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

[Steev Ward <steevward@yahoo.com>]

I don't think you are condemning a pleco to death. They can be unpredictable 
when it
comes to dying. Even the Bristlenose, and especailly WILD ones, are known for 
suddenly
keeling over for no apparent reason. They are good at eating a variety of 
things but I
think they can make themselves sick by eating the wrong stuff when they find 
it. I
wouldn't hesitate to try another one, especially the bristlenose that Jenny and 
Hiro
are raising.

Steev
--- Laurel Larsen <laurelthequeen@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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>  
> > _______________________________________________> GSAS-Member mailing  
> > list> GSAS-Member@thekrib.com>
> http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
> > __ 



      
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