Couple of Q's for the Pleco Guru's........

[TheNewSeverum]

I have a L190, slightly different from yours. He's about 6 inches and Ill tell you when it comes to him eating, he's a pig. Loves his veggies thats for sure. As far as the wood goes, in the very beginning he completely littered the bottom of my tank with saw dust. Now, about 4 or so months later he doesn't. While everyone is saying it will take him years to go through it, trust me when I tell you, that he went through a lot of it in the time I have had him. Like everyone is saying, keep away from protein. While mine is a fatty and will eat anything that sinks to the bottom of the tank.

I have heard that they are aggressive towards each other, so I would guess they might be nasty towards other plecos as well. Just a heads up in the event you decide to get another pleco of equal or larger size.

Mine produces a lot of waste. Keep up on your water changes.

Mine is active when theres food for him to eat. So if you see yours hiding, its normal.

Like said, they grow slow. I haven't noticed any growth in mine since I've gotten him.

I dont think I'm missing anything else. I have almost no idea how you sex them, and I dont believe they have been bred in captivity. So Have fun, good luck

 

[maximus1006]

Heres mine eating.....L191

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[Discus Origins]

Vegetarian diet, nice piece of driftwood, clean water are all they require.

As for talk about gathering your own wood please do not put anything in your tank that is not 'driftwood'. Meaning been dead and dried for years. Otherwise all the resin will leach out into the water and as the wood rots will kill the fish.

 

[koltsixx]

First I want to thank you guys right off the bat, I really appreciate the all help. I think this might be the most helpful section I've ever been in so thanks guys.

Well I am no expert, but I don't think these guys literally go through driftwood. They just need it to provide fiber in their diet. Just keep them away from Protein rich foods.

Thanx bro! Good to know, I had read some where on here that one particular member said he went through about 6 pounds of the stuff a month on a big guy.

It'll take him a while to chew thru a big piece of wood, years even. I'd say most hardwoods would be safe, Oak certainly is, I'd stay away from anything piney tho.

Thanx bro, I had read about keeping them away from the various pines, but no particulars on anything else that I could use. Have you tried using oak? Just asking since you said oak certainly is and it would be a nice bit of info. for me.

I'm not an expert so back me up on this but looks like an L191. If so, I hope that is a monster tank
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=642
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Thanx bro, in my opinion your dead on and I appreciate the help with the id.

It is 100% L191. However a far as needing a monster tank...ime these guys grow around an inch a year or so. Plenty of time for an upgrade. Also a started earlier, a nice piece of driftwood or 2 will last you years. mine have lasted 6 years so far and have plenty if time left. Only constant money you will be spending on food should be veggies. And keep him away from protein!

Thanx bro! Will do, I had read about the digestive problems too much protein could cause, I've got algae wafers for him and the only competition he should have for those are my SD's so he should be okay. Luckily I found a guy near me that sells driftwood for about $14 for 18" x 10" pieces so I think I'll be okay either way. Pulls them right out of his tank so all you've got to do is boil them to try and prevent any possible disease transmission.

veggies veggies veggies.

nice looking tank

Thanx bro! For the tips and the compliment, I take great pride in my tank and I appreciate it when people appreciate my hard work.

And just an FYI, I actually found out from my LFS yesterday (bought a new piece of driftwood), that it's better to soak the driftwood for about day just so it sinks, and then let the tannins filter naturally. he said the tannins are good for the fish as well but to make sure you have carbon filter media. Interesting tid bit I thought.

Thanx bro, I had read about the tannin's but I didn't want it to discolor my water as I spend a lot of time making sure it stays crystal clear. Plus the tannin's can make your water quite acidic from what I read and it's not necessarily good for all the fish.

Yes, tannins help soften the water, but give the color a "tea" color which some people don't like. Activated carbon will removing the tea color. You may want to consider additional filtration or upping your water changes. These guys produce/poop lots of sawdust.
As for local wood, someone else hopefully can chime in on what's ok (I think hardwoods are ok like oak, maple, cherry, etc). But definitely stay away from resinous woods (like pine wood).

Thanx a lot for the info. bro! As for filtration I'm already running three canisters each one rated above the tank capacity I have so approx. all together I'm running filters that should be able to handle 3x the capacity I have now. I do water changes every 2 days anyway so hopefully I won't have to change that. As for the poop one day in and I see what you mean, I regret the white sand now. lol!

My L191 eats any kind of vegies I give to it....getting my L200 to eat them izs a diferant story lol.....and the L191 is a poopin machine lol
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Thanx bro! I see that he's a pooping machine for my self already.lol! Luckily I haven't run into any problems yet feeding him, he jumped on the cucumber I threw in there for him so hopefully it stays that way.

