So I have a 125 gallon tank (72x18x24). Here is my current stock: 1 Green Terror, 1 EBJD, 1 Firemouth, 1 Red Spotted Severum, 1 Electric Blue Acara, 2 Pictus Catfish, 1 Senegal Bichir, 6 rainbowfish (1 red irian, 1 boesmani, 1 marci, 1 goyder river, 1 turquoise, 1 yellow tail).
I will also be adding 1 chocolate, 1 heckelli (threadfin), and one other cichlid (yet to be determined). I was also hoping to be able to add 3 more rainbowfish (3 that are rare and harder to find, which is why I dont have them yet).
What kind of pleco would go best with this kind of community, is an omnivore, and is decent at cleaning algae and scavenging the bottom for food? My pictus scavenge the substrate for food, ok and I have heard that Clown Loaches are really best and scavenging the bottom, and they are very common in cichlid communities. But adding a clown loach I think would take away some space away from other fish more than a pleco would. I also love the pleco sucking. I have heard bristlenose plecos are probably the best mid sized pleco for actual clean-up and algae elimination. But they max at around 4-5", and I worry that it wouldnt take long for a cichlid or the bichir to see it as an easy snack. Nothing is over 4" right now, but the GT is growing fast and so is the bichir. I have done quite a bit of research so I dont ask this question clueless.
The following Plecos are the general plecos I have researched and looked into, they are all omnivores, but other than that and their size, I dont know much about them: (I will try to list these in descending size)
-Royal Pleco, max size about 15" (although some only get to 8"), I dont know much about their temperament though or how well they actually clean anything (through research it seems the bigger the pleco, the worse they are about clean-up).
-L95 (orange cheeck pleco) max size about 14", very peacful, thick armor like scales my LFS had one at about 10" for $250, tanked with gars.
-Rhino Pleco, max size about 11", thick armor like scales, omnivorous but needs both meaty and greens in diet.
-Three Beacon Pleco (L91), Max size about 9.5 inches. Peacful, omnivourus and very hardy plecos (at least from what I hear)
-Chubby Pleco, max size 8.5 inches, very peacful, but supposedly needs great water conditions.
-Green/blue phantom pleco. My LFS has both the green and blue phantom plecos. The blue still look mostly like a green but with a blueish tint. Max size is around 7-8 inches although there is one type of phantom that gets up to 14". All I have really heard about these are they tend to be more active than other plecos of similar size.
-Gold Nugget Pleco. There are alot of different types of gold nugget plecos, but I am most interested in L081, L085, and L177. They tend to max at around 7-8" (L018 grows to 14"). I hear they may be the best at scavanging the bottom for leftovers and are pretty good at algae cleaning. But are kinda sensitive and may end up dead in this tank. Which would suck, because they arent cheap.
-Spotted orange seemed pleco (L106), max size about 6", prefers driftwood diet, very peaceful and wont bother other fish, is said to be a great community pleco. I dont know how much they do for algae though.
-Snowball pleco, max size 6", What I need to know about this guy, is if he is even omnivourus, one site says they will eat algae but my LFS guy told me they are like vampires/galaxies and are more carnivourus.
-Flask pleco (L204), max size about 5 inches, very peaceful, diet consists mostly of greens and algae.
Now into the smaller plecos (these may be too small for the tank)
-Bulldog pleco, great at clean up but like to hide and is primarily nocturnal. Max size 3-6"
-Bristlenose, max size 4-5", great at clean-up (the best I heard) but might be too small for this community, I really want to try one regardless though as they are rather inexpensive.
-King Tiger Pleco, I lvoe the look of these but at 4,7" max size, I feel as though I could spend the big bucks for him and he may die/get killed really fast. Mostly eat algae and good at clean-up.
What I am looking for is a pleco that is at least ok at clean-up, the pictus help, not to mention my bichir seems to scavange for food at night. Id like a pleco that isnt a well known slime coat sucker, as he and the bichir will be in the bottom together a lot and the bichir is what got this whole thing started. From what I have heard its mostly the carnivourus plecos that are famous for this. Id prefer a social pleco, one that isnt hiding all day and that I dont have to look too hard to find. The biggest most common issue I have heard about plecos and bichirs more so than slime coat sucking, is territorialness. I heard alot of people had to get rid of the pleco because he would always push their bicir around and bulley him. This may be the biggest obstacle. Finding a passive pleco that isnt small enough that the bichir tries to eat him. My bichir is not aggressive at all and donest attack other fish. However, he is an oportunistic eater, and if he thinks it might fit in his mouth he tries, not becuase of temperment, thats just how bichirs are.
Or would my best bet for what I want to be try a bristlenose and a larger peacful pleco, one for clean-up that might eventually get eaten once everything is full grown and one for the life of the tank? Or if I am going this route, should I maybe get a clown loach and an algae eating pleco?
Unlike the last cichlids additions, I have no clue what direction to go here. At first I was just gonna get a bristlenose until the size of 4-5" came up and I realized he would only be half the bichirs size. Now I dont know... Of that list the Green Phantom, gold nugget, and rhino are the easiest to get and I know the most about them (although I sill dont know much about them). Honestly cichlids were much easier to learn about and understand than plecos, or maybe I just havent been to the right sites yet. Id appreciate all the help you guys/gals can give me.
