Small plecs

chris52

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Jan 14, 2013
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Preston, Lancs
Hi all. This is my 1st post apart from my intro post. I am just in the process of dismantling my Malawi Mbuna tank and starting a plec tank. My tank is a rio 180. I have 2 ext APS filters,1 of 900ltrs ph and 1 of 1300ltrs ph. My water has been buffered upto around 7.6 PH. Coming from the tap it is usually around 6,8 PH. I am looking at getting a few small plecs, L134 would be ideal because of the small size, but i am at a loss as to which others i could put in there with them. I will be having a quite bare tank, just a little sand or fine gravel on the base and a few rocks and pieces of bogwood as decoration. I will be waiting a few months before setting up the tank as i want to get everything in place and research the fish before i take the plunge. The most important thing for me is to decide which fish would be best for my size of tank and work out how many i could have of each, then work around that as to what the tank is set up like. Any suggestions would be more than welcome. Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers. Chris.
 

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
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Hello Chris,

You have an 180liter tank. That is a nice size. Filtration that you have should also be fine. I would however use new sand/gravel and not anything from the mbuna tank at all. You could have a groups of 4-8 L134s with caves and wood and some plants like java fern anubias. Then for dither fish add some cardinals tetras and/or rummy noses.
I would not add to many different type of Ls, due to various problems then arrising from different foods, interbreeding and aggression.
just my ideas, stick to one type of Ls only. Even the L004 are cute as well. cheers jk :thumbup:
 

chris52

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Jan 14, 2013
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Preston, Lancs
Thanks for the reply Bigbird. All my fish are now sold bar the synos, which will hopefully be gone by next weekend. Me and the mrs went down to Rareaquatics today for a look around and spoke to Nick, very helpful bloke. I came away with a huge piece of bogwood which will fill the tank when set up. I was very impressed with the selection of fish and the prices seemed very reasonable, so looks like he will be getting a few quid from me in the future.. I have bred B/Ns before when i had a big breeding set up for the Malawis.
Here is 1 of the fry with mummy.
 

chris52

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Jan 14, 2013
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Preston, Lancs
Very nice tank. I will be keeping that in mind when i set up. I was thinking not so many plants but 1 large(1mtr length) bogwood, which i now have and a few slate decorations and some breeding caves behind the wood.
 

mrRRunner

Member
Oct 2, 2009
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Staffordshire UK
Hi and welcome Chris
I also would not put other L numbers with the L134 as they can be quite aggressive
Jo and Nick at Rare will give you spot on advise and their stock is fantastic.
here is a pic of my Rio 180 L134 tank although all the gravel has now been removed, just personnel choice really.
[/IMG]
 

chris52

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Jan 14, 2013
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Preston, Lancs
Ok, update time. I have now sold all my cichlids and cleaned the tank thouroughly. I got a huge peice of bogwood, almost a meter in length, that fills the tank nicely. I bought some sand and washed it through then put it in the tank to a depth of about 3/8". I have tied some Anubias to the bogwood and am just watching the tank filling up now. I am going to run 1 filter for about 4 weeks to keep the bacteria alive. The other filter i will take apart and clean. I will be doing water changes at the rate of about 25% per week for the next 4 weeks to clear any tannins that the wood releases. While this is being done i will be testing the water stats every day. When i am satisfied that everything is ok and stable i will then look at my 1st batch of plecs. I will post some pics when the tank has cleared.
 

Stan

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Apr 23, 2009
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If you have any other tanks up and running you could swap over some bio media to speed things along. or when you clean your other filter you could keep the biomedia alive in a pail of tank water with an airstone as well.
 

chris52

Member
Jan 14, 2013
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Preston, Lancs
Hi Stan. No other tanks but both filters are mature, been running for about 2 yrs now. I will only be introducing a couple of fish a month so the bioload wont be that much on a mature filter and the 2nd filter will soon catch up when i start to run that again. was thinking of stocking:-
L183
Ancistrus super red
L128
L66
L102
L129
From this list i will be picking 3 types and have 3/4 of each of the 3. I will also be having some dither fish in there, either Cardinal tetras or Rummynose, But i am open to any suggestions. Also i would appreciate any comments on the choice of L numbers i am looking at. Cheers. Chris.
 

