Pleco Experts Needed Which Of These Plecos Would Work For Me List Included?

Hi nc0gnet0 ,
I keep an open mind and many fish deaths are easy to attribute to just one factor.
I have had fast growing adolescent Discus gorge themselves on the Tetra Color Bits but not long after, the food swells as it absorbs water. This has caused a temporary imbalance of some of the fishes equilibrium. None died but they were distressed and until they vented gas bubbles the fought to stay upright, head standing and generally out of control. It is for this reason I pre-soak Color Bits 5 to 10 minutes prior to feeding and that seems to have prevented subsequent incidents.

Bushy Nose Plecos can eat anything and are among the hardiest of commonly kept plecos. I just find it difficult to believe Color Bits can harm them.
The species I keep and breed are far more difficult and sensitive to fouled water and/or improper diet and having raised so many over the years it seems very unusual to me that this food is the true reason why you lost your fish.
Bushy Nose are very omnivorous but I feed the the same as all my other pleco species. While I do not breed common Bush Nose Plecos of any of their numerous bred forms anymore, i have raised several thousands over the years. I even keep a couple less than 1-1/4 inches in Discus breeding tanks but much past that size they can devour the eggs of Discus and their armor plating makes them nearly immune to a pair's defense of a clutch of eggs.
I use earth worm and Spirulina sticks as the staple foods but they are fed frozen blood worms almost every day. The plecos which get to eat the most Tetra Color Bits are those I keep with my Discus. As I mentioned, too much beef heart has a strong correlation with the bloat/die problem among plecos but 2 or 3 times a week has never caused me any problems.
I mainly breed species of small and popular Brazilian pleco species which have been banned from the fish trade by Brazil's IBAMA and whose prices have sky rocketed. I have been keeping and breeding Discus since at least 1968. I hate to pull the years of experience excuse on you but most people in the pleco hobby listen when I have something to say. Sometimes fish just die and we rarely know with certainty why. I know you are convinced due to your experience with 3 BN but others should not accept your hypothesis as a fact. It simply doesn't hold up with someone like me who breeds these fish to pay for my hobby. And my several thousands of home grown plecos is a few more data points than what happened to just a few of your fish. There are many pit falls to using inductive reasoning when the sample size is so small.

Apistomaster,

I do realize that you have infinite more expieriance with Pleco's than I. ;) What you described about first pre-soaking the bits before feeding, I do beleive would have prevented the problem I experianced. Truth be told, I have so many longfinned BN that I really didn't even care. And while the sample number was indeed small, please understand that it happened on three seperate occasions, each time within an hour of feeding the color bits. In each case, as soon as the bits hit the tank floor, the pleco's were all over them, trying to get as many as they could before being chased away by the discus. Now, had I pre-soaked them I am almost sure it would not have happened. So, in that regard, I am not saying that the tetra bits themselves are a bad food for pleco's, but pre-soaking them is a very good idea. I too feed spriralina sticks (HBH brand), spiralina flake, zuchinni and earthworm sticks.

And for what it is worth, to the OP, most pleco's are much better algae eaters/tank cleaners at a very young age, as they grow older and mature, they are less and less effective at this chore.

At any rate, what is your opinion on the L-144's (albino longfin with blue eyes) out there? I have two males and two females and am hoping to get them to breed soon. I know many over at Planted catfish don't beleive these are true L-144's.

Hi

I agree with Apistomaster. I have been using tetra color bit for a while now for my "fancy" plecos and have never had any problem with it. I have been keeping pleco for ~20 years. I have a group ~10 L177s for five+ years now, they do not grow that fast but they sure do eat well. I find that the quality of the plecos are getting better (i.e. better acclimatization and conditioning = improve survivor rate, by knowledgeable/reputable dealers). Tetra color bits is just one of many type of food (some are mentioned above) I used for my fish. I think like most thing, everything in moderation. My 2 cents.

nc0gnet0,
It is possible your container of Color Bits was a contaminated one since it otherwise has such a good record as a fish food and you are the first t report any problem with it and plecos.
I am very active on planetcatfish and I am sure I would have noticed any reported problems before now..
My personal opinion of L144 is that they are a blue eye form of xanthanistic common Bushy Nose, Ancistrus cf, cirrhosus.


karkichi,
Very few people can claim they have kept any of the gold nugget type plecos for 10 years.
As you know, most die within a year. You are obviously a very knowledgeable keeper of plecos.
I like them but gold nuggets are to hard to keep and so hard to breed they are not a good investment for my particular goals.

Hi,

Just got two little bushy nosed plecos in my tank about two days ago. I cannot believe how fast they cleaned the tank up, which had reasonable amount of brown algae (new tank). They are only about 1.5-2 inches and have some interesting coloration/patterning. Im wondering if they will brown out like a typical bushy nose as they age? I dont know much about them, just typical from LFS.

Also, Ive read here that you should supplement their diet with zuccini? how often for these two little guys? I dont like the algae wafers because they can make such a mess.

They will lose the interesting patterns as they mature. Fresh greens are advised for almost all plecos, especially Ancistrus species. However, if you think algae wafers are messy, wait until you feed zucchini. :) If your tank is algae free, for 2 little guys, probably once a week with zucchini, yam, or shelled peas are plenty. As they get bigger, you might have to do it twice a week.

Busenose is the best!

great info thanks

I think after the dry Tetra Color Granules swell inside the fishes gut that is what causes any problems with that food. That was why I switched to pre-soaked.
Frozen Blood worms may be fed once a day without any problems unless they have been thawed and refrozen. I buy 50 pounds of frozen blood worms every six months and feed it to all my fish once a day for many years without any problems.
I have filled all my outstanding Leopard Frog Pleco orders so now I have a final count. I plan to keep about 16 leaving me with only 50 one year old L134 to finish selling this summer.My minimum order is for six fish so I can only fill about 8 orders of six as of the first of June These will be the last 2-1/4" to 2-3/4" F1 L134 I will have available until next year.