PS: NO COMMON PLECOS, they are the worst about slime coat sucking and can be really aggressive with other bottom dwellers. At least so I have heard. Also, someone told me that of that list I gave, the rhinos are the most similar to commons, is that true?
I will also be adding 1 chocolate, 1 heckelli (threadfin), and one other cichlid (yet to be determined). I was also hoping to be able to add 3 more rainbowfish (3 that are rare and harder to find, which is why I dont have them yet).
What kind of pleco would go best with this kind of community, is an omnivore, and is decent at cleaning algae and scavenging the bottom for food? My pictus scavenge the substrate for food, ok and I have heard that Clown Loaches are really best and scavenging the bottom, and they are very common in cichlid communities. But adding a clown loach I think would take away some space away from other fish more than a pleco would. I also love the pleco sucking. I have heard bristlenose plecos are probably the best mid sized pleco for actual clean-up and algae elimination. But they max at around 4-5", and I worry that it wouldnt take long for a cichlid or the bichir to see it as an easy snack. Nothing is over 4" right now, but the GT is growing fast and so is the bichir. I have done quite a bit of research so I dont ask this question clueless.
The following Plecos are the general plecos I have researched and looked into, they are all omnivores, but other than that and their size, I dont know much about them: (I will try to list these in descending size)
-Royal Pleco, max size about 15" (although some only get to 8"), I dont know much about their temperament though or how well they actually clean anything (through research it seems the bigger the pleco, the worse they are about clean-up).
-L95 (orange cheeck pleco) max size about 14", very peacful, thick armor like scales my LFS had one at about 10" for $250, tanked with gars.
-Rhino Pleco, max size about 11", thick armor like scales, omnivorous but needs both meaty and greens in diet.
-Three Beacon Pleco (L91), Max size about 9.5 inches. Peacful, omnivourus and very hardy plecos (at least from what I hear)
-Chubby Pleco, max size 8.5 inches, very peacful, but supposedly needs great water conditions.
-Green/blue phantom pleco. My LFS has both the green and blue phantom plecos. The blue still look mostly like a green but with a blueish tint. Max size is around 7-8 inches although there is one type of phantom that gets up to 14". All I have really heard about these are they tend to be more active than other plecos of similar size.
-Gold Nugget Pleco. There are alot of different types of gold nugget plecos, but I am most interested in L081, L085, and L177. They tend to max at around 7-8" (L018 grows to 14"). I hear they may be the best at scavanging the bottom for leftovers and are pretty good at algae cleaning. But are kinda sensitive and may end up dead in this tank. Which would suck, because they arent cheap.
-Spotted orange seemed pleco (L106), max size about 6", prefers driftwood diet, very peaceful and wont bother other fish, is said to be a great community pleco. I dont know how much they do for algae though.
-Snowball pleco, max size 6", What I need to know about this guy, is if he is even omnivourus, one site says they will eat algae but my LFS guy told me they are like vampires/galaxies and are more carnivourus.
-Flask pleco (L204), max size about 5 inches, very peaceful, diet consists mostly of greens and algae.
Now into the smaller plecos (these may be too small for the tank)
-Bulldog pleco, great at clean up but like to hide and is primarily nocturnal. Max size 3-6"
-Bristlenose, max size 4-5", great at clean-up (the best I heard) but might be too small for this community, I really want to try one regardless though as they are rather inexpensive.
-King Tiger Pleco, I lvoe the look of these but at 4,7" max size, I feel as though I could spend the big bucks for him and he may die/get killed really fast. Mostly eat algae and good at clean-up.
What I am looking for is a pleco that is at least ok at clean-up, the pictus help, not to mention my bichir seems to scavange for food at night. Id like a pleco that isnt a well known slime coat sucker, as he and the bichir will be in the bottom together a lot and the bichir is what got this whole thing started. From what I have heard its mostly the carnivourus plecos that are famous for this. Id prefer a social pleco, one that isnt hiding all day and that I dont have to look too hard to find. The biggest most common issue I have heard about plecos and bichirs more so than slime coat sucking, is territorialness. I heard alot of people had to get rid of the pleco because he would always push their bicir around and bulley him. This may be the biggest obstacle. Finding a passive pleco that isnt small enough that the bichir tries to eat him. My bichir is not aggressive at all and donest attack other fish. However, he is an oportunistic eater, and if he thinks it might fit in his mouth he tries, not becuase of temperment, thats just how bichirs are.
Or would my best bet for what I want to be try a bristlenose and a larger peacful pleco, one for clean-up that might eventually get eaten once everything is full grown and one for the life of the tank? Or if I am going this route, should I maybe get a clown loach and an algae eating pleco?
Unlike the last cichlids additions, I have no clue what direction to go here. At first I was just gonna get a bristlenose until the size of 4-5" came up and I realized he would only be half the bichirs size. Now I dont know... Of that list the Green Phantom, gold nugget, and rhino are the easiest to get and I know the most about them (although I sill dont know much about them). Honestly cichlids were much easier to learn about and understand than plecos, or maybe I just havent been to the right sites yet. Id appreciate all the help you guys/gals can give me.
PS: NO COMMON PLECOS, they are the worst about slime coat sucking and can be really aggressive with other bottom dwellers. At least so I have heard. Also, someone told me that of that list I gave, the rhinos are the most similar to commons, is that true?