Joshua Grundy

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Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
Hello there, I have 2 Hong Kong plecs in my aquarium and they have been there happily for almost 6 months. I already had my aquarium set up a couple of weeks before and I already had 3 fancy goldfish that are only a few inches long so won't harm or eat the plecs that I have and up until now they all get on fantastic which was a relief as I wasn't sure if goldfish and plecs would be okay together.... I only have two Hong Kong plecs and they settled in really well although they are really fast creatures ha ha ha, I have real trouble trying to catch them when I do 80% water changes every 10 days... throughout the 10 days I have my air stone on continuously (all day and all night) and the filter that I have is on continuously too apart from 2-3 hours a night when I turn it off and plug in the built in lamp that came with the aquarium when I bought it. I have simple fine gravel that is layered on the bottom of the tank, I then have a tall coral and plant rock that is in the left side of the aquarium and then I have my filter behind that, but my filter has a tube extension that fixes onto the filter the tube is out of the water ( about 2 inches above the water) and the water drops down through 5 holes within the tube and this seems to give the water coming out of the filter more of a current and with the air stone been on continuously too it creates an even current and air filled water on both sides of the tank. I know that Hong Kong plecs come from high oxygen water levels in streams and I try to created as much oxygen as I can and the colder the water the better the water can hold oxygen so when I clean them out I just use ordinary tap water but it is really cold... One of the plecs are black and the other one is brown and the black one is a lot bigger than the brown one, I don't know if this means one is female or one is male though but they are really interesting to watch... I put the lamp on for a few hours every night because this helps to promote the growth of algae they eat and they will occasionally eat high quality flakes that fall on the bottom but mostly they will eat things of the glass and the barrel that is in the middle of the tank. I also have a little bridge at the right end of the tank with a tall artificial plant behind it and they also will sometimes go on the bridge to suck algae.... Do you think 2 plecs are enough for my tank as well as the 3 goldfish or do you think I should get 1 more Hong Kong plec? I I was thinking about going to this stream near my house that has really clean water in it and was going to get a couple of flat stones with moss on and take them home and clean them and then put them in the aquarium but not sure if they would like it, do you think the moss is good for plecs? .....( I AM NEW TO THIS FORUM BUT MORE THAN HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT FISH WITH ANYONE AND IFANYONE COULD ANSWER MY QUESTIONS IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRICEATED.... :) kind regards Joshua Grundy
 

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Joshua Grundy

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Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
I have 2 Hong Kong plecs with 3 fancy goldfish in my aquarium that is about the same as yours Chris, do you think 2 Hong Kong plecs are enough or should I get one more? Kind regards Joshua
 

mrRRunner

Member
Oct 2, 2009
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Staffordshire UK
I would say that as there is three goldfish in there that would be enough as gold fish can get pretty big and can be messy (heavy on the filter) don't know a great deal about Hong Kong plecs/Hillstream loaches apart from they like cooler water and thrive in fast flowing water
 

Joshua Grundy

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Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
Thanks MrRRunner (chris), and I know goldfish can grow quite big ha ha, my friends goldfish has just died after 11 years and it was about 8-10 inches long....I have read up a little bit about Hong Kong plecs and yes your right, they need plenty of oxygen in the water. And they also eat algae that forms on the sides of the aquarium and I have occasionally seen the little brown one eating fakes.... but these plecs only grow to a maximum of about 3-4 inches tops... They are really interesting to watch as well.... I really like your photo of your tank setup, I like the way you have half gravel/sand and the other side glass showing on the bottom of the tank... ( What are those yellow plecs you have in your aquarium, are they fresh water, do they needs heating or just regular tap water that my Hong Kong plecs have? Oh and how big do they grow ) I think that in about 5 year I might start a plec aquarium as they are really fascinating, and I really like cory doras but I couldn't have them as I think they needed heated water and I would be scared because it's not fair looking after something if I can't give it the correct care and attention, oh and sorry for this paragraph, I just really like fish.......
 

mrRRunner

Member
Oct 2, 2009
85
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Staffordshire UK
Thanks for the comments Joshua
The tank is set up for breeding but not had much luck, it is now all bare bottom for ease of maintenance, The fish in that tank are Leopard frog plecs L134 (Peckoltia compta) and are tropical.
Do you mean the yellow plecs in my photo gallery?
If so they are Black eyed yellow bristlenose L144 (ancistrus sp4) and yes they are tropical so need a temp of about 25C they grow to approx 4-5inches
Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
 

