Current Aquarium pics

[mridenour 0]

thanks for the info Steve!

[mikechell 0]

I am sooo glad those Bristle Nose Plecostemus don't live here like the regular ones do. We've got 2 foot long Plecostemus swimming in ponds and rivers here in Central Florida. If they were those ugly things, I might have to quit fishing.

The rest of those fish are beautiful ... great looking tanks, Steve.

[Steeldrifter 0]

lol yeah they only get to about 5-6" max. If they got 2ft like some common plecs get then they could be in the movie Alien lol. They are a strange looking critter but they sure do help keep the tank clean.

[Steeldrifter 0]

I added some things today I KNOW you will like Mike. I'll tryin post a pic later tonight when I get some free time

[Steeldrifter 0]

Some updated pics. I added a large piece of wood as the center piece as well as two smaller pieces of wood. Also bought two full grown adult male Albino bristol nose plecos from a guy in the local aquarium club. They are unreeal how much they clean up a tank. I like a little bit of green algae on the background just to give it a natural look, but it was starting to get out of hand and too much. These guys got it looking great within 24 hrs.

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[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

that looks great and them bristle noses are cool

[mikechell 0]

Do you have algae tablets for those Plecos? They do eat a lot. If you don't feed them, they'll dig right through your paint to get to the algae that's deeper in the cracks. I've had Plecos that killed other fish. Most fish become inactive in the dark, and the Plecos will seek them out and attach to suck the slime and scales off. Goldfish don't stand a chance, but your fish might suffer the same fate.

Anyway, you probably know this, but I felt I had to mention it.

I do like the looks of that tank, now. The wood addition is great ... and it will provide some food for the Plecos. They'll eat any softer wood they can get to.

[Stippled Popper 0]

Plecos aren't the only algae eaters that will kill other fish. That is how I lost one of each from my two

breeding pairs of Angel Fish. Needless to say the algae eaters were the next to die. But before they

overstayed their welcome the tank did go from Green to Clean in about 24 hours.

[Steeldrifter 0]

I feed two algae tablets to each of the 55g tanks plecos every 2-3 days. When it comes to plecos there is a vast variety of species that need to be researched before deciding on which one is the right one for the type of tank the aquarist owns. That is why some people have problems with plecos killing fish is because they think a pleco is a pleco and nothing could be farther from the truth. When it comes to my tanks I won't put any fish in them without fully researching that species of fish, I can be a tad OCD when it comes to my tanks lol

 

Common plecos and plecos such as Rhino plecos, Sailfin plecos, Royal plecos are the ones that you have to be more cautious of when it comes to killing other fish. Those species can get very large (common plec's get to 2ft long) and are pretty aggressive after they get to about 10" long.

 

Bristol nose plecos like these are one of the smallest of the pleco species (only get to 5-6" maximum) and they are the most timid of all the pleco species. Most cichlid owners keep the bristol nose plecs for just that reason, really no worries about BNP harming the cichlids. Normally it is the other way around with these, it's much more common for cichlids to actually pick at the eyes or the bristols of the plecos if you don't keep the cichlids feed, but luckily that is not too common of a thing to have to worry about.

[Piker20 0]

I just think those BNP are just too weird looking to be ugly. I used to love having little oddities in my tank when I had one.

[mikechell 0]

Yeah, I figured you already knew about them. Just putting my two cents in in case.

We've got the common plecos in the lakes and rivers here. Like you said, some are near to two feet. If I am very quiet, I can drift my boat up to one feeding on a stump or lily pad stem and grab them by the tail. Since their skin is similar to sharks, and almost sandpaper to the touch, once you've got a hold on one, it's caught.

I just look at them for a few minutes and toss them back in the water. At least, if there's any glass in the water, I am sure there's no algae growing on it.

[mooxe 0]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread.

 

Here's my old 275 gallon built into the wall fish tank. Water was piped in through the ceiling and there was a drain pipe below it as well. I came realization that fish are decoration and decided to get rid of this tank. I tried to sell it, failed. I tried to give it away and failed at that as well. Its 3/4" glass on a steel frame with double thick glass on the bottom, must of weighed close to 800 pounds.

 

The only way to get it out was with my trusty old axe!

 

 

 

[mooxe 0]

Really with I could of got it to look like the aquariums steeldrifter has. My plan B was to put an ocean backdrop in it and put in some remote controlled subs.