Adding Plecos

[MVandenberk]

My LFS said that I should wait about 3-4 months before adding any sort of algae eaters.

My tank (w/ Fish) is almost cylced and getting A LOT of diatoms, I know Plecos won't eat that, but would it be safe to add some sort of cleanup crew?

I'm axious to get something in there, but don't want to jump the gun and starve them.

 

[fishiefishie]

I'd wait. You don't want to add them before the cycle is done, as that will only stress if not kill them. And you certainly don't want to add them and the have nothing to eat. You could always feed them algae wafers at first until the algae gets going, but I'd still wait until the cycle is finished.

 

[wataugachicken]

whenever you add plecos to the tank, you have to feed them. do not depend on them to eat algae and nothing else. depending on what you get, they need algae wafers, fresh veggies, shrimp pellets or pieces of shrimp, or driftwood. some eat plant matter, some are omnivores, others carnivores, and some actually eat wood.
if you don't overfeed, do weekly water changes with gravel cleaning, and keep lights on for only 8-10 hours a day you won't have a problem with algae.

 

[Malefic23]

Another question to ask is, what's your tank size? The little common ones in all the fish stores grow up to be HUGE. Smaller plecs are avaliable, but you need to know what you're looking at, and what will fit in your tank.

 

[MVandenberk]

It's a 90 gallon.

I would be waiting until the cycle is complete definately, before I looked at adding it.