ghost shrimp

Today I got two common plecos. They're only a few inches big, but they're also a lot faster than I first thought! I have plants in my aquarium, but they seem to like to hide behind the filter. Is this good, bad, or does it even matter? I would like to see them out a little...

URFisher35

they probably need time to adjust to your tank. they are probably nervous and a lil shaken up from you bringing them home and being introduced into a new environment...and hiding behind the filter intake provides them with the most "protection." give them a day or two to adjust and they probably will become more active, but plecos are nocturnal so you may not see them out during the day much. how big is your tank? two common plecos requires a pretty huge tank...

lilsoccakid

i was about to say the same thing, common plecos get to about 18 inches each. need at least a 75 gallon for 2

jack--sos

do you have any caves for your plecos to hide in? as URfisher35 said they are noctournal and like to hide during the day, if behind your filter is the darkest place, thats where they'll stay. if you dont have any caves your should get some a.s.a.p before they get used to hiding behind the filter

inuyasha_lover_21

I had so much hide areas mine still hid behind the filter. PVC tubes work until you can get some good hide decor.

ghost shrimp

uh oh... I didn't know plecos got so big! I have a 10 gallon tank. The man at my pet store said they grow to the size of the tank. One of them comes out and hides under a certain artificial plant sometimes, but they seem to come out and just swim around a little when I turn off the light. If the plecos get too big, I'll give them to someone with a bigger tank somewhere, if I can... I don't know what to do right now. I'll just wait and see what happens.

Lucy

Plecos are nocturnal so it's not unusual for them to only come out at night.

It's not just their size, 10g can't handle the waste pleco's produce, even little ones.
It would be a good idea to return them asap.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

As I mentioned in your other thread, It would be helpful if you filled in your aquarium info.

JESS01

That man is a liar! Pleco's minimum tank is 55gal.

Drew 43920

Mine does that. Sometimes I think it is because that is where he thinks the good food collects.

navyscuba

Yes they do hide and they also grow a lot. I have 2 one on a 50 gal and the other is on a 55gal. One is 10inches long and the other is 11 inches. Here is a link to my add for my plecos so you can see how big they are. http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/bu...ecos-sale.html

Amanda

Yeah, if they are common plecos, they can reach over a foot in length. The best thing would be to either give them back to your LFS, or get a bigger tank. But that would be about a 100+ gallon tank for two...

gremlin

I got my two sailfin plecos at Walmart. They were tiny when I got them and the store employee asked if I was putting them in a 10 gallon. I said no, they were for my pond. He told me they would die if they were put in anything larger because of how small they were. I told him I was willing to risk it. Anyway, the first pic is the day I brought them home June 18th) - they are in a small dish that is sitting in a patch of dichondra. For scale purposes, the leaves of the plant are less than an inch across. The second pic was in September - I was cleaning the pond. Then, the third pic on Oct 16th, when I caught them to bring them in for the winter. I put a clear plastic ruler in the pan with them so you can see how much they have grown in just 4 months.

Attached Images

	06-18-08 two new plecos for pond.JPG (144.1 KB, 23 views)
	pleco two 9 10 08.JPG (105.6 KB, 25 views)
	plecos 10 16 08 pic 3.JPG (66.3 KB, 28 views)

navyscuba

Yeah walmart even put puffers with other kinds of fish. They also put more than one puffer int he same tank. They don't know nothing.

jack--sos

Thats one reason im glad i dont live in America, places like wallmart that only think about profits

ghost shrimp

I think I'll have to give one away eventually, but I'll upgrade the tank when the one I'll keep gets big enough. I'll add my aquarium info since you wanted it.

In the past few days, all of my ghost shrimp died. A tetra got stuck to the filter, and three fancy guppies died. I quickly went to the pet store and got my water checked. The ammonia and nitrates were fine, but the nitrites were way too high. I got some nitrite neutralizer because they recommended it, but they said my fish were probably dying because there wasn't enough aeration. If more fish die, I'll get an aerator. I finally cleaned up the gravel in my aquarium, and the water is much clearer. I got several other problems fixed too.

My tank is a 10 gallon tank and has been running for 1 month. The population is now:

4 neon tetras
4 fancy guppies; 3 male, 1 female
1 snail still known to be alive, type unknown
2 common plecos

I want a spiny eel, but that might be a bad idea. I'm doing research on it.

Amanda

That's all in a 10 gal. tank?
If so, then your tank is fully stocked.
And the eel would eat everything but the plecos.
And they get large.

Lucy

It's not how big he is now. Plecos create a lot of waste even when they're small.
It would be a good idea to re-home them both now.

