# pleco question in african tanks



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

i have common plecos in my tanks. i dont want to get rid of them.could i mix a 1 bristlenose with 1 common in my tanks without issue? they are african cichlid tanks


----------



## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

The mix will be fine, but your common is probably going to have a tough life in an African tank. IME their size will eventually make it nearly impossible to hide (as well as necessitate a large tank in general), and they get picked at an awful lot - which will most likely eventually kill them. BNP's are much more effective algae scrubbers as well. I'd find the common a new home, especially if you don't want to see it tortured.


----------



## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

jcabage said:


> The mix will be fine, but your common is probably going to have a tough life in an African tank. IME their size will eventually make it nearly impossible to hide (as well as necessitate a large tank in general), and they get picked at an awful lot - which will most likely eventually kill them. BNP's are much more effective algae scrubbers as well. I'd find the common a new home, especially if you don't want to see it tortured.


I agree. Another point is that some African Cichlids like Mbuna and Tropheus are algae eaters and a BN pleco is just extra bioload.


----------



## chiroken (Sep 25, 2007)

jcabage said:


> The mix will be fine, but your common is probably going to have a tough life in an African tank. IME their size will eventually make it nearly impossible to hide (as well as necessitate a large tank in general), and they get picked at an awful lot - which will most likely eventually kill them. BNP's are much more effective algae scrubbers as well. I'd find the common a new home, especially if you don't want to see it tortured.


I find this interesting as I've had no troubles with plecos in mbuna tanks (and peacocks). I just rehomed a populated 90 gallon that was running 4-5 yrs with a 6-7 inch pleco and it was always fine. Recently took a 12" pleco from a local fellow and it too has been fine. 6" pleco in a 55g for a couple years and no troubles. Always have been lots of caves, sometimes don't see the pleco for a couple of weeks then he reappears.

Have I just been lucky? Does it depend on the actual species of africans?


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

tank size wise they should be fine smallest i have is a 55g largest is 125g. i have 4 tanks 3 of which are african setups i have not noticed them picking on the pleco that much. tonight when i shut the lights off in my mean tank the pleco was chilling on the sand under a shelter. i will continue to monitor the situation and if it looks like he is getting chewed up i will move him if i catch it in time. he has been with these fish for 6 to 9 months now and i dont see fin damage or anything like that. i have seen them bite him a little before on the glass but it didnt seem very serious. i read somewhere that 2 common plecos in the same tank can lead to the plecos fighting amongst themselves even potentially leading to death. anyone ever experience something like that? before i got the 125g i had 2 commons in the 75g and i never noticed them fighting or anything so i dont know.


----------



## Kleovoulos (Jan 6, 2011)

Pleco and bristelnose catfish belong to another ecosystem with different water :wink: 
Try some zebra nerite snails if you need an algae eater in your africa tank.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Many of my Africans kill my nerite snails by knocking them off the glass so often then cannot get enough to eat (they don't eat fish food, only algae) and die. My haps and peacocks are friendliest to nerites...mbuna and Tangs not so much. I have not tried them with the Victorians as yet.

My BN's work best. I wonder if BN's have been tank raised with African's so long at this point that they have evolved, LOL?


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

all african tanks are mbuna so sounds like that may be a bad idea for snails. again i'm not looking to get rid of the common pleco was just wondering if i could add the bristlenose without in fighting between them. i hear the bristlenose go after the darker algae where the common don't. that is why i was wondering. getting rid of the pleco i have is something i would like to take off the table for now.


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

pfoster74 said:


> if i could add the bristlenose without in fighting between them.


I have never attempted to keep a BN pleco with a common, so I can only speculate. But I have often kept 2 commons in the same tank, in the past, and there is usually some aggression between the two with one chasing the other away quite frequently. They are competitors for the same food source. A common is much bigger, more heavily armoured and IME, much more aggressive then a BN. As well, I think living in a cichlid tank sort of 'rubs off' on some fish, making them more aggressive then they would otherwise be if they lived with more peacefull fish. I think you are likely to see some aggression from a common towards a BN, though hard to say to what extent.

I have kept commons with mbuna for years and have seen them in many mbuna tanks. I don't beleive BN plecos have any greater success rate, then commons.....you can find many examples of failed attempts for either. I've had small young plecos scared of cichlids that hide 24/7 ......but I have never had any common over 6" that was ever scared of any mbuna. Mine are always out and about and are very seldom hiding.

