clown plec

[kelly82]

hi,i recently brought a clown plec,and he has been doin a fantastic job of wiping out all the algae in the tank, but hes getting through it so fast i want to know what to feed him aswell as letting him clear the tank as its obviously not gona be enough,at the moment he is around 2" long. i was told i should just put some wafers or tablets in for him, and that he didnt need any wood (hoping thats right as i dont have any and dont want any) or anything except the algae foods, and that they only grow to 5" so he would be fine when fully grown in my tank (36x12x15). ive tried researching them but keep finding conflicting advice on different sites. could someone please give me the info i need,i want him to be happy,even though he is a little poop machine :grinyes:

 

[Jayhawk]

Unfortunately, they are wood eaters, so you do need at least a small piece of driftwood for it (it doesn't need to be big, though). Algae wafers, bottom feeder wafers, shrimp pellets, veggies - mine seems to like just about anything.

Eric

 

[kelly82]

hmmmm, i might take him back to the fish store then, really i dont have any room in the tank,and doesnt it leak colours or something into the water? sorry if i sound bit daft, never had any wood in my tanks before. are there any plecs that would be small enough and not eat would? or should i abandon the plec idea altogether? thanks

 

[HYLA WALDRON]

Take him back if you cant put driftwood in your tank, make sure the LFS knows he needs driftwood also, or he will just expire there. Bristlenose stay small and eat algea but will also need algae wafers, cucmbers and such.

 

[pinkertd]

I say take him back if you can too. I had a clown pleco recently and large driftwood in the planted tank. The pleco spent 100% of his time on the driftwood and was never seen cleaning anywhere else. And they are wood eaters. So even if you add wood, you may not wind up with the tank cleaner that you had hoped for. Cute....but not the tank cleaner you really need. I agree about getting Bristlenose.

 

[drgold]

all plecos, including meat-eating hypancistrus, need wood in their diets to some degree. Any pleco-keeper worth his salt has at least some wood in the tank. Even if it's just a finger-sized piece.

Kelly82, If you have a very small piece and boil it for an hour or so, it won't leach noticable tannins. For a clown pleco, just find a piece big enough for him to hide on or under and he'll be happy. Replace it as it's eaten away. That will take awhile, depending on how hard the wood is. good luck!

Andy

 

[wolf13]

as others have said, he absolutly must have wood. some shops will have wood in tanks for sale, otherwise, boiling it for a while will take the tannins out, depending on size, type and age it may take a while. tannins are not harmful, though they might lower your ph slightly. some of us actually try to get more tannins from peat for south american biotopes called "black water".

besides wood, clown plecs need algea wafers and a mix of vegitables. its ok to cut up large ones and freeze it, then blanch them slightly in boiling water for a few secounds to help it sink. spinich, peas, and zucchini are all good. Yams are an absolute treat for vegitarian plecs. cucumber is ok, but doesn't have a lot of nutriant value, zuchini is much better.

 

[kelly82]

right,ive decided to return him i think,i obviously just dont know enough about them and dont want to risk him having bad life. ive never seen a bristlenose plec before,they have bristlenose catfish but they dont have the plecs,they have hundreds of commons (surprise surprise)but they very good with them,they wont sell even the smallest to anyone with out a 6'tank minimum,there is 1 man who works there who we always try to see as he is like a veteran fish keeper :grinyes: hes great and explains everything thouroughly, and wont sell anything to anyone unless hes happy with the set-up,unfortunately when we brought the plec it was his day off! typical! i have only ever seen big pieces of wood,the smallest ive seen was maybe 8-10inches, wayyyyyyyyy too big with what ive got in there. so u literally cook the wood lol?

so if there arent any plecs which will eat the algae and not need the lump of tree to chew, can anyone recommend something which will snack on it to just keep it under control? i dont really want snails, in my other tank i have an albino ruby shark,and he 'grazes' all day,hes doing quite a good job,there obviously is some algae but just enough to make it look natural in there i think.i did try to get one for this tank but i ended up with an extremely aggressive female who thought she owned the entire tank,needless to say she went back, i might try to find another well tempered ruby shark then. any ideas more than welcome :help: thanks