Pleco Recommendations?

alan0387

Hi all,

Long time stalker of these forums,

My name is Alan, I have a Fluval Roma125.

Stocking is a bit sparse at the moment, 4 cardinal tetras, 3 amano shrimp and 8 panda corydoras. I have 2 juvenile panda Cory's I raised from eggs just before Xmas in a seperate tub inside the main tank. That gets a daily 10% water change. Main tank is usual 20% weekly. Running on a Fluval 207 canister filter and Fluval Aquasky LED Bluetooth lighting.

Before lockdown last year a friend had an explosion of guppies in his tank, and I acquired 24 however despite my care, they all passed away over the last year. I had several of my own cardinals die from a weird cotton mouth type illness that couldn't be identified by Seahorse Aquariums where I bought them. They offered to take back the cardinals and replace them but knowing that would probably mean culling, I decided to keep them and try give them the best life I could.

Anyway, I have the aquarium in my kitchen, in a dark corner away from as much natural light as possible. I still get significant algae build up between weekly cleanings, and have spent the last year testing different light spectrums, dark periods etc. I think a single pleco may be the way to go. However I want to know which one would live peacefully with Cory's, amanos, cardinals. I also have a plan for maybe a 3 angels or rams as centrepiece fish.

Any advise is appreciated. Water testing using strips and fluids shows good quality, a little on the hard side due to my local supply, almond leaves used in the tank, helps soften slightly. Anubias regularly Pearl so confident I have a good solid system running. A family matter last year left the tank for approx 8 weeks without any care other than once daily feeding. After 8nweeks, water quality remained, no fish loss and even nitrates within safe limits, so I believe I have a degree of anaerobic bacteria within the sand substrate too.

Thanks folks.

smyth79

Hi Alan,
I have a Bristlenose Pleco in my tank which is the same size as yours. I haven't had any problems with aggression towards my corydoras. Definitely don't get a common pleco as they grow way too big for your tank. The Bristlenose only grows to about 4 inches long.

Alkers

What sort of algae do you have? Generally, I have never noticed any significant reduction in having a pleco or not

alan0387

smyth79 wrote: »

Hi Alan,
I have a Bristlenose Pleco in my tank which is the same size as yours. I haven't had any problems with aggression towards my corydoras. Definitely don't get a common pleco as they grow way too big for your tank. The Bristlenose only grows to about 4 inches long.

Thanks, I'll have a browse now and see if anyone local to me has one!

Alkers wrote: »

What sort of algae do you have? Generally, I have never noticed any significant reduction in having a pleco or not

I did have some hair algae that has gone away since I stopped using a fertiliser for the plants. Other than that its the usual green sheet on the glass and coating the wood decoration. But if I miss it one day it gets very stubborn to remove!

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated

bogman

Are you using tap water, do you leave it stand overnight before changing it, only replace 1/4 of your water every few weeks, I don't even do that much but have two external filters in a 450l tank, I have a large water butt and collect rain water, its supposed to be PH neutral, Aldi have them from time to time, they are a great job and you will have plenty water available for other uses like gardening during dry spells.

alan0387

bogman wrote: »

Are you using tap water, do you leave it stand overnight before changing it, only replace 1/4 of your water every few weeks, I don't even do that much but have two external filters in a 450l tank, I have a large water butt and collect rain water, its supposed to be PH neutral, Aldi have them from time to time, they are a great job and you will have plenty water available for other uses like gardening during dry spells.

I recently did up the garden and was just thinking a water butt might be the way to go

I do use tap water, but treat with Seachem Prime and stands for maybe 10 mins. This is purely because I have nowhere safe to leave it with the dog and kids! Never had an issue with any tank crashes. I could drop to 10% weekly, the canister has a foam filter on the intake and the inside of the canister does be mint.

I've been considering Fluvals UV inline steriliser recently

alan0387

Thank you for the help, I got 2 Bristlenose plecos (actually a male and female) and already significant algae removal had occurred!

Picked up a matched pair of Apistogramas too, they brighten the tank up and have made everyone else in the tank less shy too!