Plec or not to Plec.?????

Here we go again

i have been thinking of getting a plec about 6 inch to go in E's tank
help keep the tank clean.
now i have NO algie in there at all.
im always cleaning the glass and scooping up the poo with a net.
4bucket water change and gravel clean a week.
so to be honest the tank is pristine.................
Now I have read that even though they clean the algie
they can make more poop than they clean up.
i dont want to make more work for myself here
or scare E to death. lol
what do you all think?
thanks

OK - here is the deal - in nature - algae for a fish is a low nutrition food so they eat lots of it to make up.

In the aquarium - you supercede nature - you prvide top notch nutrition so ok - the plec will be 'hungry' as all fish are all the time anyway - but the fact is - in th ehoke aquarium - you couldnt provide anough algae for the average algae eater even if you intentionally grew it.

So - in terms of glass cleaning - just do the front glass and the plec will do the rest.

Id suggest a Bristlenose - simply because they are easy to care for - very tough (mine have survived all the typical noobs mistakes and water quality crashes - two years on they are breeding) and also - they are relatively cheap to buy - if E really hates them - easily returned or he may simply eat them (if he is quite big already)..

Most BN's bought from a shop are only an inch or two in length so bear this in mind - also - E will gromw MUCH bigger than a BN ever can so again - more than likely one day E will fancy a BN KitKat (and they are cruchy on the outside - gooey in the middle)

Id actuclly say go for one of the larger catfish - a sailfin plec ought to be fine as too a bogstandard plec (or albino version) boith grow big and fast but all plecs should have access to bogwood (dietry requirement) and a decent cave all tho themselves - with bulldozer oscars - your going to have to plan ahead and make such items tabnl safe or unmovable (you dont want a kilo of slate etc getting over friendly with a sheet of tank glass)

I wont post feeding of plecs here - as all are different and it depends on what you get and knowing you - you wont get one anyway

The web has a good amount of info on Oscar tankmates - but outside of the plecs - ive seen silver dollars, Tinfoil barbs, silver sharksm red tail cats and other non armoured catfish (these tend to have the big long whiskers and big eyes) - so there is a choice out there.

In terms of poo - I actually dont thinks really oprduce more poo than most other fish - in terms of a poo per inch scale - swordtails/platys etc win this by a mile and im sure 1 plec wont make much more than one spoiled brat oscar called elvis - you could always slap in an additioonal filter (or get a big external)

Great advice from Rich, as usual. I wouldnt consider a BN, although they are lovely, because I have a feeling it would end up as what Rich calls a KitKat snack and I dont think you would want to deal with that.

From what I know, Oscars can be VERY territorial, so anything you put in with him would have to be of a decent size, as he has become a big boy now!!

Thanks guys
I wouldn't want E to eat any
when Megs my dog looks in the tank he licks his lips...lol

ERRRR Rich >>>>>>>>>>>>

spoiled brat oscar called elvis Nooooooooooooo Never
ok well maybe just a little bit

chez, this might be worth considering -

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=8846

some lfs have large plecs for sale - ie those that have outgrown their homes (usually common or sailfin fin plecs) - what you could do if your interested is lask all your lfs (by phone) if they have any to sell and if not - have them take your number and let you know if anyone offers a big catfish for rehoming.

you will be doing your little bit for the cause by rehoming an otherwise unwanted fish and not buying a new one (and encouraging the sale of inappropriate fish)

My local P@H had made me shocked recently - selling oscars - by the dozen -= all housed in 60liter tanks atm

what a lovely fish Diane

thanks Rich i will call in my L.F.S tomorrow
and give him my number
you never know.
good thinking batman

blimey a right price the first one is ugly

ssshhhh - youll offend her

second one is nice though - I wouldnt mind that if I had a big tank with just one poor lonely solitary isolated fish in it

Diana wrote:

second one is nice though - I wouldnt mind that if I had a big tank with just one poor lonely solitary isolated fish in it

you forgot spoilt
Do you know i Love my E.
now will i love a plec as much?

plecs are great - in their own grumpy little way

id have more if I could

"grumpy" isnt the word to explain a pec.

lately mine has actualy chased the sevs and oscar because they have picked up his algea discs and wont give up untill they drop it

yeah - but the funniest part is when they realise they cant do much about it if they catch another fish what they gonna do - suck em to death (dont reply diana

Unless they are vampire plecs - which do have fair sized teeth

an 8" plec ought to be able to stand its own ground against a fully grwon oscar - they are called armoured catfish for a good reason and they can swim pretty fast when they want too and can give a fair old slap with the tail as well

as said - get a decent skate cave (make one or look on ebay) and a couple of big pieces of bogwood and everyone ought to be happy (tank sides are perfectly safe from boogwood - its only marginally denser than water ans not hard to touch - least not proper bogwood anyway) - I think elvis will be fine - he will just have to learn to love his new tankmates - or you could get him another oscar friend

Rich wrote:

what they gonna do - suck em to death...

Rich wrote:

what they gonna do - suck em to death (dont reply diana

now you are just askin for trouble matey!!

well - its ok - im a gentleman - i wont run too fast - it part of my duty to let her catch me sooner rather than later - instead of hiding behind it - i'll just use the settee - much easier that way

NOT TO PLEC.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after getting up these passed couple of mornings to find my nice tidy tank
been re'decorated i'm afraid he's got to go.
He is in the rena tank with bogwood sand and a cave
yesturday there was 2 mountains either end of the tank no sand in the middle
this morning one massive sand dune in the middle of the tank.
down to bare glass everywhere else.
sorry but he has to go.
I wont be putting him the new big tank with E
he's just tooooooooooooo untidy.

He's a fish!!! No doubt housekeeping isnt high on his list of priorities lol!!

You could always add a few more ornaments/wood/fake plants to stop him doing that, or even add some stones or gravel maybe?

Also, when he is in a bigger tank he probably wont have such an effect - he's in a small tank at the mo so is able to move everything .

To be honest the more I look at the mess in Plecs tank I think
i'm getting to like the uneven rough bottom of the tank look
it changes everyday
and no gas build up..lol
I don't know what E will think when he see's a massive sand dune with a plant on top
coming towards him.

I feel sorry for that fish! It's like one of those alien films where there is an inderground monster just waiting for some unsuspecting soul to come along so he can be GRABBED!!

You got to bear in mind that a plec of this size isnt too fond of being in a (too him/her) small tank.

My BN is relatively small yet when they take the mood to swing their tails - they dont half make the gravel in my tabk fly around so I dread to think what the result wwith sand would be.

My thinking is that the plec has been swimming around the edge of the tank and the result is the sand builds up in the middle.

Without want to sound critical - this isnt really the plecs fault

as i said before i took sand back out of tank and put gravel back in with a few artificial plants and bog wood and the tank was OK in the morning,having said that i think that you may have a problem when you put plec in with E,my reason for saying this is because my plec is 9 inch and o is 3 to 4 inch,and when i first put o in with p it was the o that was aggressive,so i think you might have problem when u put p in with o.