# fancy plecos with Malawi?



## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I want to add some fish that will help keep the glass algae free. I have kept bristle nose and rubber lip plecos with Malawi with success, but I would like to add some really cool looking plecos this time.

Anyone have experience or suggestions?

The tanks are 150g, one is all mbuna, the other peacocks and haps.


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## css virginia (Jan 29, 2007)

What Plecos are you considering and cost..??


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

emptyhead said:


> rubber lip plecos with Malawi with success,


 I even deny this one is truly possible so you can guess what I'll say next...

IMHO, NO fancy pleco belongs in with Rift Lake cichlid.

I may have bent the rules myself in the past with a Clown Pleco or a Galaxy, but that now seems mean after I saw how those same plecos change dramatically once placed into a soft water planted tank...

Now add to this the fact that most fancy type plecos are not even good algae eaters and it becomes an even worse idea.

Over the years I've come to one final, undeniable realization... the best algae eater is you with an old credit card and elbow grease. :wink:


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## Trucker (Sep 9, 2008)

my malawi tank had a albino longfin pleco and one of the peacocks ate the plecos eye...


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

The rubber lip was in a 55g with mbuna - mostly yellow labs. I'm not saying she was happy - but she did well. No damage to fins, never saw the fish mess with her. She is now in my planted 55g SA tank. I see her just about as much as I did in the other tank. The SA tank also has a bristle nose pleco and a green phantom (L200) pleco. None of them are hardly ever seen.

Today I bought 4 spotted bristle nose plecos. I put 2 in each tank. The ones in the mbuna tank got harassed a little. We will see what happens. I decided to not do anything expensive, but I'm thinking maybe a gibbiceps may be an option too as my experience with them (also in african cichlid tanks) is that they are very hardy and tough.


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## css virginia (Jan 29, 2007)

How much would you pay for an a cool looking Pleco..??..Twenty dollars plus..??..If I purchased a pleco for $ 20.00 and up...I would not place it in a tank with mature mbuna etc. I would be very concerned that it might meet its demise or badly injured. Just my opinion.! 8)


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

emptyhead said:


> The rubber lip was in a 55g with mbuna - mostly yellow labs. I'm not saying she was happy - but she did well. No damage to fins, never saw the fish mess with her. She is now in my planted 55g SA tank. I see her just about as much as I did in the other tank. The SA tank also has a bristle nose pleco and a green phantom (L200) pleco. None of them are hardly ever seen.


 Then they aren't being kept in a tank that suits them. 
rubberlip/ bulldog plecos like clean cool well oxygenated water and when kept in a faster flowing cooler tank than most Tropical tanks are kept at, that fish should be all over the smooth rocks and glass that make up it's ideal tank.

The green phantom should be cruising around, especially of an evening but again, this is a fish that prefers cooler water (72 to 76F) and fast moving flowing water.

I'm in no way picking on you about this... I spent years thinking that hiding was all plecos did, but it turned out that I just didn't know enough about them. Once I slapped powerheads into soft water tanks and dropped the temp, plecos really came out of the stupor and became one of my preffered fishes!

I'm hoping that I can point you in the right direction sooner than I learned it.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=151
It's worth a good read!


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I've had common plecos in with my mbuna and they do fine. The mbuna and plecos were added at the same time while small. I recently got what is suppose to be a small bristle nose because they don't get as big as the commons and still do a good job. It was to replace a common that I gave away. I really don't like the looks of plecos but have to admit that some of the fancy ones (like the zebra) look awesome but I wouldn't chance a high dollar pleco in with malawi, especially if the tank isn't appropriate for them.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

Number6 said:


> emptyhead said:
> 
> 
> > The rubber lip was in a 55g with mbuna - mostly yellow labs. I'm not saying she was happy - but she did well. No damage to fins, never saw the fish mess with her. She is now in my planted 55g SA tank. I see her just about as much as I did in the other tank. The SA tank also has a bristle nose pleco and a green phantom (L200) pleco. None of them are hardly ever seen.
> ...


Yea - I've read that article already. That is a thought to put a powerhead in the tank - I may do that. Should I put it near the bottom or the top of the tank? The tank is around 78* and is soft/acidic water - but there is not much movement at all. The problem is that this tank is housing angel fish as well, and I don't think I want a lot of current in the tank with the angels. The L200 is a beautiful fish that I got in a trade, but he mostly sits under a piece of driftwood - I'm thinking that if I put a powerhead about 4-5" inches of the bottom over a rock or something - maybe this would work and not upset the angel fish much?


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I always added a powerful one in the back corner of each aquarium and pointed it down the long side of the aquarium. This seemed to create the best flow without knocking flat bodied fish like Angels, Discus, or the like fins of heads!

I kept it up at the top and it still improved things greatly. I honestly cannot say whether it was "the flow and breaking the surface of the water to increase aeration", or if it was "just the flow" that helped. 
The difference was astounding though... the plecos all came out from their driftwood hideouts and would spend their evenings chasing each other out of "territories". My fave was the Clown vs male BN skirmishes.

Reminded me of cichlids once I had their tank right! :lol: :thumb:


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## CichlidLover2 (Jul 31, 2005)

You could get a Gold Nugget. A friend of mine has one thats doing very well in his tank, but the thing you have to remember is that each pleco has its own personality. Im pretty sure that my friend took very good care of it an first gradually adjusted the pleco to his high pH by weaning it in a different tank.

They just look cool and he says it is very active especially during feeding. My only advice is dont spend too much on something because its not worth the risk. Just aim low below 20 bucks and you should be fine. Usually the cheaper plecos are more hardy anyways!

Goodluck! :thumb:

PS 
Dont forget to give the pleco a piece of driftwood to his own


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## CichlidLover2 (Jul 31, 2005)

You could get a Gold Nugget. A friend of mine has one thats doing very well in his tank, but the thing you have to remember is that each pleco has its own personality. Im pretty sure that my friend took very good care of it an first gradually adjusted the pleco to his high pH by weaning it in a different tank.

They just look cool and he says it is very active especially during feeding. My only advice is dont spend too much on something because its not worth the risk. Just aim low below 20 bucks and you should be fine. Usually the cheaper plecos are more hardy anyways!

Goodluck! :thumb:

PS 
Dont forget to give the pleco a piece of driftwood to his own 

EDIT: Fancy plecos arent as good at cleaning algae, Regular and Albino BN's are beats at getting rid of it though!


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## Denny (Sep 27, 2008)

I have 4 plecos in an 85g community tank. Two of these:








And two of these:








They have kept my tank spotless. The other cichlids do not bother them nor they them. Here is a veiw of my tank setup with planted Africa driftwood








With some of the tank residents:
















The plecos have one bad habit. They will try and eat everything they can get. At feeding time, I have to chase them from the others feed or they will try and eat it all. Other than that no problems exprienced.


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