Butterfly Plec

[xamy_valox]

Hi, I have recently been having a re-arrange of my tank. Once I have rehomed some fish I am thinking of getting a butterfly Plec. I was told in my LFS that they get to about 5-6 inches long and are friendly.
I'm a bit unsure as to wether my tank is suitable to house one though?

My stocking will be:
1 Angelfish
7 Harlequin Rasbora
7 Neon Tetra
2 German Blue Rams
6 Corydoras

Will the Plec compete for floor space with the corys? The tank is a Fluval Roma 125 litre. I have never had a Plec and would really like one but don't want one that will get too big. I have looked at bristle nose and bulldog but I find them a bit boring where as the butterfly has lovely markings.

Thanks

 

[DrTerror]

I have a Butterfly Plec and find he is fine with all the corys.One thing to remember with the Butterfly is that they need plenty of bogwood to chew on!,dont even consider putting one in unless you have a good selection!.Mine is about 2 years old,and is hardly ever seen out in the open,I occasionaly see him upside down on the wood every now and again but thats about it,he is no bigger a couple of inches,but the Butterfly is one of the smaller members of the family.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Can you post a pic of said fish? There are a couple of fish that go by that name.

 

[xamy_valox]

Yeah I have 2 very large pieces of bogwood in the tank.
Will it eat its way through it though? I only ask as they are lovely pieces and I don't want them being ruined!!!
Here is the one I mean:

That's just a pic pinched from google. But the ones I am after look like that.

 

[fluttermoth]

That sort will be fine in your tank.

It won't eat enough of your bogwood to ruin it; not for years and years anyway

 

[xamy_valox]

Ah wonderful! I have I only seen them in one shop so far and they have been priced at £25 each. Is that expensive or does it sound about right?
Also, since upgrading my filter I have never had such perfect water stats, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and more or less 0 nitrate. However I have always had around 5ppm in Nitrates. Is it good or bad that I now have next to nothing? On the API tester kit it shows as a yellowy orange. Not quite 5 but not quite 0. I have almost doubled my filtration with a Fluval U4.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Price seems about right. Not a super common fish. If you are one of the fortunate few that doesn't have nitrates in your source water, and do regular water changes, feed properly, etc, then a very low reading is good. One thing though, make sure you following the directions on the nitrate test to the letter. It's real easy to get a very low reading, if you don't shake the bottles long enough.

 

[xamy_valox]

Yeah I do water changes weekly at about 30%, feed every day but only a small amount. And yeah I'm really meticulous with my testing as I've had such trouble with it in the past! I shake the bottles well before using and let the vials stand for a good while before comparing to the cards.
So it's a good thing! Yay I wish I had invested in a better filter ages ago! Would have saved me a lot of time and heartache!!
Ok I'll look into getting one then once my Angel is settled properly for a few weeks and I ensure I'm not gonna get any spikes!

 

[thereverendturtle]

 

[DrTerror]

Can you post a pic of said fish? There are a couple of fish that go by that name.

I will if he shows himself!,have not seen him for a couple of weeks,but ill get the camera out ready!

EDIT- he doesnt loook like the plec on the pic above,he is mainly dark brown with orange stripes...
And no,he doesnt destroy the bogwood!,he just munches on it!.LOL! (but I do have a lot af bogwood)