I had a common pleco in my 38 gallon, he was still quite small and I know he would of needed a bigger tank later on. I found him dead stuck to the small (maybe an inch in length that I wasnt even aware of) intake vent on the back of my Aquaclear Powerhead, after goin to go eat some algea in the morning. Now I was wondering what would be a good replacement for him that wont be growing so large that it will need a larger tank later on, maybe oto's or some shrimp of sorts . I also was thinking of adding more fish in general since my bio-load is much lower, I think the 1 inch per gallon rule is a load of c***. Here is my current setup: Currently I have 2 Blue (Three spotted) Gourami's, 2 Upside-Down Catfish, 1 Rainbow Shark, and 3 Bleeding Heart Tetras, I have a Penguin 200 Filter, AquaClear 50 Powerhead w/quick filter attachment, Stealth heater, Whisper 60 air pump.
Pleco "replacement"
- Thread starter JoeRags3
- Start date
You could get an interesting pleco that would not grow so big. Perhaps a bristlenose/bushynose? They don't get much bigger than 5 inches.
A couple more upside down cats would be good too since they like to be in larger groups and are more active when in a school.
A couple more upside down cats would be good too since they like to be in larger groups and are more active when in a school.
would a group of USD Cats (5-6) be enough to keep algae at bay, or would I need to get a few shrimp or snails?
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And how about Bleeding Heart Tetras, would there still be enough room for them? And how many would be a decent enough school for them?
USD's don't eat algae. The bristlenose pleco is a decent algae eater. If you want a group of smaller then get a few otto cats. They stay around 1.5 inches and don't mind the company of their own kind.
I woudl add some more tetras as they do so well in larger groups. For now I would stick to 2-3 more to get the school size up to at least 5. Then wait awhile before adding more fish. You don't want any ammonia spikes.
I woudl add some more tetras as they do so well in larger groups. For now I would stick to 2-3 more to get the school size up to at least 5. Then wait awhile before adding more fish. You don't want any ammonia spikes.