get.  Self control is tough........

Hehe one thing that I've noticed, fish forums are in no way helpful to your impulse control button

[Gerry]

You can say that again JC, Just when you think you have what you want,,,aggghhhh someone shows you another beauty

[OCP]

OOOOH.  When I saw Mark's Kampampa in the contest page I saw about the 50th fish on this site I needed like a kid in a candy store needs every thing he sees.   Well I am old enough to remember when you could go into a store and they would have a large case of penny candies.  If you had a dime you could get a nice bag full of candy.  Now you can't get a candy bar for a dime.   Man I miss those days :-)

[Gerry]

Aah the good old days.
 
The thing with fish though is sometimes you have the money for them and still cant get them because of tank restrictions,,,now that hurts.

[Fenster]

Tuff theater you have there, sir.

One of your clowns sent a mayday---- "Spider Holes....need more spider holes!"     

[OCP]

Tuff theater you have there, sir.

One of your clowns sent a mayday---- "Spider Holes....need more spider holes!"

    Built in several spider holes.  Little tiny openings to otherwise inaccessible caves.  Guess they are not quick enough coming out to eat.

In another place I had a cure for spider holes.  Called Flechette Rockets    Don't think any of my fish have access to those.....

[Fenster]

I use those big sinking pellets, reach in and drop them in the spider holes. Anything inside, be it clown or pleco, can eat a bit, unfettered.  Feeding time every day couple sinkers go in, one of my spots is against the glass, I can see the clowns and plec eating.

2 cents from the trenches, sir.