HunterX;1882472; said:
Not the best Pleco for this job. There are other carni plecos that would work.
Bottom Cleaners Compatible with Bichirs
- Thread starter FishGoneWild
- Start date
Not the best Pleco for this job. There are other carni plecos that would work.
Dusky Pimelodid-Pimelodus blochii
Giraffe Catfish-Auchenoglanis occidentalis
Dwarf giraffe Catfish-Parauchenoglanis macrostoma
Giant Whiptail Catfish-Sturisoma aureum
Synodontis alberti
Synodontis angelicus
Synodontis pleurops
Synodontis decorus
Synodontis eupterus
Synodontis notatus
Synodontis brichardi
Synodontis nigrita
Synodontis flavitaeniata
Synodontis soloni
Liver Catfish-Heteropneustes fossilis
Black Lancer-Bagrichthys hypselopterus
Acanthodoras cataphractus-(4")
Amblydoras hancocki-(6")
Platydoras costatus-(8")
Ancistrus dolichopterus-(4.5")
Ancistrus adonis-(30+")
Ancistrus lamboensis-(6")
you really don't want to add a pleco known to be carnivorous to a bichir tank.Heres the reason.Slimecoat is a mucous created by the continal replacement of glandular cells know in the fishes skin that produce a glycoprotein which is called mucin. This when mixed with water forms the mucus that makes up the slime coat of fish.Fish with poorly developed scales tend to produce more of this slime coat.. The slime coat does threee basci things- it reduces turbulence for the fish when swimming by smotthing over the areas between the fishes scales-it helps regulate the internal/external ionic balance and the efficiecy of gases exchanged through the skins surface-ie-osmoregullation and it provides a slipery surface that in it's sloughing off prevents bacteria from attching themselves to the skin. Bacteria is simply washed away from the skin with this process. It also aids in acting as a wound bandage. Pretty important stuff........In some fish it retains moisture(lungfish) feeds fry(discus and some asian cat fish)) and can be toxic for a defence mechanicism and form a cocoon as in marine parrotfish for sleeping.It is the nest building material in labyrinth fishes and functions as a as a chemical alarm through the water from panic syndrome or injury.Stressed fish have a change in thier slime coat-either too much or too little of this protection will kill a fish.Areas of the amazon where a number of plecos exist there is little in the line of protein based foods.Plecs are very adaptable to feeding on availiable food sources and one is the mucus coating of other fish,There is good evidence of these fish doing this in the wild and plenty of evidence of these fish doing this in captivity.There It really would not be a suprise to find that mucus feeding is a common feeding method in many Loricariidae catfishes.These fish are really not obligate herbivores. -Anne
Giraffe Catfish-Auchenoglanis occidentalis
Dwarf giraffe Catfish-Parauchenoglanis macrostoma
Giant Whiptail Catfish-Sturisoma aureum
Synodontis alberti
Synodontis angelicus
Synodontis pleurops
Synodontis decorus
Synodontis eupterus
Synodontis notatus
Synodontis brichardi
Synodontis nigrita
Synodontis flavitaeniata
Synodontis soloni
Liver Catfish-Heteropneustes fossilis
Black Lancer-Bagrichthys hypselopterus
Acanthodoras cataphractus-(4")
Amblydoras hancocki-(6")
Platydoras costatus-(8")
Ancistrus dolichopterus-(4.5")
Ancistrus adonis-(30+")
Ancistrus lamboensis-(6")
you really don't want to add a pleco known to be carnivorous to a bichir tank.Heres the reason.Slimecoat is a mucous created by the continal replacement of glandular cells know in the fishes skin that produce a glycoprotein which is called mucin. This when mixed with water forms the mucus that makes up the slime coat of fish.Fish with poorly developed scales tend to produce more of this slime coat.. The slime coat does threee basci things- it reduces turbulence for the fish when swimming by smotthing over the areas between the fishes scales-it helps regulate the internal/external ionic balance and the efficiecy of gases exchanged through the skins surface-ie-osmoregullation and it provides a slipery surface that in it's sloughing off prevents bacteria from attching themselves to the skin. Bacteria is simply washed away from the skin with this process. It also aids in acting as a wound bandage. Pretty important stuff........In some fish it retains moisture(lungfish) feeds fry(discus and some asian cat fish)) and can be toxic for a defence mechanicism and form a cocoon as in marine parrotfish for sleeping.It is the nest building material in labyrinth fishes and functions as a as a chemical alarm through the water from panic syndrome or injury.Stressed fish have a change in thier slime coat-either too much or too little of this protection will kill a fish.Areas of the amazon where a number of plecos exist there is little in the line of protein based foods.Plecs are very adaptable to feeding on availiable food sources and one is the mucus coating of other fish,There is good evidence of these fish doing this in the wild and plenty of evidence of these fish doing this in captivity.There It really would not be a suprise to find that mucus feeding is a common feeding method in many Loricariidae catfishes.These fish are really not obligate herbivores. -Anne
Hello Anne,
an extraordinary compilation - as always ... !!!
I'm happy to read about Herpetopneustes fossilis - now i do know the english name:
Liver catfish
I'm keeping one with my bichirs since over two years. He is a pretty good "cleaner" of all things that were left from the bichirs.
This catfish searches contact to other fish - but unfortunately my Channa gachua doesn't like him and had bitten him very hard - then came Teugelsi and Gachua had a friend ... no more trouble for the liver catfish. Since the attacks of the Channa he is a bit shy and do not chill with the bichirs so often as he did before the Channa came ...
I think the liver catfish is an ideal fish to keep with bichirs!
Greetings
Uwe
an extraordinary compilation - as always ... !!!
I'm happy to read about Herpetopneustes fossilis - now i do know the english name:
Liver catfish
I'm keeping one with my bichirs since over two years. He is a pretty good "cleaner" of all things that were left from the bichirs.
This catfish searches contact to other fish - but unfortunately my Channa gachua doesn't like him and had bitten him very hard - then came Teugelsi and Gachua had a friend ... no more trouble for the liver catfish. Since the attacks of the Channa he is a bit shy and do not chill with the bichirs so often as he did before the Channa came ...
I think the liver catfish is an ideal fish to keep with bichirs!
Greetings
Uwe
I have kept a giraffe cat with great success... i cant say id recommend synos myself, as a syno eruptus (sp?) killed one of my dels...since that episode i dont keep anything that sucks slime coat...nothing! 
and as far as plecos etc go...i find they create more mess than they clean...
go a big cat like a niger or giraffe! yeh...mos def...
e.
and as far as plecos etc go...i find they create more mess than they clean...
go a big cat like a niger or giraffe! yeh...mos def...
e.
My albino bushynose does a fantastic job keeping my 90G clean. He's in with large birchirs and cichlids and easily holds his own in that tank. Been there over 5 years.tezr;1886978;1886978 said:
If you're doing your weekly water changes, then you should be siphoning the left over bits on the bare bottom at the same time! I keep my tanks "bare-bottomed" and can clearly see want needs to be siphoned up! That's what I use for "cleaners"!
