# Pleco options for a Malawi tank?



## DudeGuy65 (Mar 30, 2012)

I currently have a 55G Malawi Cichlid tank, and over the past month or so the glass gets kind of fogged up from algae growing on the surface of the glass. I just got a couple of Synodontis catfish, but they don't really eat up the algae like I was hoping. So I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to get some sort of pleco to add to the tank..but I would be looking for a smaller species because I know the standard pleco can grow really huge. Any suggestions for small pleco species that would go well in a Malawi tank?


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## Guest (Apr 27, 2012)

bristle nose plecos from what i know will go in perfectly with a mbuna tank


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## magic10 (Feb 1, 2012)

I have 2 bristlenose pleco in my 75gal..they get about 5in max..i have had no problems with my mbunas picking on them


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## Hock (Mar 23, 2012)

I have a BN in my 75, I got him from Petsmart for $6 at around 0.5 inches prolly 1 1/2 months ago and he's already 1.5 long. They would bug him early on but eventually left him alone and now he does his own thing scootin around on the glass and rocks, lol.


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## Ryan82 (Aug 3, 2011)

I also have a bristlenose, and it has worked out. For the first few months, some of my mbunas were a little too curious about him, but now, the pleco actually goes after my mbuna whenever they try to eat his algae spots.

I have also kept another small pleco with them, but i can't remember what number it was. It had yellow dots all over it, and it wasn't a gold nugget. He died from a stupid mistake that I made when adding epsom salt to my tank. I added way too much, and it killed half of my fish. There are other small great looking plecos besides bristlenose that I think would work, but they are so expensive that I'm hesitant to try them out in fear of losing the money if it doesn't work out.

Also, don't expect your pleco to fully clean your glass. My pleco stays off the glass and only eats the algae off the rocks, which I'm happy with because it's alot easier to clean the glass than it is to clean the rocks.


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## DudeGuy65 (Mar 30, 2012)

picked up a bristlenose..thought about getting a snowball or blue phantom pleco which were in stock as well..but im not sure how they would do in the tank and theyre double and triple the price. Maybe someone has some experience with these?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even bristlenose may have only a 60% survival rate with Malawi and they are tougher than the fancier pleco's you mention. Better to save those for a more appropriate tank.


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## Ryan82 (Aug 3, 2011)

DudeGuy65, this is off subject, but you mentioned that you have labidochromis sp mbambas. Do yours take forever to grow? I have 1m and 4f, and they are growing much slower than all of my other fish.


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## infamous (Mar 28, 2012)

I have had those common plecos that get big...but they have never survived more than a couple weeks. I just picked up a bristlenose pleco and the cichlids were all over him immediately and it didnt seem to me that he had much of a defense for it,I turned all the lights off for a couple hours and haven't seen him since...Im hoping hes feeding at night. I tried putting one of those algae tablets in for him and wont ever do it again (big mess) Im starting to believe im better off to just pull out everything except gravel and scrub it once a month. That is my experience with plecos.


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## jdo (Mar 19, 2012)

I've tried several species with the same nasty result. My largest fish is between 3.5 and 4 inches and even a 6 to 7 in pleco didn't last a week. I even bought a few for a buck at Petnotsosmart thinking I could maybe rotate them in. I would put two in for a couple of days, take them out and let them rest in a quarantine tank, but 9 to 10 hours away at work proved to be detrimental. It seems in my tanks, if the pleco is to big for them to take on, they just take out the eyes. Buy a good scraper and call it a day!


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## AulonoKarl (Mar 9, 2012)

My peacocks/haps don't even seem to realize that my bristlenose plecos exist. The BPs do a stellar job of cleaning algae. I've barely had to clean my glass in the last month or so since I've gotten mine. If I can even find algae it's a tiny tiny spot here and there.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

jdo said:


> Buy a good scraper and call it a day!


^
^this!


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