Should I keep the pleco?

Hello ppl.

A bit of info...

Up until 2 days ago in my 67gal I had it filled half, because my table was not string enough to hold it full. Now my dad had made for me a table so its full. When it was half filled I had roughly round 60in of fish ,including my pleco Algy, who is round 25cm. VERY overstocked I know. My nitrates never went higher than 25. However I came to know abt the 1in per gal fish size only when I joined fishlore. I returen some of the fish and 2/3 passed on since then.

At present i've the 67gal filled with apprx  30in of adult size fish excluding Algy. But... i've ordered 2x cherry/black ruby barbs and harlequin rasboras. Then too i'd like to keep an otto to keep the tank clean.

My question is: do you think it is possible to keep Algy along with these fish? He hardly eats the algae and that's the reason for the ottos. I was thinking maybe he doesn't produce that much of waste, as he doesn't seem to eat that much?  He is a beautiful fish and I don't know whether to keep him or not...
Thanks

 

Hello?

 

How often do you feed him? If you feed algae wafers a lot that could be why he's not eating the algae off the tank. He figures if your going to feed then what's the point of cleaning it off. It's totally your call. I like oto's. They do a real good job cleaning. I'm not sure if the pleco and the oto's would get along. Pleco's can be territorial. As far as the other fish they would get along fine with them. Natalie

 

Depending on what kind of Plec he is he may get quite large. do you know what kind he is/ Or could you post a picture? Plec's are really heavy waste producers so keep a watch on your water test readings. Be careful and don't over stock
Carol

 

How often do you feed him? If you feed algae wafers a lot that could be why he's not eating the algae off the tank. He figures if your going to feed then what's the point of cleaning it off. It's totally your call. I like oto's. They do a real good job cleaning. I'm not sure if the pleco and the oto's would get along. Pleco's can be territorial. As far as the other fish they would get along fine with them. Natalie

as far as territorial goes, he just sits in one place all day moving abt at night, not caring a hoot abt aby other fish.

I don't feed him anything. I tried with cucumbers but he ignored it.

 

Depending on what kind of Plec he is  he may get quite large. do you know what kind he is/ Or could you post a picture? Plec's are really heavy waste producers so keep a watch on your water test readings. Be careful and don't over stock
Carol

That's just it I don't want to over stock... I'll post a pic later...

 

Here are some pix of him....

 

Beautiful Plec!! He looks to be a common which can get over 12 inches. I would hate for you to have to get rid of him but it may be easier now than when he gets to be full grown.
Gunnie has one in a 100G that is at least 12 inches
Carol

 

HI Sabi. Some elements to perhaps help your decision:

Keep him:
1/ He is an absolute beauty
2/ You've had him a while so you're probably very attached
3/ You don't know where he'll end up
4/ Without taking stock into account, your tank is big enough volume-wise to house a common pleco (I was told 60G was enough for a common pleco).
5/ 2 or 3 otos will hardly make a difference to your bioload, and they would take care of your brown algae.

Return him:
1/ Common plecos can stop eating algae when they become adults. This could be what's happening
2/ Plecos are huuuuge waste producers. Perhaps your is the exception, but it's a factor to take into account.
3/ You can't count 1in of pleco per gallon. The larger the fish, the more their relative needs in gallon. This is related to waste production. So one 12in fish needs more gallons than tweve 1in fishes. So if he goes, you can get more more inches of smaller fish (provided you're not already overstocked).
4/ I don't know that otos are that good at eating green algae, though, but perhaps I am wrong. If they're not good at that, then you're looking at getting yet another algae eater, and again you're squeezed for volume if you keep your common pleco.

Those are my thoughts. If I were you? I'd keep him (provided you're not overstocked already) and get 3 otos. I'd see how the otos are dealing with the algaes and cross that bridge when I come to it if they're not enough on the green algae.

 

If you aren't able to trade your pleco in, I would suggest NOT adding any other fish. You could trade that common pleco in for a bristle nose Pleco which only gets 4-5" and are much better algae eaters, AND 3-5 otoes, your algae would be taken care of, and you would have room for a few more fish. First though you need to start changing your water more often. 25 nitrates is too high! You will continue loosing fish if you don't keep your nitrates down. I try for between 5 and 10. Lots less stress, and you can keep an eye on the overcrowding by if the nitrates spike up higher. To keep them low it might mean 50% water changes every other day for awhile, then if you change out plecos, you could probably go to once a week water changes. Best of Luck

Fish in the Frozen North 8)

 

But 30in of fish in 67G sounds good to me. Do you think that's overstocked? (I could be getting my units mixed up. Am more used to metric).

You manage to keep your nitrites around 5 or 10 on a constant basis? My 10G is often 25, and I have 8in of fish in that one (4x mollies). I do treat the water with Prime, perhaps that's why they're not showing signs of nitrate poisoning? I already change 20% of the water twice per week, and I just can't keep up if I have to increase from that.

 

I also think i'm not overstocked... ???
its 30in at the most from what I counted.

2x:
black skirt tetra =1 1/2in adult size =3in
white """=2in''' =4
Mollies =2in''' =4
Angels- 3in at th moment =6
4x Glowlights=1 1/2in =6
1xDwarGouram=4in =4
1xGold gourami=5 =5
2xmale guppys.=1 1/2in =3
Right? then that makes 35in of fish.

Then the fish to come
x2
Cherry barbs=1 1/2in =3
black ruby = 2in =4
harlequin rasbora= 2in =4

that makes 46in of fish in total excl Algy and any ottos that might be added.

About the nitrates, It was 25 then when I had too many fish, as I said i've reurnd some and some have did since then. My nitrates never go higher then 20 now, I don't think that's bad?
What I was thinking is that as Algy hardly eats, won't his waste be less?

EDIT: ok that's in the 40's but still that's 20in more...

 

Beautiful Plec!! He looks to be a common which can get over 12 inches. I would hate for you to have to get rid of him but it may be easier now than when he gets to be full grown.
Gunnie has one in a 100G that is at least 12 inches
Carol

Wow! and I thought Algy was fully grown now! Do they produce less waste when they fully grown, maybe?

 

Wow! and I thought Algy was fully grown now! Do they produce less waste when they fully grown, maybe?
Wishful thinking my friend The bigger they are the more waste they produce.
When you add fish you need more black skirts and more glowlights. They each need about 6 of their own kind to keep them happy.
Your angels will be 4-5 inches when they are adults so need to figure their adult size.
Carol