L397?

[Kittiee Katt]

I have a darker gravel for the 170 and plan on putting a natural reddish brown back in the 5ft before he goes in there. White sand was the easiest thing to acquire when we started keeping catfish with little barbles so that's what we went with.

I'll post more pics when I move him into the 170.

He otherwise looks healthy? I think he does but unless it was extreme I doubt I'd pick a healthy/well fed pleco from one that's under fed etc.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I have (another) question... I was going to start a new thread in the planted section but figured I'd just ask here instead.

Will Sir Elton eat live plants? One of my anubias looks like its being eaten and the only culprit I can think of is Sir Elton..

Tank includes:
x5 white cloud minnows
x3 kuhlli loaches
x1 synodontis nigriventris
x1 cae

The cae has never eaten my plants before so I doubt he'd start now - idk for sure though.

There's also a few (pond?) snails in there but I've never seen them munching the plants either.

Is it possible Sir Elton is munching my anubias while I'm not looking? I spent $50 on the plant in question, I would like for it to not become an "all you can eat" fiasco.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Warborg]

My first advise is to get rid of the cae. The bigger they get the nastier they get. I use to have lots of them. Once they reached 4-5 inches, they started attacking my other fish(by sucking on them). I've never owned one since(back in the early 90's),

My first guess would be the snails but if this didn't start till you got the pleco...it could be him. Since they do like vegetables...that doesn't help his case. Try dropping in some lettuce to see if that helps.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

My first advise is to get rid of the cae. The bigger they get the nastier they get. I use to have lots of them. Once they reached 4-5 inches, they started attacking my other fish(by sucking on them). I've never owned one since(back in the early 90's),

My first guess would be the snails but if this didn't start till you got the pleco...it could be him. Since they do like vegetables...that doesn't help his case. Try dropping in some lettuce to see if that helps.

The cae was a rescue from my mums "friend", I've had him for years and he's never been a problem. He's severely stunted from his previous home. He's about as long as a full grown betta, probably around 3" long.

Next time I'm making goldfish salad, I'll pick some lettuce and spinach out for him to try.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Hi all!

I've had Sir Elton for a little over a month now and he's grown heaps! Okay, maybe not heaps but at least a centimetre or two!

He's a lot more comfortable with people AND the camera now compared to what he was when I got him, and I think he's doing well - but I want your opinions.

Below are some (horrible) recent pics of him, I'm wondering if he looks healthy in the eyes of the experts on here?

Its the first time I've kept a pleco and I'm wondering if I'm doing okay by him (her?). He eats NLS thera+a, hikari algae wafers (I can't seem to find NLS ones locally now ), the assorted wood in his tank, plus the odd bit of lettuce, zucchini, spinach etc.


Sorry about the terrible pictures and the algae covered glass, I've been lazy with the algae..

 

[Warborg]

Wow, what a start for your first pleco. Yea don't expect him to clean the algae off the glass. I have a phrase 'the fancier the pleco the lazier they become'.

He seems ok from the pics.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Wow, what a start for your first pleco. Yea don't expect him to clean the algae off the glass. I have a phrase 'the fancier the pleco the lazier they become'.

He seems ok from the pics.

What did you mean by the first bit? Are they supposed to be hard to keep?

I never expected him to eat algae, just to be awesome, and he's definitely doing that!

I'll clean the glass and try getting some better pics tomorrow when I turn the lights back on, honestly, I want all the help I can get with him.

 

[Chockful O Phail]

Looking good! Sounds like you have him on a good diet. My three little plecos all love the skin of zucchini, they'll eat the flesh but really attack the skin. Since you were able to get pics, I would say he is pretty happy otherwise he'd probably be hiding.

 

[Warborg]

What did you mean by the first bit? Are they supposed to be hard to keep?

I've never actually owned one of these but along with the algae/lazy rule most fancy plecos are more sensitive to differences in water parameters then the commons. My guess would also be about a 5-8 year lifespan compared to a common pleco which could live up to 20 years.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Oldest I know of is 13,plecos tend to live longer if fed fresh vegetables such as zucchini bits,fresh or frozen peas(unsalted), carrot bits etc