Plecos

[High-wash]

Hi guys here are just a few of my Favorite plecos.i wanted to now if they fascinate anyone else as they do me :)

[Singularity]

Very Nice indeed High-wash !

[Dolphin]

here's a pic of my favourite plec

[Henk Hugo]

I have a few gold nuggets in a friends fishroom - i must actually go get them :P

I plan on having 10 of them in my 2.5m

[High-wash]

that's cool Henk where did you get them.Im from jhb and only have one looking for more none of these guys seem to have

[Henk Hugo]

i buy directly from the importers..... not sure where in jhb you can find

[Slummies]

would love to get my hands on a gold nugget! how much do they go for?

[Henk Hugo]

i think they whole sale for around R160 to R180 down here... not sure of the retail

[High-wash]

i bought mine for 150 how is it possible it costs more there ?

[Henk Hugo]

thats the current price with the exchange rate?

[High-wash]

wow ok cool

[G55C]

I love plec's, they so fascinating to watch i think. I would love to set up a biggish tank dedicated to them.

[LanceP]

Hi All,

Does anyone's pleco change colour? I have a leapard pleco whose colour fades very often. It doesn't look healthy and I am somewhat concerned. I haven't been able to find much info on this, and some people that I've spoken to suggest that this is normal for plecos. When it's feeding time, the colour comes back so this suggests that it's happy, but other times not?

Rgds
Lance

[Bobeyente]

Pm me, I can get L018 for R160 if you are around JHB

[Henk Hugo]

Lance it depends. Some plecos can change colout depending on what they are sitting. What do you feed your pleco?

[LanceP]

Henk, I alternate between bloodworms, algae tablets and cucumbers. The faded colour looks very sickly, it goes almost white and patchy. This colour fade has been happening for several months now. I would assume that if it was sick, then it would have died by now, but I just want to make sure.

[Henk Hugo]

what type of pleco is it? Also try and give it marrow instead of the cucumber....

[brentnorm]

What's the best pleco to have as far as cleaning goes?

[Henk Hugo]

for algea eating i would say the bristle nose. just becareful as theu will also eat crypts and swords if you dont supliment their feeding

[brentnorm]

How many would you suggest for a 1,5m tank. Its just that I cant easily get to the back pane of glass.

[G55C]

Hi All,

Does anyone's pleco change colour? I have a leapard pleco whose colour fades very often. It doesn't look healthy and I am somewhat concerned. I haven't been able to find much info on this, and some people that I've spoken to suggest that this is normal for plecos. When it's feeding time, the colour comes back so this suggests that it's happy, but other times not?

Rgds
Lance


My plec used to change colour. It eventually turned from a brown to an orange colour.
It only turned grey or faded when it was still small and also when it was stressed.
However the bigger it grew the more it kept its colour but it also became more aggressive.
You dont think it maybe stressed in any way?
My plec also seemed better once i kept it in softer water.

[Bobeyente]

One will do fine, males are aggressive towards each other, females and juveniles do tolerate each other. Ancistrus will eat more algae on a good day than any other pleco in a lifetime. As Henk said you have to supplement its diet else your plants will get it, this is very important.

In such a big tank drop its food in the same spot each day until it is used to you, pretty soon it will come join the other fish at feeding time waiting for its snack.

[brentnorm]

One will do fine, males are aggressive towards each other, females and juveniles do tolerate each other. Ancistrus will eat more algae on a good day than any other pleco in a lifetime. As Henk said you have to supplement its diet else your plants will get it, this is very important.

In such a big tank drop its food in the same spot each day until it is used to you, pretty soon it will come join the other fish at feeding time waiting for its snack.

Thanks, will give it a try.

[Henk Hugo]

Bretnorm - i would keep 1 male to say 2 or 3 females. you can feed it half a baby marrow that you have weighted down with a fork or something but not lead or copper.

VarkVleisie - it could be stress, do you have hiding space for it? is it being bullied by any of the otehr fish?

[High-wash]

i have had my bristle noses for awhile and they do an amazing job as henk say aswell as they do not increase in size as quick as many of the other plecos do so they are sutiable for all aquaria i even found that they are one of the excptions to add with malawis

[Henk Hugo]

no no no. do NOT add softwater fish like plecos or any other asian/south american/west african fish with malawis! they WILL eventually die due to the high PH and the hardness

[solex69]

Agreed 100% with Henk; can't chuck a softwater fish into a hard water tank...the fish will definitely die. Plecos are very hardy fish, but as soon as pH & dH starts creeping up, they aren't happy chappies

Cheers
Dale

[High-wash]

Oh ok them i shall not do so :) im still expermenting so we live nd we learn

[Henk Hugo]

its always good to invest in 1 GOOD book. i would say the best book for fish profiles would have to be Baensch Aquarium Atlast Photo index 1 - 5. well worth the R400 odd it costs.

[High-wash]

The malawis where not mine he where my grans and the bristle nose has actualy done extremly well.nd so you know i have about 7 books in total.

[Henk Hugo]

I would really take a look at the Baensch atlas... its the one book all aquarists should either own or have access to....

[High-wash]

ill do hat then

[Wingman001]

How do you import the fish?

[veegal]

Hey Wingman001 - take a look here, I'm sure it'll help....

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=498

[Wingman001]

Cool, thanks

[Wingman001]

How do I get a hold of the importers?

[veegal]

Try Altum....

[Henk Hugo]

How do I get a hold of the importers?

you dont - the shops/retailers buy from them... ie Altum buys from Aqua Pet (whole saler) and sell to you...