Pleco that's not a poop factory?

N

newbeestl

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Sep 19, 2005
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Does anyone know of any species of pleco that's not really a poop factory? I've got a 75 gal with a ton of driftwood in it and it would be perfect for a small pleco (< 6" max size). But, I don't want one that's going to dirty it up.

I'm a big fan of plecos, but until I found this site and other stuff on the internet, I didn't know they added so much to the bioload.
 
farowella stick cats are closely related. they clean well and look cool and as far as I know they don't leave a plecos amount of crap
 
Pleco's in general will always be poop factories. The issue lies in how they consume and process food. They are as a species designed to intake huge volumes of rough material that has low nutritional value, and then process it quickly and discard the waste. So even if you feed them higher nutrition food substances, they continue to consume huge voumes process what they need and discard the bulk of the material.

So the answer to your question is (As far as I know) there are no pleco's that don't produce huge amounts of poop. I'd look at some other species for a clean-up crew, or enjoy the pleco's and vaccume a lot.
Dave
 
:(

Well, if I really wanted a pleco, and I'm guessing the smaller ones would be better, what's some of the smaller varieties?
 
I'm not highly familiar with the smaller breeds, I know Zebras are small, but primarily carnivourous so they won't eat algea. Bristlenose seem to be the popular small algea eating pleco. Maybe with the bump, others will jump in with more info.
Dave
 
farowella stick cats!!!!!!!!!!! they are community so with most cichlids it would not be a good choice. but, I stand by what I said before, they are what you are looking for.
 
check out planetcatfish.com
 
Hi!

I have a Striped Rubber Lip Pl*co and she does add some waste, but nothing like what others here on the board experience with other pl*cos. They can be a little shy and picky with food at first, but are well worth the effort. Also, they absolutely LOVE smooth river rocks along with driftwood.

The species is Chaestostma thomsoni and you can see info on this pl*co at:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/chaetost/318_f.php

Best wishes in finding a pl*co that suits your tank!
Christine :0)
 
Here's my girl doing what she does when she's not hanging off the front of the rock above:

plec4.jpg


and here she is on the driftwood:
plec1.jpg


Best Wishes!
Christine :0)
 
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