Bulldog plec in my tanganyikan tank!!!

[hague1982]

Hi Folks i bought some cyps for my tank off a guy i got talking to online today! Also when i was there he had a bulldog plec in with his tangs as he was getting rid of his set up i asked if he would sell it me! So off i went back home with 5 cyps and 1 bulldog plec for my tang tank. So far he seems to be ok but i was thinking whiles staring endlessly into my tank only 5 minutes ago, is he really happy and does he fit in? can't answer the first one but he is a little out of place if i'm being brutally honest!

He's about 100mm long at the minute and is a real beaut as you can see.
I payed £10 for him is that a fair price? not to sure if i might rehome him yet i'll post on here first if i am going too!

[grokefish]

Whats the ph o the tank?

[sidguppy]

Although the Chaetostoma's like a fairly higher pH than the regular Amazonian Pleco's; 7 or even a bit alkaline; this is not a good combination

Chaetostoma's like current and also a lower temperature than Tanganyikan fish and for a Tanganyikan fish the pH that's best for Chaetostoma is on the low side

and then there is the issue of Chaetostoma being a wildcaught fish (very few are bred).

best algae eaters for the Tanganyikan tank are the captive bred Bristlenoses

these are used to the higher temperatures and their domestication (I don't call it "Ancistrus domesticus" for no reason) makes it highly adaptable to different pH's.

the fact that it can and does breed in Tanganyikan tanks with 25-26'C and a pH 7.8-8.2 with ease is proof

I can show you picx of happily spawning "Ancistrus domesticus" in a tank with Julidochromis and Phyllonemus ;)


but it IS at least a far less bad choice than people putting L numbers (Hypancistrus, Panaque's, Peckoltia's) in their Rift tanks.

[Mike_Noren]

I wouldn't be too worried about the pH, but I wonder if a bulldog can stand the level of bullying in a Tanganyika tank. Cyprichromis are mid-water fish so perhaps they'll leave him alone, but...
Also I see snail shells, which suggests shell-dwellers - those are highly aggressive and bottom-dwelling fish which will make life miserable for the bulldog.

I don't know. It could work, but I don't think I'd try.

£10 is about what I'd expect to pay for a bulldog around here, so to me it sounds normal.

[hague1982]

To be honest so far he's doing a great job of the algae in one night i can't believe how much he's cleared up . Yeah i've got shell dwellers in but i've positioned the rock in such away he's pretty far away from all his shells and he doesn't seem to bother with the plec at all, the only concern have is with having synodontis lucipinni(hybrids) is that they may be invading each others space. but anyway so far so good!

[sidguppy]

pleco's and syno's usually mix very well. they tolerate each other

be aware that insuch a spotlress tank it may starve to death

these really need their daily dose of green growing stuff.

[hague1982]

its and old picture pal theres algae every where now i've been putting in wafer tablets as well

[andywoolloo]

i ve seen mine on the fruit and veg before and he loves spirulina pellets also.

[nvcichlids]

Yeah i've got shell dwellers in but i've positioned the rock in such away he's pretty far away from all his shells and he doesn't seem to bother with the plec at all

It does not matter how far away the rocks are from the shells. I have a 125 gallon tanganyikan community tank with shells on the far right, huge middle open with just sand and a large rock pile on the left side. I find occellatus, brevis, and telmatochromis all in the rocks, even though they are shell dwellers. I would think that the chaet will eventually be found by the shellie(s) and harassed.

I will second that the ancistrus would be your best bet to have a pleco in with tanganyikans. We have several of the "tank strain" bristlenose now in our 125 and they are breeding (broke my curse with bristlenose!!!)