I have a L190, slightly different from yours. He's about 6 inches and Ill tell you when it comes to him eating, he's a pig. Loves his veggies thats for sure. As far as the wood goes, in the very beginning he completely littered the bottom of my tank with saw dust. Now, about 4 or so months later he doesn't. While everyone is saying it will take him years to go through it, trust me when I tell you, that he went through a lot of it in the time I have had him. Like everyone is saying, keep away from protein. While mine is a fatty and will eat anything that sinks to the bottom of the tank.
I have heard that they are aggressive towards each other, so I would guess they might be nasty towards other plecos as well. Just a heads up in the event you decide to get another pleco of equal or larger size.
Mine produces a lot of waste. Keep up on your water changes.
Mine is active when theres food for him to eat. So if you see yours hiding, its normal.
Like said, they grow slow. I haven't noticed any growth in mine since I've gotten him.
I dont think I'm missing anything else. I have almost no idea how you sex them, and I dont believe they have been bred in captivity. So Have fun, good luck

Thanx bro for all the info! I read about the possible aggression have you personally tried to mix them with any other pleco's? I was hoping to try a Green Phantom Pleco with him. I've seen the long constant poops already.lol! Did a water change today and it seemed like the minute I got the last of his poop more just kept coming out of nowhere.lol! I'm gonna have to rearrange my power heads so it gathers in one area so it'll be easier to clean up. Luckily for me he's always visible and he's been eating any chance he gets. I think I got lucky caught him the same day Petland got him in so they didn't have enough time to mess him up to much.

Heres mine eating.....L191
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Cool bro, Thanx for the pic!

Vegetarian diet, nice piece of driftwood, clean water are all they require.

As for talk about gathering your own wood please do not put anything in your tank that is not 'driftwood'. Meaning been dead and dried for years. Otherwise all the resin will leach out into the water and as the wood rots will kill the fish.

Thanx bro! I appreciate that bit of info. I didn't know that fresh wood could kill fish. I might have been dumb enough to try if anyone had said they could eat certain kinds of wood. Makes sense though I know that fresh wood does have a lot of stuff in it that wood that's been dried and water logged for a long time. I wonder if there's any way fresh wood could be treated that would make it safe? Like perhaps a boil then bake repeat process. Don't worry though I won't try it now as I'd rather err on the side of caution.

 

[TheNewSeverum]

@koltsix

Right now, he's sitting in my 29G since I am treating my larger tank. Didn't want to risk anything with him. He's currently in with an L-52 Butterfly, A clown, 5 BN, and 3 Albino BNs and I haven't seen any aggression towards any of them, though considering he's 10 times their size.

I think it would have more to do with larger plecos than small ones. I would guess if you have a really large tank and good hiding spots, it might chill aggression.

What petland did you go to? I used to work at the Deer Park store on the Island.

 

[koltsixx]

@koltsix

Right now, he's sitting in my 29G since I am treating my larger tank. Didn't want to risk anything with him. He's currently in with an L-52 Butterfly, A clown, 5 BN, and 3 Albino BNs and I haven't seen any aggression towards any of them, though considering he's 10 times their size.

I think it would have more to do with larger plecos than small ones. I would guess if you have a really large tank and good hiding spots, it might chill aggression.

What petland did you go to? I used to work at the Deer Park store on the Island.

Thanx again for the info. I was really hoping to throw 2 Green Phantoms in with him. There's a Petland at Westchester Square in the Bronx and that's where I wound up going, picked him up for $20. If your wondering about where I got the driftwood so cheap it was at a LFS just up the road called Zoorama. Funny thing is the guy is really expensive with his fish, but when it comes to plants and driftwood he's pretty reasonable. Here's a quick pic of my tank by the way, please excuse the cloudiness just did a water change.

 

[koltsixx]

Might as well include a couple of pics of this guy actually in the tank. So here's my L191/Dull-Eyed Pleco enjoying his new home.
View attachment 789501View attachment 789502View attachment 789503

 

[strollo22]

How big is that tank btw? He looks really small in it lol


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[Linus_Cello]

Uhh, is it just me, or in the pics of the Plecos, does it look like it has ich/velvet? What is that fine "dust" on the fish? I hope it's just sand on it, or a byproduct of the camera flash.

 

[koltsixx]

How big is that tank btw? He looks really small in it lol
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Lol! He looks small in it now, it's only a 125 gallon. Unfortunately he died last night.

Uhh, is it just me, or in the pics of the Plecos, does it look like it has ich/velvet? What is that fine "dust" on the fish? I hope it's just sand on it, or a byproduct of the camera flash.

You maybe right cause 2 days into him being in my tank he died. I'm about to create another thread in hopes of figuring out why, as I'd really like to get another but am hesitant as this is the first fish I've lost in a long while and I hate the feeling.