Myth confirmed... Plecos DO clean glass.

[Retuks]

all of those who think plecos don't do the job... your wrong.

I was gonna post before/after pics but i put the pleco in before i thought about this and it cleared EVERYTHING overnight.

the tank literally had algae filled on all sides except the front (i did that on purpose not to spook exos). algae growing on my fake plants, algae growing on the hob cover i put in there as shelter..

put one small pleco in there and the next morning i walked downstairs and saw one satisfied pleco and i was actually shocked. NO aLGAE AT ALL. did as good of a job as using a scrub for every nook and cranny.

Even though i got no pics of before the tank was cleaned i decided i don't need to prove anything with pics, just try it for yourself and it will explain everything. if you leave your tank by the sun like i do and you get algae growth weekly, stop scrubbing, wait till it consumes the tank, add a pleco. nuff said.

 

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

as I do my weekly water changes, I have to scrub the algae in my brackish 75 because a bunch of algae builds up, but in my 75g freshwater, with an 8 inch common and 2 inch clown pleco I haven't scrubbed the tank in the 3 months it's been set up

 

[Angler]

That's cool. Is it a common pleco? If so, it will lose interest in the algae on the glass when it starts to get bigger. Smaller species like rubbernose and clown will stay interested in the algae.

 

[benzjamin13]

It also depends on the type of Pleco you put in there.

 

[phillydog1958]

yep, my 8 inch common rarely sucks on my glass. he used to do it all the time.

 

[Nemesis]

Who said it was a myth? They are known for eating algae on the glass. The myth is that they can survive solely on the algae from your glass.

 

[Retuks]

That's cool. Is it a common pleco? If so, it will lose interest in the algae on the glass when it starts to get bigger. Smaller species like rubbernose and clown will stay interested in the algae.

well it is a common species. its a brown spotted hi-fin. a softer less armored pleco but its common as anything else. ive had it in my 30 for a year upstairs which gets no sun and therefore no algae so its been frantically tryna get the cichlid pellets i feed to the co-habits.

when i set up the exo tank downstairs i thought what if? and i never actually done it until now. there was alot of **** after that night. changed my filter pad on both 10gallon "sleeper" filter and 50gallon "day" filter. (AC50 vibrates the tank and exos seem to get wired if its on during the night so i set up electronic timers for them)

 

[Retuks]

Who said it was a myth? They are known for eating algae on the glass. The myth is that they can survive solely on the algae from your glass.

they can if you vary the diet of your other fish. algae takes nutrients from micro particles in the water by waste of your other fish + solar energy. so like most other things, the algae grows upon what it "eats" as well and indirectly gives your plecos are varied diet.

they survive on one type of algae in the wild all the time. but many many things flow down river to add to its nutrition content.

 

[iloveoscars702]

psh my common is never seen cleaning my glass. he only eats the shrimp i drop in. lol

 

[Swampster]

My common is all over the glass. Every night, like clockwork, he skims over e v e r y t h i n g. Then patiently waits for his cucumber.