An appreciation, and: how to feed the pleco?

Mbuna should be mixed only with other Mbuna. The TB and the pleco do not belong in the same tank.

I have a chinese algae eater in with my mbuna and he is doing fine. He has been in there about a year now. But, I think that CAE are a lot tougher and meaner than Pleco.

I have a few Rubberlip Plecos in my 125 African tank. I havent bothered putting food in there specifically for them and they have done very well..

When you feed at night, is it dark in the room and dark in the tank? You need to make sure the fish are blind before you feed any bottom dwellers.
I have the same issue and I feed my BNs late at night, might trip over something that way, but they get fed w/o the pigs[cichlids] eating everything.

Try putting veggies; cuke, zucchini, blanched greens in the tank for him. You can buy a screwcumber or rubber band to a small rock to hold them down to the bottom.

Mark

Just a note on rubberlip plecos...they are coolwater fish that like some current and require driftwood as a part of their diet. You're really not doing him any favors having him in a rock only cichlid tank that probably has the heat turned to the high 70's, low 80s. I would try to find him another home if you can. If you cant find him one, I agree with lillyan... put some blanched veggies or algae wafers in for him after the lights go out. Mine particularly loves blanched zucchini and will fight my goldfish for it.

vwill279 already addressed the issues I saw with the pleco. That particular species is not one I'd recommend with mbuna. However, a lot of people do keep plecos with mbuna. Personally, I'd recommend common bristlenose plecos. They are bred commercially and have been for years, therefore they more readily adapt to a broader range of water parameters than a lot of other species. Most mbuna regularly offered for sale are captive bred, as well, so likewise readily adapt to a fairly broad range of water parameters. After 20+ years keeping mbuna, I have found they rarely bother smaller, secretive fish like bristlenose plecos and Chiloglanis sp. In fact, IME they tend to bother them less than they do with the Synodontis sp. typically recommended for mbuna tanks, such as featherfin cats.


I would seriously looking at rehousing the barb and the pleco as soon as possible, the pleco for the reasons above. Being alone without other tiger barbs to school and nip at, there is a possibility the tiger barb will nip at the mbuna, trying to establish his place in the pecking order as he would in a school of his own kind. Essentially, he very well may adopt the mbuna as his "school". At twice their size he could very easily cause damage leading to infection and harass them to poor health, even death, due to stress-induced disease or poor nutrition. Even if it works out until the mbuna catch him in size, they grow fast and will be the size of a fully grown tiger barb soon, and at that point I'd almost guarantee the tables will turn. Mbuna can be fine with a tankmate one day and then start attacking the same fish the next. A tiger barb will suffer serious damage from a mbuna equal to or larger than it in size. I see no good outcome from that combination.

Ya may consider getting a smaller tank just for the barb and pleco. Tiger barbs can handle cooler temperatures and ya could keep the tank cooler to accomodate the pleco. Once they pass on in a few years, ya then have a tank available as a quarantine/hospital tank in the future.

Cheers,

WYite

SamAdam said:

I guess I'll see what I can do about the pleco. I'm not sure if I can actually catch him since the tank is full of large rocks, but I don't want him to starve.

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I had a BN pleco in my 55gal mbuna tank. After 7 months I noticed he was getting less food because the mbunas were eating his pellets even with the lights off. Slowly, he starved and died after 9 months in the mbuna tank. IMHO, you should try to rehome him.