Pleco - filtration needs

[John-Eddie]

Hi All,

First post, and I'm a new aquarist.

I purchased (about 8 months ago) a 55 gallon tank, freshwater, and a HOB filter (aqueon 50-gallon type) and went through the process of letting the tank cycle before lightly stocking.

Like a misguided newbie, I picked out some fish I just "liked", and started with a group of 5 black skirt tetras. The local fish shop person also suggested I needed an algae eater (now you all know where this is going...) and suggested a pleco. I should have asked more questions when, after bagging one, she asked "how big did you say your tank was again?"

Ok, so fast forward to now. Senior Pleco is about 16" long. He and the tetras are healthy, water quality is good with 25% water changes every 7-10 days. I upgraded to a 75 HOB filter after a couple months, and last week, I upgraded again to a Cascade 1500 canister.

1) yes, I know I need a bigger tank for the pleco, but
2) is there any amount of filtration that can handle the pleco poop? It's ugly, even though the water remains at healthy levels quality wise.

-John

 

[fishorama]

Welcome to AC!

The problem with pleco poo is it's long heavy strings. So even with a strong filter & good water circulation it can't reach the intake to get sucked out. Vacuuming is the way, but that can be difficult too, as you probably know. A swirl vac technique & breaking up the long strings with the vac edge can help.

 

[myswtsins]

Welcome to AC!

So unfortunate cause it's just as easy to sell someone a small actual algae eating pleco. Common plecos pretty much completely stop eating algae as they get bigger, need lots of food and as you've seen are absolute poo monsters. I mean I love them but he is not serving the purpose you got him for now.

Anyway, as fishorama said vacuuming is the best/easiest way to remove their waste since it is so heavy and big. If you want to do a project though...An under gravel jet system (UGJ not UGFilter) adds circulation at the substrate level to keep particles suspended and moving towards the filter. I used one on an Mbuna tank and although their waste isn't as heavy/big 30 4-7" fish produce a lot of waste and it worked well. Otherwise you could just try adding a couple powerheads to try to "pickup" to waste. Honestly though vacuuming is the best option because you are removing the waste from the water instead of it sitting unseen in your filters when it is polluting the water.

Do you plan to keep him long term (now that you know what he actually is)? They do live 10+yrs. I know you said he needs one but are you planning to get a bigger tank? At 16" he is significantly longer than the tank is wide so you'd want to move up to a 75 at least. If you plan to get a bigger tank anyways I wouldn't bother with something like the UGJ, power heads can easily move over to a new tank though.

 

[John-Eddie]

Welcome to AC!

So unfortunate cause it's just as easy to sell someone a small actual algae eating pleco. Common plecos pretty much completely stop eating algae as they get bigger, need lots of food and as you've seen are absolute poo monsters. I mean I love them but he is not serving the purpose you got him for now.

Anyway, as fishorama said vacuuming is the best/easiest way to remove their waste since it is so heavy and big. If you want to do a project though...An under gravel jet system (UGJ not UGFilter) adds circulation at the substrate level to keep particles suspended and moving towards the filter. I used one on an Mbuna tank and although their waste isn't as heavy/big 30 4-7" fish produce a lot of waste and it worked well. Otherwise you could just try adding a couple powerheads to try to "pickup" to waste. Honestly though vacuuming is the best option because you are removing the waste from the water instead of it sitting unseen in your filters when it is polluting the water.

Do you plan to keep him long term (now that you know what he actually is)? They do live 10+yrs. I know you said he needs one but are you planning to get a bigger tank? At 16" he is significantly longer than the tank is wide so you'd want to move up to a 75 at least. If you plan to get a bigger tank anyways I wouldn't bother with something like the UGJ, power heads can easily move over to a new tank though.

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I'll keep on vac'ing! I thought about making a gravel jet once, but my test piece was so hard to keep anchored in the substrate that I gave up. Powerhead will be the next try.

As far as tank size goes, I'm going to 100-150 once I make up my mind on specifics. The pleco will be the only big guy - I like the idea of several small groups of various tetras, etc.

-John

 

[myswtsins]

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I'll keep on vac'ing! I thought about making a gravel jet once, but my test piece was so hard to keep anchored in the substrate that I gave up. Powerhead will be the next try.

As far as tank size goes, I'm going to 100-150 once I make up my mind on specifics. The pleco will be the only big guy - I like the idea of several small groups of various tetras, etc.

-John

Sounds great! You should bring us along on your upgrade, we like pictures btw.

 

[FreshyFresh]

John- welcome! One thing I don't see addressed in this thread is the issue that 25% water changes every 7-10 days is not nearly enough for a 16" common pleco in a 55g tank. IMO, filtration is important, but water changes are more important. Do you have a read in ppm for nitrate?

I have read of folks keeping common plecos in 55g tanks, but the fish was basically by themselves and the tank saw (at a minimum) one fin-level water change per week. Plecos are very long lived fish when kept properly.

 

[fishorama]

Freshy is right, I skimmed over that part about minimal water changes. With the ton'o'poo you may want to some smaller vacs & a big weekly 1. (you don't add up the percent each change. A 10% daily WC does NOT equal a 70% or even 50%)

If you nitrate is higher than say, 40ppm you should start by doing 10-20% daily or every other day until you get to 40ppm or less. I said 40ppm because while I prefer 20ppm or less nitrate it may be hard to keep it that low with such a big poo monster.

You must feed him well to have him grow so fast. Do you offer veggies like zucchini sometimes? Most plecos are omnivores. He might like them & algae wafers are mostly about like regular fish foods as far as veg & protein content go. It "may" help with the heaviness of the poo strings, veggies are high in water. Plus it's fun to give healthy treats! There is a list of veggies to try at the top of the plecos subforum in bottom feeders.

 

[John-Eddie]

Freshy is right, I skimmed over that part about minimal water changes. With the ton'o'poo you may want to some smaller vacs & a big weekly 1. (you don't add up the percent each change. A 10% daily WC does NOT equal a 70% or even 50%)

If you nitrate is higher than say, 40ppm you should start by doing 10-20% daily or every other day until you get to 40ppm or less. I said 40ppm because while I prefer 20ppm or less nitrate it may be hard to keep it that low with such a big poo monster.

You must feed him well to have him grow so fast. Do you offer veggies like zucchini sometimes? Most plecos are omnivores. He might like them & algae wafers are mostly about like regular fish foods as far as veg & protein content go. It "may" help with the heaviness of the poo strings, veggies are high in water. Plus it's fun to give healthy treats! There is a list of veggies to try at the top of the plecos subforum in bottom feeders.

Nitrate is almost always at the lowest color on the API kit. (I have my wife read it - I'm colorblind) - sometimes one band above.

I change out 15 gallons (3 five gallon buckets) a week or so, so about 25%.

As for alternative foods, I've only ever tried zucchini, which he seems to like.

-John

 

[myswtsins]

Do you have plants in this tank? I would VERY surprised if you have a 16" pleco with those small not quite weekly water changes and nitrates are usually 0 (or 5 if you are saying the second color but first number above 0) without the use of some sort of nitrate removal, like fast growing plants. Could you post a pic of the tank, pleco and the test tube with card? Pictures are worth a 1,000 words!

And you need to get yourself a python or similar water changing system lol. Lots of big water changes in your future and those buckets will kill ya plus they make water changes a drag and then you slack on them.

 

[FreshyFresh]

John, it's not possible for a pleco that big in 55g of water to produce that amount of nitrates with your situation. I'd question the test kit or the way the kit is being used. It's very easy to not do the API master test kit nitrate test properly, which will give you false readings.