Pleco waste ?

[Amber n The Boss]

Why do people keep Plecos if they produce so much unsightly waste and what do you do to keep your tanks clean ?
I picked up my first ever pleco last week not sure if I have a common pardalis or a disjunctivus but WOW I can not believe how much this guy poops! He was a rescue and is 10" maybe. He's in with 2 LG ID Sharks and compared waste production the pleco beats out both of them together!
Filtration wish I'm running 2 HOB filters. One is a Whisper for 60 gallons and the other is the Fluval clear 110. I've considered getting a power head but I have a few Guppies and Gromies (sp?) That wouldn't appreciate being pushed all over the tank. Any suggestions?

 

[mrtoofay]

Two ways of doing it.

1. Manually suck them out whenever they bother you.
2. Extend the inlet of your filters down to the level of the gravel, hoping that they will suck up whatever's down there. Turn the filters off during feeding if you go this way, or else it may suck up whatever food lands on the gravel. Depending on the size of your tank, you may consider using a canister filter with the inlet positioned where the poo collects.

You only have 1 pleco. Think about the waste they produce when you have a lil more (think 40+)

 

[kno4te]

That's a lot a dang plecos in that pic.


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[West1]

Two ways of doing it.

1. Manually suck them out whenever they bother you.
2. Extend the inlet of your filters down to the level of the gravel, hoping that they will suck up whatever's down there. Turn the filters off during feeding if you go this way, or else it may suck up whatever food lands on the gravel. Depending on the size of your tank, you may consider using a canister filter with the inlet positioned where the poo collects.

You only have 1 pleco. Think about the waste they produce when you have a lil more (think 40+)

What species is that on the far left, the one that sticks out like a sore thumb!?

 

[Amber n The Boss]

Two ways of doing it.

1. Manually suck them out whenever they bother you.
2. Extend the inlet of your filters down to the level of the gravel, hoping that they will suck up whatever's down there. Turn the filters off during feeding if you go this way, or else it may suck up whatever food lands on the gravel. Depending on the size of your tank, you may consider using a canister filter with the inlet positioned where the poo collects.

You only have 1 pleco. Think about the waste they produce when you have a lil more (think 40+)

Wow that sure is a lot of pleco! Thanks for the idea of extending the inlet. I'm assuming I can pick up am extension piece from the lfs. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Amber n The Boss]

Two ways of doing it.

1. Manually suck them out whenever they bother you.
2. Extend the inlet of your filters down to the level of the gravel, hoping that they will suck up whatever's down there. Turn the filters off during feeding if you go this way, or else it may suck up whatever food lands on the gravel. Depending on the size of your tank, you may consider using a canister filter with the inlet positioned where the poo collects.

You only have 1 pleco. Think about the waste they produce when you have a lil more (think 40+)

Wow that sure is a lot of pleco and I love the one with the gold fins! Thanks for the idea of extending the inlet. I'm assuming I can pick up am extension piece from the lfs. I hadn't thought of that or actually didn't know that was possible. Thanks

 

[Rotaryp04s]

What species is that on the far left, the one that sticks out like a sore thumb!?

L25 scarlet pleco

 

[GEV83]

I don't got nearly as many as you but mine still create allot of waste Mrtoofay. I cleaned the 135 out yesterday of poop did a large WC and now I got piles of poop again. HUGE piles. I'm thinking a canister filter is the way to go.

 

[Divinehammer]

best filtering system for a pleco tank is a sump filter that incorporates a swirl filter, I keep 70 of the lean me pooping machines myself, HOB just don't cut it for pleco tanks, I have a rhino pleco that can crap 7 foot long in one go with no problem. the smaller guys arn't as bad once they start hitting the 7" mark you can expect huge poop.

 

[Amber n The Boss]

best filtering system for a pleco tank is a sump filter that incorporates a swirl filter, I keep 70 of the lean me pooping machines myself, HOB just don't cut it for pleco tanks, I have a rhino pleco that can crap 7 foot long in one go with no problem. the smaller guys arn't as bad once they start hitting the 7" mark you can expect huge poop.

This guy is roughly 10" already :banghead:

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