Here's how to add you aquarium info, it will appear under your user name.
How Do I: Add or Edit Aquarium Info

Did they give you exact numbers for ammonia nitrItes and nitrAtes?
It would be a good idea to get your own test kit. The API is highly recommended and very accurate. If possible, avoid the strips. They tend to be less accurate and cost more in the long run.

Your tank is severely overstocked. As mentioned above, re-homing the plecos now would be a good idea. There's just too much waste being produced for your size tank. The guppies and neons overstock your tank, but that's probably manageable.
You're right adding an eel wouldn't be a good idea.

ghost shrimp

Alright. Since everyone says my tank is overstocked, what about if I sold or gave away the fish, then got a spiny eel? The only problem for me would be shipping the fish. How would I do that?

No, the pet store didn't give me exact numbers.

Amanda

They get much too large for a 10 gal. Reaching up to 36".

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Spiny%20Eel.htm

Lucy

Do some research on the spiny eel. It looks like they need a much larger tank than a 10g.

ghost shrimp

I'm working on the pleco problem. But tell me, what happened here? I couldn't take pictures because it wouldn't show up, but yesterday there was some clear goop with brown specks in it on the heater in my aquarium. They were pretty evenly distributed and were all about the same size. It wasn't old food; I now vacuum my aquarium regularly. But today they're gone! What were they? I thought they were eggs, but there are no fry swimming around. What happened?


I have now given up on the spiny eel and am trying for a black ghost knife fish instead. To help me with this, visit my other post:

Black ghost knife fish

Shawnie

a ghost knife fish needs a minimum of 50 gals...10 gal wouldnt work

gremlin

The clear goop with brown specks may have been snail eggs. Do you have snails in your tank?

Amanda

Most of the "Oddball" fish won't work in a 10 gal. They need large aquaria to grow & thrive.

agabr123

1. for the guppies, you were on the right track you've just got it backwards, there needs to be three females to every one male not the other way around. if i were you i'd get rid of the female, males can coexist quite peacefully (i have three myself in a 10 gallon). oh and another thing, if you keep the female you will almost certainly have fry, guppies breed faster than rabbits (why i decided to get all males ).
2. neon tetras need a bigger school, at least 6, in order to feel safe and happy. some tetras (not neons but other kinds) even get aggressive without a large enough school.
3. if you plan on keeping one of the plecos, you will need to upgrade to at least a 55 gallon tank within two or three months, if you wait until you think he's getting too big for the 10 gallon, you probably haven't gotten a bigger one soon enough.
4. spiny eels are HUGE as someone else pointed out, and the black ghost knifefish are still unsuitable for a 10 gallon tank, honestly, i would wait on any oddball fish for a while.
5. from what you've said about your readings, your cycle is not finished, since you still have high nitrite. since this is the case, you need to be doing daily water changes of about 50% with prime. your cycle will be complete when you have 0ppm ammonia, 0 PPM nitrIte, 5-20 ppm nitrate. nitrite and ammonia are toxic to your fish, and will have adverse affects on them even if you don't see any visible damage.
6. in your 10 gallon, you can have the neons (and probably add two more to make six), and three guppies, not four, see my recommendation in #1. also, you can ONLY have these fish, with six neons and three guppies you would be fully stocked (slightly over, but this probably wouldn't be an issues with normal weekly water changes of about 30-45%)

ghost shrimp

Yes, I have snails, but what would make the eggs disappear?

It looks like I'll have to get rid of the plecos...

gremlin

I would say they either hatched or were eaten.

ghost shrimp

... Well, they were in the plecos' hiding spot... I think the plecos got them. My snail died this afternoon.

Good news! I found a pet store willing to take the plecos. Tomorrow I'll take them to it. Thanks, everyone!

gremlin

That's good news that the plecos will be going to a new home. That should help with the overcrowding in your tank.

acidpope

Plecos appreciate good aeration and water movement. If the rest of your tank is still then the minimal water movement your filter is creating may be drawing it back there.

There are smaller plecos, namely bristle (or bushy) nose plecos, that grow to 4-5". Still not something you'd want to put into a 10g. But if you like the fish and don't have room for a 55g+, then you can still get pleco goodness in a sub 55g tank. There is also a pleco that grows to around 3.5" and look great but I can't seem to find them locally or online for sale. They're Clown Plecos (Panaque Maccus).

If you like the look of eels but don't have the room, then you can look for the kuhli loach. It's not an eel, but it's snakey and looks great. Just know they like a sandy substrate (interesting burrowing behavior), slightly soft water and are social so don't get just one.