clown pleco's, do I dare?

wolf13

wolf13

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Mar 13, 2007
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I have the chance to pick up a pair of 3 inch clown Pleco's (male/female tankmates) for my new 29g. I know they need wood, including slime on the wood and prefere an aged tank, so that has me really concerned to risk them.

Heres the setup:
I ordered plants and had a couple already (total 26 so far, mostly swords, but also a few stalks of anachris and hornwort) that will be here on weds, so this will hopefully have plenty of plants I am hoping (high lighting, fertilizer). I also have driftwood on its way (weds as well) as well as a small piece I already picked up local that has been pleco food in their tank for a long time (figured i'd rub it over the new wood to make sure its well seeded to get it started, the wood is ready to sink so no soaking time needed). the tank is in a fishless cycle until i get the plants. There is soem algea growing on my heater and filter intake as well.

Do I dare risk getting the pleco's friday provided all goes well, everything shows up and everything goes as planned? Or should I just wait. I am really concerned about the aged wood thing I think, while I have that aged piece its only about 5 inches long and about 3 wide and tall. I'd defiantly prefer to pass them up thne get thme and kill thme off.
 
I have a Clown Pleco...he's great!

However, I would never have dared let hime be the first in the tank...and I certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity of a male / female pair either!!!

Hmmm....any chance you can hold off and put some sort of deposit down to retain those fish until you've had a few fish in the tank for couple of weeks?

Tempting.......................
 
clowns are very hardy and will thrive in a cycled/planted tank with plenty of wood. They eat less of the slime on the wood than the wood itself, so don't worry about that.

That said, I wouldn't introduce any catfish into an uncycled tank. BUT...an adequately planted tank doesn't need cycling because the plants take up all the ammonia. That is assuming, however, that the plants do well right away, don't die, and get enough light and fertilizer.

That pair sounds too nice to risk in a brand new tank. Unless, of course, you have everything going well. good luck!

Andy
 
well, the driftwood showed up today, much sooner then expected, so thats good. so thats four smaller pieces and one massive piece thats a heck of a lot bigger then i expected.

Now, what is the deciding factor for an aged tank over a fresh tank? what exactly are the factors making it an aged tank?
 
ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0 and stay there. Nitrates will be present as the final product of processing ammonia and nitrite in the filter. look up cycling if you don't know what I"m talking about. :)
 
oh, i fully do, i should have said what factors besides cycling. and I wouldn't even consider it if the plants can't handle an ammonia dosage before i buy.
 
I guess that's all you need to really worry about with clowns. Since they eat wood, you don't need to have an established algae bed like with ottos. They're generally hardy and I've never had a problem with them. My only complaint is that I never see them!
 
I chickened out. I still want them, and hope they'll still be there, but I didn't want to risk such a nice pair without being a lot more sure in my tank. With the plants coming today, I decided it was too short a turnaround to get them on friday. we had a nasty coldsnap last night and today that will last through the weekend so in retrospect I am already feeling better about it. The plants looked a little stressed from the cold, so I am hoping they all survive, it would suck if I got the pleco's and half my plants died by sunday. So i'll take a little extra time.
 
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