High Fin Spotted Pleco

[Cowgrl4life]

I'm needing to move my high fin spotted pleco from my planted 10gal I've been raising him in, and I'm not sure if he'd be happier in a 55gal Malawi cichlid tank with a common pleco, or if he'd do better in a approx 70gal octagon with goldfish and an albino Bristlenose Pleco. I got him super small and he's needing to move up to one of my bigger tanks. . . those are his two options LOL

 

[livebearerfreak]

well i have 3 bristle nose in my 75 african tank and they seem to be doing just fine, so why not the 55 for now?

 

[excuzzzeme]

Goldfish are coldwater. This makes a mismatch for any tropicals. Having another pleco to an existing one is generally not a good idea, especially when you have Mbuna. Plecos are sometimes intolerant of other plecos even if a different species. You have a conundrum on your hands. The best correct answer is that neither option is good. Flip a coin and hope for the best.

 

[Cowgrl4life]

Well, the bristlenose has been with a common pleco before and there were no problems. He seems very docile and doesn't come out often, so maybe they wouldn't butt heads too bad. My goldfish tank runs a bit warmer than most, so I'm not worried too much with the cold water. Maybe I'll try there first and see how he does. In a few months when it warms up, hopefully the goldies will move out to a above ground pond anyway. . . I am having a super bad algae problem though in my 55gal. Is it too horrible to add a second common to that tank to help clean up the mess? I know two wouldn't be ok together once they got huge, but re-homing if necessary wouldn't be too big of a problem later down the road.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Using a lifeform to handle an algae problem does not fix the cause. You will need to address the cause and then you can use something to assist with clean-up. Bad water is bad water. It can compromise the health of any livestock. Algae can be caused by any number of reasons. The most likely are old bulbs, too long of a photoperiod, too high phosphorus/phosphate (from some foods and fertilizers), insufficient water changes.

 

[smitty]

I would put him with the goldfish.