Cleaning Your Tank

[golfzzin]

So recently i brought two plecos, now every day since i have had to do gravel clean as there is poop everywhere, like their entire body weight seems to be spread around the tank. At the moment i don't mind. There are some parts that i can't reach with the syphon however unless i uproot everything, which to be honest i really don't want to do.

What wil become of the bits of "mess" trapped in the odd corner or two, and how do you all deal with cleaning after your plecos? (I have two small medusa plecs btw)

Until i had these i hardly noticed much fish poop, but now its everywhere!

Thanks

Matt

 

[Aqua Tom]

I am assuming that you have a sand substrate if you are noticing the poop increasing. I am afraid that you will just have to spend a little longer vacuming as plecs are messy fish, not only with thier waste but also with thier grazing habits (bits of wood all over the shop.
Not realy any other way around it.


Tom

 

[bullit]

yeah plec are #105###ing machines.

 

[fluttermoth]

I've found you can be quite rough over plants with your gravel vac, as long as they're well rooted.

and for the odd corners, use just a piece of pipe rather than the gravel cleaner.

 

[OldMan47]

Plecos can definitely make a lot of deposits on the tank bottom. If that bothers you, you really don't want to have any plecos. As far as I know, there is no way to avoid having a significant waste build between water changes. I do have some plecos in some of my tanks and I consider fish waste on the substrate as simply evidence that the tank has living things in it. When I do a gravel vac the waste is removed and the tank looks great for at least a few hours. After that, it is evident that I have things living in the tank again. All fish deposit their wastes on the tank bottom but plecos seem to simply have larger pieces than most fish. I cannot say that the actual amount is all that great for a fish their size, but it is a bit unsightly.

 

[golfzzin]

Thanks for the replys guys.

Well i decided i just couldn't take it, think what you will but they wern't for me.

Dont get me wrong, im happy to spend all weekend on my tank, but after a 12 hour shift the last thing i want to do i daily gravel cleans. As i have black sand it was really really noticeable and it was taking the enjoyment away for me. I honestly couldnt keep up with them, it was unreal.

The fish have now been returned, and i got an unexpected credit note which im very happy about (thanks Ripples in Telford )

I have learnt three lessons from this

1. i still have loads more to learn about fish keeping
2. research fish better before buying
3. dont buy plecos again