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

[Laurel Larsen <laurelthequeen@gmail.com>]

Thank you for your input Matt.  I should have mentioned that he was  
also getting blanched zucchini, and the occasional green bell pepper  
among whatever other leftover veggies that I feed my mbuna tank.     
I'll try a locally bred one, I just hate the idea of condemning  
another little guy to death.  I started finding pieces of his armor  
shell in a low-flow area of the tank, so he's certainly dead.    I  
guess I'll hold out for the next auction unless anyone has one burning  
a hole in their tank.

Laurel
On Apr 24, 2008, at 2:06 PM, matt kaufman wrote:

> 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 > certai!
> nly 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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