Re: [GSAS-Member] Can't keep plecos alive?

[matt kaufman <igotadose@hotmail.com>]

Why am I thinking of the early days of alt.aquaria and 'mentioning my pleco on 
NetNews causes it to die.'
 
Here's what I've found: most of those generic brown plecos are pretty badly 
stressed when they come into pet shops. They're hollowed out, and are usually 
'harvested' from farms and feral locations throughout Florida. They may 
ravenously go after what's in your tanks for starters, but then succumb to the 
'native' bacteria.
 
Try finding a locally bred one, I think I've seen those albino plecos at the 
GSAS meetings pretty regularly. Try feeding more than just algae wafers, which 
have widely varying amounts of green things in them which may or may not be 
algae. Its good to read the labels on the wafers to see what's what.
 
It's way cheaper to feed blanched zucchini or other squash, too.
 
Personally, I prefer clown plecos for algae control, if I'm not too concerned 
about the plants.



> From: laurelthequeen@gmail.com> To: gsas-member@thekrib.com> Date: Wed, 23 
> Apr 2008 08:35:26 -0700> Subject: [GSAS-Member] Can't keep plecos alive?> > 
> So in my 29 gallon Tanganyika cube tank with 5 adult multies(+ loads > of 
> babies) and 2 adult julies, I can't seem to keep bristlenosed > plecos alive. 
> My first one was fairly small, probably only 2" long, > and survived for 5 
> weeks until he croaked, and did no appear to have > any physical damage. A 
> week later, I bought a wild-caught fully grown > bn pleco for the tank, and 
> he was fine for about 5 weeks again. He > stayed busy eating algae, and when 
> it was all gone, I started feeding > him algae wafers. When the algae started 
> coming back, I stopped > feeding him, and a week later, he's nowhere to be 
> found and I have > loads of algae covering everything in the tank. I assume 
> that he's > dead, but I can't see him in any of the nooks and crannies in the 
> > tank(but a 5" fish doesn't just vanish into thin air), and he's > certainly 
> not in his regular hiding spot. All I can figure is that > he's dead again. I 
> have 2 smaller ones that I've had for a few months > in my 75 gallon tank 
> that are active and hold their own against my > mbuna. Is there anything that 
> I could put in a small tank like this > to keep algae at bay? I adore this 
> tank, but everything covered in > brown and green algae is making it lose 
> it's charm, despite all of the > babies.> > Thanks,> Laurel> 
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