Inquiry into Algae eater compatibility

[Xovira]

Hello,

I have been keeping aquariums for about a year, and had success with beginner fish like tetras, mollies, dwarf gouramis, etc. My primary tank (50 gal) is slowly losing inhabitants from age- "and probably the compound stress of moving a couple of times- note that i'm a student." and so I am thinking of moving the remaining seniors and re-stocking over the next few weeks. My favourite fish, gobbels, is a common pleco, and he has been the one fish that I really loved keeping and caring for. Soon, it will just be him and florence in the tank "my dwarf gourami."

So- point of all this is, I would really love some input on the viability of a catfish/bottom dweller tank. My idea was to switch out the clay rocks I have now with sand, put in lots more caves and shelters, and put in some smaller pleco species, a striped raphael catfish, etc. Maybe when I upgrade a herd of cories, but I don't think I have space for that now.

Clearly I would need to feed lots of veggie, and I already have driftwood for rasping- is there any other issues you guys can foresee? As long as I stick with more docile species, will they refrain from fighting over territory?

Thanks.

 

[Gypsum]

If your common pleco is Hypostomus plecostomus, it will outgrow (or has outgrown) 50g. Those things get to be well over a foot long. Wouldn't add raphaels or other plecs or anything, and I would try rehoming it if you can't get a much larger tank.

I would not keep raphaels with any cave-oriented pleco species. I keep two with a female bristlenose, since she couldn't care less about caves and it's fine, but I would not have a male Ancistrus or any of the Hypancistrus or other species (most of them) that claim caves as territory. The raphaels don't really understand territory and will go into whatever cave they want (even if there are lots of caves), and plecos have a view of this and get aggressive. There was a guy on the PlanetCatfish forum whose raphael was badly injured in a fight with a plec over a cave.

 

[Xovira]

If your common pleco is Hypostomus plecostomus, it will outgrow (or has outgrown) 50g. Those things get to be well over a foot long. Wouldn't add raphaels or other plecs or anything, and I would try rehoming it if you can't get a much larger tank.

I would not keep raphaels with any cave-oriented pleco species. I keep two with a female bristlenose, since she couldn't care less about caves and it's fine, but I would not have a male Ancistrus or any of the Hypancistrus or other species (most of them) that claim caves as territory. The raphaels don't really understand territory and will go into whatever cave they want (even if there are lots of caves), and plecos have a view of this and get aggressive. There was a guy on the PlanetCatfish forum whose raphael was badly injured in a fight with a plec over a cave.

Yeah, when I bought him from the pet-store as an itty-bitty baby, I was told he was a smaller breed- but my local pet-store always mis-identifies ****. his markings and nose are super similar to a common, or one of the high-fins- I can't find anything else he could reasonably be, but it has already been a year and he can't be bigger than 6 inches, and seems to have slowed in his growth- his armor is already in, I'll see if I can get a pic tonight. If he were to continue growing, I would definitely upgrade to a 100g. Thanks for the tips about the Raphael though, every other guide on them I could find placed them as passive; glad I asked. Did you have any other suggestions for pleco roommates?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Do you know the hardness of your water?

 

[Xovira]

Do you know the hardness of your water?

Haven't tested it in a little while- my tap water tends to be on the softer side, as I live in a swampy area, but I supplement it occasionally with wondershells. My mystery snail has a nice thick shell, so until I test, I think I can assume it's fine? I do have a test-kit, I can check tonight.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Haven't tested it in a little while- my tap water tends to be on the softer side, as I live in a swampy area, but I supplement it occasionally with wondershells. My mystery snail has a nice thick shell, so until I test, I think I can assume it's fine? I do have a test-kit, I can check tonight.

I would test first, so we can give some good suggestions that are suitable for your water hardness. (test for pH, GH, and KH)

 

[Gypsum]

If it isn't in a large enough tank as a young fish, it's growth could be stunted, which is not healthy since it damages the organs. But if you post a photo of it, someone will be able to ID it. Could be something like a female Ancistrus.

The raphaels prowl around looking for food and traumatizing small fish. They're quite predatory in their behaviour. That said, they've lived with a rummy nose shoal for the better part of two years, and I keep large cory species with them.

You can house corys with plecos provided you have soft water and a sand substrate. Same with tetras and other characins.

 

[Sgooosh]

Yeah, when I bought him from the pet-store as an itty-bitty baby, I was told he was a smaller breed- but my local pet-store always mis-identifies ****. his markings and nose are super similar to a common, or one of the high-fins- I can't find anything else he could reasonably be, but it has already been a year and he can't be bigger than 6 inches, and seems to have slowed in his growth- his armor is already in, I'll see if I can get a pic tonight. If he were to continue growing, I would definitely upgrade to a 100g. Thanks for the tips about the Raphael though, every other guide on them I could find placed them as passive; glad I asked. Did you have any other suggestions for pleco roommates?

you should get a 125, that way he can get some little buddies!
also 100 is a strange number for me
tanks are usually i consider
5 10 15 20 20long 30 40 50 75 125