Joshua Grundy

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Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
I would really like a tropical setup after I have moved house but I am not sure about how to care for them properly, is it easy to keep the temperature consistent at 25C as I like to do water changes weekly to keep water as clean as possible.... I was looking at plecs at pet shop today in leeds but they only had plecs that can grow really big, I just want plecs that grow to about 5cm as they would be easier for me to look after and care for.... I quite like those yellow bristlenoses that you have, and maybe if I had a tropical setup I could have a few small cory doras too as some cory dora species only grow a couple of inches..... And I have just arrange a few stones in my aquarium and want algae to grow on them for my hong kong plecs to eat, I have my aquarium built in light bulb on for about 2 hours a night to help the algae grow but would having the light on for about 4 hours decrease the oxygen levels in my aquarium and affect the water quality, any information is much appreciated, kind regards Joshua
 

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
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Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Hello Joshua,

Hong Kong plecs - hill stream loaches, love and need fast clean running water.
It is always advisable to have soil/sand on the bottom as they are known for fry to hide in from these loaches. A heater and thermostat will keep your temp at whatever temp you set it at. Remembers, Ls love warmer temps 26-30C and Hong Kong plecs and gold fish love cooler water temps 22C. Gold fish are the biggest polluters in aquariums and i would make sure you have enough filtration to serve that requirement. it seems that you have 2 type of fish you love, cooler temp ones and higher Ls temp ones. As far as I know, there is no Ls that only grow to 5cm, the smallest is 6-8cm L174. The aquarium light should also be on for 8-9hours a day in one go ( that is my view ie 8am to 5pm etc ) If you wish algae growth, then take rocks and wood and place in a bucket full of water outside for 4weeks and then they will be full of algal growth and add these or swap these with stuff in your tank. Also the pellet foods available today are great and have a supplements, that any fish will eat these as well and get all benefits from it. cheers jk :thumbup:
 

Joshua Grundy

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Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
Thanks for reply BigBird.... I have my air stone on continuously and my filter is on continuously apart from when I unplug it and put my aquarium light on, and I clean my filter regularly so I think I have clean enough water with plenty of oxygen. I think I will get another aquarium for some plecs and a few cory doras but ill wait until I have moved house and then figure out where to put the new aquarium because at the minute my living room is full of animals, hopefully I can find a house with a spare bedroom to house my pets... Oh and thank you for answering my question about how to create algae on rocks, I will put them in a bucket with some water and should I put a lid on the bucket and add some fish food to it to help algae grow? And I think the hong kong plec reaches 1.5 inch, well this is what they said in the shop. And does having the light on for 8 hours a day decrease the oxygen levels and the water quality? Thanks Joshua
 

mrRRunner

Member
Oct 2, 2009
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Staffordshire UK
Don't turn your filter off Joshua, if you do your nitrifying bacteria in the filter will start to die off, they need water flow to stay alive. When you say clean your filter, you should gently clean it in tank water, never rinse the media in clean tap water, and you would probably only need to change the polyester part if it has one on a regular basis, dont change any sponges until they are falling apart,
Bigbird is spot on with his comments,
 
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Joshua Grundy

Member
Feb 17, 2013
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Leeds
I don't really know much about filters but mine has a sponge in the bottom which I usually clean about once or twice a month because by then it is usually filthy as goldfish are quite messy fish and in the top of the filter their is a compartment with a sack of stones of some sort but not exactly sure what's in the sack, and when I clean the sponge I usually clean the sack of stones too as this gathers a lot of fish waste and food that hasn't been eaten.... It is a filter that came with the aquarium setup but I don't really know how good of a filter it is but by looking how much waste and food is in the sponge and that sack of stones then I'd guess it is doing it's job and the water in the aquarium always looks clear even after 2 weeks but I always do a 80% water change every 10 days. I have put some flat stones in a bucket with the lid on and with a bit of fish food for some extra algae for my hong kong plecs... ( IF I POST A PICTURE OF MY AQUARIUM ON MY PROFILE WOULD SOMEONE BE ABLE TO TELL ME HOW MANY LITRES MY TANK IS?) Oh and I have found another double adapter plug and I have made sure that I don't have to turn my filter off so both filter and air stone are on continuously flowing... Thanks for comments and help chris :)