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Use lapis gravel it works well. As for lights it depends on the fish you are keeping for eg pink light brings out the colour for pseuda and white light for panaque. Always remember to overkill the filter
Would like to ask pleco keepers to recommend the type of substrate for my pleco only tank.
Inhabitants will be 2 1-inch L183, 1 L129, 1 L174, 1 L260 and 1 2-inch L255 and a couple of corys to clean up uneaten foods. Will be excessively filtered using 1 external 2213 and one internal filter acting as a current maker.
Decoration will be lotsa DW and maybe java fern for plants. So what type of substrate do you recommend? Using ADA soil? Or sand is better? Dark or light coloured?
Problem with light coloured I foresee is the poo will be very visible.
Use lapis gravel it works well. As for lights it depends on the fish you are keeping for eg pink light brings out the colour for pseuda and white light for panaque. Always remember to overkill the filter
Best Regards
YongHua
I not keeping plecs, but synodontis, using JBJ brand substrate, (if I remember correctly, 1 pkt is either 10 or 12 kg) it is about the 1mm in diameter, rounded and dark brown, so personal feel is that it would be more friendly to the barbels of my cats. Might want to consider that.
- eric
Sounds good eric... I will keep a couple of corys too to do the housekeeping of the tank since plecs are super messy eaters...
Will take note of your recommendation... How about ADA's sand? Anyone using them? Any pros and cons?
Artificial Intelligence
Hi Valice,
How big is the tank? Plecs are very territorial. I would not recommend ADA as it will breakdown over time. But using bright sand might solve that problem. I'm using lapis at the moment. As Lyh pointed out, filter is always overkill. Sum is recommended. They produce alot of poo, have to siphon out every week inorder to maintain. But no choice as I prefer a base instead of just glass alone.
Something about the water & the fishes that calms me down.
Tank is only 1.5ft... I know that is small... That's why my selections are small and also non territorial...
Thinking of using ADA Sarawak Sand or another sand which Benny has... Waiting for him to be back...
Artificial Intelligence
Hi Valice,
That is small for 5-6 plecos and a couple of corys, actually not really feasible. The plecos you have selected are territoral, trust me I have them. Thumb of rule, you need to have a lot of drift wood but seriously a 3 footer here would be a much suited choice. Anyway, it's your call but the sand is a good choice. My 2" L183 actually tussles with my 6" farawella over space and everything else.
Something about the water & the fishes that calms me down.
Understand... The L183 is a problem...
Saw two fighting before... Will reconsider my options...
If possible go for a 4ft tank because i started with a 3ft and now the tank looks a little cramp due to them growing bigger and also because bought more plecs. They are very addictive when you start keeping this fish and you'll start collecting more and more over time.
It's better not to use any substrate due to more maintenance but if you must you can go for lapis. Cheap and good.
Last edited by Justikanz; 26th Oct 2006 at 16:56.
The max floor space I have is only 1.5 ft... Will reconsider my options... Maybe a cory tank instead and then a couple of small hypancistrus species which I am interested in...
Great choice!Originally Posted by valice
This is 2ft x 1.5ft, 6 Hypancistrus Sp. plus some cories.
Lapis sand, background is "intentional".
Last edited by Gecko; 28th Oct 2006 at 20:44.
I saw your pictures of the Hypancistrus sp you posted in the gallery... They looked so beautiful. One has the patterns of a L46. Issit a variant?
And where did you get them from? Some of the Hypancistrus are not easy to identify correctly since they are pretty similar and the tank conditions in some shops don't allow easy ID too...
ID for some of the experts seems to be easy, I am pretty new to this family.
I should have L236, L174 (NKS, FH). I should have a L400, L173, L98, latter two should be zebra "variants" (qh).
Ooohhh... I love L174... One of my target Hypancistrus... Hope NKS or FH still have stock of them...
EDIT: NKS? FH?
Last edited by Justikanz; 30th Oct 2006 at 02:00.
Never create what you can't control
Interesting. Considering that they are extremely variable in their pattern, how do we dfiferentiate L173 and L98? To me, I may just consider both to be L173.
In any case, what are their damages? Much more than L46?
NKS = Neo Kim Swee?
FH = Fish Haven
Yup. NKS is Neo Kim Swee and FH is Fish Haven.
Sorry for the shortform used.
Think for IDing at the shops, need to have a good copy of pleco iD book on hand... Else can be quite a PITA for us pleco beginners.
Two schools of thought: Aqualog now considers L173 and L46 to be two different sp., while some others consider L173 to be a variant of the Hypancistrus zebra (L46).Interesting. Considering that they are extremely variable in their pattern, how do we dfiferentiate L173 and L98? To me, I may just consider both to be L173.
In any case, what are their damages? Much more than L46?
NKS = Neo Kim Swee?
FH = Fish Haven
A L98 is easily worth 2x to 3x a L46, if you can find them in the first place.
Bro ! I got a few pieces in my ATM machine !A L98 is easily worth 2x to 3x a L46, if you can find them in the first place.
Last edited by Justikanz; 27th Dec 2006 at 16:52.
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