I think BNs are recommended primarily because they are smaller and more practical for most cichlid tanks. A common is too large for anything smaller then a 75 gal. and is sometimes less active and less effecient of an algae eater then a BN.


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

thank you bc makes alot of sense.


----------



## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

BC in SK said:


> I don't beleive BN plecos have any greater success rate, then commons.....you can find many examples of failed attempts for either.


This is a valid point. In general, common plecos are indeed tough fish. If there ever was an issue, you could probably pull a large common out before enough damage was done to kill it - in most cases anyway. Every common we have attempted in a mbuna tank has ended up tattered and rehomed though.

We do have a common and a BNP in the same tank with no issues between the plecos.


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

jcabage said:


> BC in SK said:
> 
> 
> > I don't beleive BN plecos have any greater success rate, then commons.....you can find many examples of failed attempts for either.
> ...


so your common plecos get to big and the mbuna end up going after it?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've never kept a common pleco...IME they get too big for my tanks. But it seems to me the BN would be able to hide in the caves sized for the mbuna, whereas the common pleco would not fit. And from observation it seems the BN that survive in my tanks are the ones that can and do hide.


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

ty all for your answers i appreciate the insight


----------



## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

Kleovoulos said:


> Pleco and bristelnose catfish belong to another ecosystem with different water :wink:
> Try some zebra nerite snails if you need an algae eater in your africa tank.


so my 10 BN plecos should not be doing as well as they are with my mbuna and victoian haps?? Funny because they seem to do spectacular. I dont think *** ever even seen a nipped fin on a BN pleco.


----------



## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

pfoster74 said:


> so your common plecos get to big and the mbuna end up going after it?


In a sense... DJ addressed it, but relating to commons - it's not that they get too big, it is that they are more difficult to hide. Our mbuna are always up for taking a shot at our plecos, but when they get too big to make a quick escape (out of sight), they just have to take the abuse. They are hardy, but not invincible. As DJ said, the plecos that learn to hide are those that live.


----------



## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

jcabage said:


> the plecos that learn to hide are those that live.


Most fish need some shelter even if they don't use it 99% of the time. But if a fish has to hide all the time, quite often that is an indication that it is not doing so well. I think in a lot of instances, failed attempts or plecos that don't do well have more to do with introduction then anything else. Like plopping 1 mbuna into an already established mbuna tank, it probably won't do so well ( and that is despite the fact mbuna are generally the quickest to adapt and establish, compared to any other fish).

I'm sure there are a lot of variables. Things like number of tankmates, size of tank, amount and type of decor ect. My common plecos don't have to hide from mbuna and I have ceratinly seen many heavily stocked mbuna tanks with common plecos that are out and about, just like mine. Just a few examples and breif glimpses in a variety of tanks over the years.










This is one instance where the mbuna paid a lot of attention to the pleco......but there is only 3 fish in this 75 gal. tank :lol: (not counting 2 fry). Pleco has no fear of this hyper-aggressive male kenyi hybrid and either ignores him or fights back. The pleco does run from the dovii X festae hybrid, and there are lot's of places for it to hide, but usually comes right back out into more open space right away.

One male Kenyi, 3 female kenyi and 2 female auratus as well as a breeding pair of salvini with fry in this 75 gal. Note the pleco on the front glass in this video. It keeps it's distance from the sals but has no reason to hide from the mbuna.http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/?action=view&current=nov25200875gal004.mp4

5 bumblebees in this 180 gal. Pleco is always in open space. http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/?action=view&current=034.mp4

4 bumblebees and male auratus in this 125 gal. Note the pleco in bottom left sitting on the bottom in open space. It keeps it's distance from the breeding sals on the right side of the tank but has no reason to fear the mbuna.http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/?action=view&current=011-1.mp4

I have had upwards of 20 or more mbuna in a 125 and 180 gal. on a few occasions and it was no different. The mbuna usually pay little attention to the pleco. And the few odd times they do, it either moves away to another spot or it fights back and whacks them with their head. Common plecos can be very stubborn at times but if anything they ever come to fear it's a breeding pair of substrate spawners.


----------



## testeve (Sep 17, 2012)

I have 2 rubber lip plecos and they do a great job and look pretty cool too. I have them in a all male Hap / peacock tank.


----------

