First fresh water aquarium with sucker fish, HELP!?

L

Liz

New member
My friends mother wants to get rid of her Plecostomus... Large sucker fish. As they have gotten older and larger they have become violent, killing any small fish she adds to the tank. So she offered to give them to me. and while I only will agree to take one... I Dont want to take on too much by taking both when they are each roughly a foot long (and have grown to two feet) and I ONLY HAVE a 30 gallon tank. which was also provided by his mother.

Now between all of the equipment i understand that im going to be spending about a 100$ to get started with the pump, filter, bubble thingy, food gravel and such....


But my main concern is .....CAN I KEEP JUST THE ONE FISH? Some animals are verrryyyy attached to another pet they have spent all their time with. I dont have enough tank space for both!

and should I get another fish to keep in there (not small but certainly not as big) to keep up the algea growth?

ANY advice from an expierenced sucker fish or freshwater aquarium owner would be GREAT!!!


thank you soooo much!
 
Plecos are territorial to their own kind, so there should only be one per tank.

-Make sure to get a filter that is meant for double the tank size. Plecos produce a lot of waste.
-A heater is also necessary.
-A minimum of 75 gallons is needed for an adult.
-Feed a staple diet of algae wafers and freshly sliced zucchini and lettuce.
-Cycle the tank prior to receiving the algae eater.
-Unless you want the bubble effect, an air pump and bubbler are not necessary.
 
you do not have to grow algae in your tank you can get algae wafers or pellets to feed them and some of mine like a slice of cucumber now and then,
also you will need to cycle your tank this means you need your ammonia and nitrite to read 0 and nitrate to be as low as possible but you will never get rid of nitrate altogether.
most of the pleco family live in fast flowing water so rather than buying an air pump i would opt for a power head with a ventura attached as well as your power filter you would be best advised as well to get some bog wood as most of the pleco family like to rasp there teeth on the wood a place to hide would also be a good idea like a little cave mad from the bog wood, & the last thing you can now pick up books on keeping pleco's so it might be good to have as a guide
hope this helps
 
Plecos are territorial to their own kind, so there should only be one per tank.

-Make sure to get a filter that is meant for double the tank size. Plecos produce a lot of waste.
-A heater is also necessary.
-A minimum of 75 gallons is needed for an adult.
-Feed a staple diet of algae wafers and freshly sliced zucchini and lettuce.
-Cycle the tank prior to receiving the algae eater.
-Unless you want the bubble effect, an air pump and bubbler are not necessary.
 
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