Is it safe for a pleco top be housed in a brakish tank? We have a brakish tank and it is being bombarded by algae and would love to get a pleco or two in there but are finding mixed views of the idea online... whats your opinon?
pleco in brakish water???
- Thread starter MikenDanielle
- Start date
Scrub the tank down by hand. Plecos aren't really ment to be super cleaners. I have one but I treat him as a fish. It is nice to have because they tank doesn't get dirty so fast but he isn't a vacuume and doesn't get all the algae in the tank.
I don't know if they live in brakish though.
I don't know if they live in brakish though.
Sounds like a very bad idea; plecos are not brackish fish. If you want something that will eat algae, get some nerites snails or other inverts.
I wouldn't do it Plecos generally don't do well in salt. Some species can tolerate low end brackish ( http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131595&st=0&p=1103634&#entry1103634 ) but I still wouldn't run the risk.
The best algae control is elbow grease. Some people have reported some algae eating success with black mollys, American Flagfish, Olive Nerite Snails, and Malaysian Trumpet Snails in brackish. Personally I have kept the first and the last in brackish. One word of caution on MTS though, some people say they are bad for puffers so if you have puffers in your setup you might want to avoid the MTS.
The best algae control is elbow grease. Some people have reported some algae eating success with black mollys, American Flagfish, Olive Nerite Snails, and Malaysian Trumpet Snails in brackish. Personally I have kept the first and the last in brackish. One word of caution on MTS though, some people say they are bad for puffers so if you have puffers in your setup you might want to avoid the MTS.
I agree with the others as far as elbow grease being the way to go. Depending on the current fish you have in there, the mollies and american flag fish may help. If you have any puffers, then pretty much any snail will be viewed as a tasty treat. I can only manage to keep really good sized mollies because of my toadfish, but if you don't have problems with compatability issues, at least you could try the other fish. Good luck!