Time to bring my Plecos inside

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
E

Elephino

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 30, 2008
60
0
0
on the couch
I have an outdoor pond, about 1,000 gallons, with 50 goldfish and a couple of BF Koi, with 3 Plecos

Since the Plecos can't stand the cold Ohio winter I should get ready to bring them in the house.

I have a friend who is giving me a 55 gallon tank today, that's where I'll put them in. I'll probably bring in as much hyacinth as I can too.

Any advice or suggestions?

I'm pretty new at this and don't want to kill my fish.

Not sure what kind of pleco they are, they are darker green with white spots, the spots get an orange tint to them towards the end of their fins. They grew from about 1 inch when I got them early summer to about 7"-8" right now.

I don't feed them anything in the pond, I read somewhere that as they get older they quit eating algae. If I spoil them in the tank during the winter, will they have a hard time adjusting to just eating algae off the plants in the pond next summer?

Thanks for any input,
Dave
 
You would have to give a photo for an accurate ID. If the 3 plecos are 7-8", then you could put them in a 55 for the winter, but only for the winter.

Also, I can't tell you much about food without the ID of the pleco.
 
019.jpg


This should happen today, that water was colder than I thought it would be.
 
It's hard to say from that picture. Maybe a gibby with red fins? Not sure. For food, try zuccini or algae wafers.
 
The red fins are from another fish. That's Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps.
 
Watch out w/the hyacinths. They will need a lot of light to live. They will not thrive indoors, they will live, at best. Keep an eye on them. As soon as they start to discolor, remove them. They can foul the water quickly.
 
Why don't they do too well inside?

I put all the hyacinth from my bog filter in a 55 gallon tank and put it in my grow room. There are sodium lamps that come on for dawn and dusk, full range light for the day, fans, a heater and a squirrel cage to bring in CO2 naturally.

I hope it works out, my pond is uncovered and the shade from the hyacinth plants is necessary.

Side question, when do I cut back my lillys? They are still green and it's getting down in the 40's at night here.
 
You didn't mention filtration. If you've got a sponge or some media from the pond filter you can use it to jumpstart the filter on the 55 gal tank. You don't want them to have to go through cycling after the stress of being moved from the pond to a tank. I hope they do good.
 
I have a variety of plecos, all of them love algae wafers. My big pleco will eat blood worms, and has a love of kiwi. They are omnivores, so as long as you find something that is gone by morning they will be fine. Try fresh fruit (meth liked oranges but not as much as kiwi, didnt care for apples at all), cucumber (wouldnt eat the seeds) and parboiled zuchini. We have had good luck with HBH brand algae grazers (even the dog loves them) and Hikari brand wafers.

A suggestion of a piece of driftwood or large algae collecting smooth decoration that they can easily eat off of. And with that many big plecos in that big of a tank, weekly water changes and gravel vaccum for all of that big pleco poo is a must. They are filthy fish when they get that big.

If you can scrape some algae off of the side of your pond (if it isnt dead yet) and get a growth of what they are used to eating, that may work, but I have had a lot of trouble promoting algae blooms from other tanks (and i think it spoils them to what is avalible at other times).

One last thing- I suggest a cheap heater in the 55 gal, remember that their natural water temperature is around 70 to 80 but keep the temp equal to what the pond was.
Best of luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom