Howdy, from the mad man once known as PlecoJeff (Detroit)

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Just saying hi after being out of the hobby for roughly 25 years. Many years prior to there ever being any "L" designations for what are Loricariidae I was this nutcase known as PlecoJeff. This name was given to me by some of the coolest people I've ever known. These included James K. Langhammer, John Hassenplug, Bill Gillis, Scott Depalma, and many others from around the Detroit area. All the aforementioned people were close personal friends and mentors to whom I will always be grateful.
At one time I had roughly 50 different species of Loricariids, 5-10 of which had never been keyed with respect to taxonomy. This was the entry time into the hobby of what I came to refer to as "designer plecos". The first of these to show up in the hobby were grabbed up by Scott Depalma, Myself, and a woman in New York by the name of Ginny Eckstein. We all ordered off the same importer lists which basically came down to three primary sources for oddball fish. The biggest of these was the New York import line which put Ginny about a week before Scott and I due to quarantine. In those days, the lists would contain some common made up name, and the river in which the species was collected. The Xingu, and Negro rivers, their many subsequent tributaries, and oxbow lakes, are where most of these high colorful designer plecos originated. The first of these plecos to show up in the hobby were the gold spots, also known as Vampire Plecos due to their highly adapted ability to burrow into submersed wood for insect larva, and to build sheltering nests for themselves and their fry. About one year prior to the entry of the smaller designer plecos, first the big solid black Acanthicus Hystrix, and then about 3-6 months later the Adonis species from the same family came through. Prior to this the orange rings (Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps), and the Horned Pleco ( Pterygoplichthys lituratus) were happening and had been for some time. I think some of these are now reclassified for whatever reason as glyptoperichthys. My own first orange ring came directly from James Langhammer due to it getting too mean (dominate) among the 4 or 5 he had at the time. Jim is one of the coolest people on the planet! He was the longtime record setting curator of the Belle Isle aquarium.
Anyways, just a crazy old timer saying hi, and having been re-bitten by one of the most wallet deadly hobbies known to mankind, Tropical Fish!
Jeff
 
Hi there! If I ever have a question about Plecos I’ll be sure to ask you.
 
welcome to our forums. Show us a pic of your tank. And consider entering into our monthly tank of the month contest.
 
welcome to our forums. Show us a pic of your tank. And consider entering into our monthly tank of the month contest.
Sorry it's taken so long to reply, this past two weeks has been crazy busy for me.

Excellent on the photo & contest! Is supplying the photos the only requirement to be entered in to the drawing? Well, here ya go either way! There's a little story to these works in progress, and I do sincerely apologize for the lack of beautification like the backing, and live plants in each. These tanks are so new that they're both still cycling, although the populated 50 breeder is very close to complete, and has been running for about a month. I'm doing a 60% every other day on the populated tank, and the other tank has been sat up and running for 2 weeks and has one resident. I've done 30% several times now. Quality driftwood is something that is naturally a staple in all PlecoJeff tanks, and as such the first few months are very Amazonian, and tannic. At least that's what I keep telling myself when I feel frustrated because my tank water's brown (ish ;-) See those beautifully angelic peruvian guys and gals in the populated tank ? There are 10 of them, along with 5 other angels consisting of 3 marbled veils, and two of the straight up common wild strain. All 10 of the peruvians go into the 45deep single resident tank tomorrow, along with another select pleco, or two, or three, I'll definitely stop at 4 I promise! (not!) I'll post some photos of the single resident tank and have a little contest of my own in a separate post in this thread.
20190419_072720 (1)TFF.jpg

20190419_072720 (1)TFF.jpg


Now *this* is an overcrowded tank! Especially when at least 50% of the populous isn't visible in the photos!
 

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super nice tank
there is a contest going on right now...click on banner to cast your vote....hope you consider entering next month...look for the banner when the new contest starts around beginning of May...rules are posted in the contest...winner gets a nice banner in his avatar area (like mine)

Most here recommended doing a fishless cycling of the tank. But if you do frequent water changes and watch your levels, a fish in cycle can work. I always do a fishless cycle...it takes roughly a month but in my opinion it's easier on the fish. The fishless cycling method is described fully on these forums.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
 
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Here's the single resident tank just waiting to welcome home and accommodate it's new Peruvian residents. I have a little challange that I am certain will be no problem to meet and overcome. Lets play "spot the single resident pleco" if you dare... actually, I'm not nearly that sadistic. If you want to to REALLY test your eyesight, go ahead and find him, and keep the bottom photo covered while your at it. If you don't wanna strain the ol' eyeballs, just have a look at the top for a second, and then the bottom reveals his location minus much effort. He's not positioned identically in the close up photo due to it being a different photo altogether, but it does reveal his location, and he *is* visible in the first photo. And no fair zooming in! lol Thanks again for being so hospitable!

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This hobby doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. You can pick up cheap tanks on craiglist and if you don't start with "designer" rare fish, stocking is inexpensive and still rewarding. I have mainly run of the mill fish but it's still rewarding to watch them grow and thrive. I started back in around 1990 , then left the hobby due to a move in 1999. I came back into it 6 years ago and now have well planted tanks..a 10 gallon, a 29 gallon, and a 35 gallon tall hex tank.

Definitely consider entering the contest next month. I run the contest at the moment and want to see it grow. This month is seeing increased interest. We may run a tank of the year toward the end of 2019 or early 2020 featuring all totm winners for 2019.
 
The OP needs a picture on the back of the tank, and you need to turn the aquarium heater so it is on a 45 degree angle with the cord higher than the heating coil. Some heaters malfunction when they are horizontal or if the thermostat (at the cord end of the heater) is lower than the heating coil.
 
The OP needs a picture on the back of the tank, and you need to turn the aquarium heater so it is on a 45 degree angle with the cord higher than the heating coil. Some heaters malfunction when they are horizontal or if the thermostat (at the cord end of the heater) is lower than the heating coil.

Thank you! I'd never heard that before, but understand it's logic in an instant. I'll make corrections immediately.
 

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