Full grown clowns with a Polypterus bichir lapradei??

S

saphphx

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Oct 29, 2006
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Barrow-in-Furness
I have a Polypterus bichir lapradei and about... 9 or 10 clown loaches. Once they get at least as large as the Synodontis eupterus and the (possible) Synodontis bastiani which are about 5-6 inches each and have been left alone before I took the lapradei out (she wasn't eating well, so went upstairs) would it be a disaster? My plan is once the Pacu are gone, I will have in my 78"x24"x24" tank:

* 9-10 clown loach
* 2 Synodontis eupterus
* 1 (possible) Synodontis bastiani
* 1 Polypterus bichir lapradei
* 1 Tiger Oscar
* 4-6 Giant Danios
* 3-4 msc plecos​

The tank will have a sand on the bottom, slate caves, carpeted plants on most of the bottom, and tons of plants. Its filtered by 2 Fluval FX5s (yes, the over kill ) and 2 Superfish Air Flow 4s, has large "day" light, and a smaller "moonlight" light, with 2 small LED lights for "nightlights" (the pacu are cowards, but they will be moving on soon) Ideas?

Before you say - I know the clowns will get around a foot in size I just think they should be fine at 6 or 7. Ellie the lapradei is not at all phased by other fish, but I don't keep anything bite sized in there just in case
 
The only problem that I see are the plecos. Like I said on your other thread they are known to eat the slime coat off of the bichirs which would be bad for Ellie. I would put them in a different tank. The clown loaches will be fine as long as they're big enough.
 
is300zx said:
The only problem that I see are the plecos. Like I said on your other thread they are known to eat the slime coat off of the bichirs which would be bad for Ellie. I would put them in a different tank. The clown loaches will be fine as long as they're big enough.
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-nods- So far the plecos are the ones that get pushed around lol. Will keep an eye on them or move them though. I've had offeres on a few of them, so may just sell them, but I do kinda like them lol.
 
Keep the plecos well fed on bulk food like blanched zuchini, with occasional meaty treats like shrimp pellets. If they are well fed and full, they should'nt start sucking slime coats.
 
Malefic23 said:
Keep the plecos well fed on bulk food like blanched zuchini, with occasional meaty treats like shrimp pellets. If they are well fed and full, they should'nt start sucking slime coats.
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Not tried zuchini, they normally get cucumber, carrot, shrimp, grapes, and whatever other fruit, veg, and meat product that we have in the house as the Pacu eat about the same thing, though I "shoot" some into the slate caves with a PVC pipe to make sure everyone gets some :)
 
Whatever they like. The thing about plecos is they are bulk eaters. That is to say, they have to eat a lot of low nutrient food to get enough to be full. That's how nature designed them. Concentrated foods like wafer and pellet may provide them with everything they need to grow, but it does'nt fill the yawning pit of their little bellies. So they still feel hungry all the time, and that can lead to slime coat sucking.

When I gave my tank a three day fast to help keep my fish healthy, I noticed two of my commons took an interest in the arrowana, and attempted to suck on him. That's a first, so I ended their fast a few hours early, and let them pig out on blanched zuchini. No interest in sucking other fish after that.

Oh, exactly what types of plecos are we talking about here? It strikes me that I wrote that based on more common type pleco diets, while some of the exotics are meat eaters, or wood eaters.
 
Malefic23 said:
Oh, exactly what types of plecos are we talking about here? It strikes me that I wrote that based on more common type pleco diets, while some of the exotics are meat eaters, or wood eaters.
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All three look very different, but very simmular to my husbands sail fin pleco (the ones that stay 7 inches or so, no idea what they are called) and are all around 7-8 inches. I can probably get some pics of them, they tend to hang out all over the tank in the evening. I would guess common plecos, they came with the tank, so I doubt they are anything really special.
 
Never know, post us some pictures and we'll do our best to give you an id. Even with "commons" there are three generally accepted species. Gibbycept, hypostumus and pugnatus.
 
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