I was wondering if I could temporarily (about a month) keep two sailfin plecos in one tank? The tank is a 44 gallon hex. Grumpy is about five inches long and Oscar is about two and a half inches long. The HOB is for a 60 gallon tank. I have two air stones and one bubble wall. There are 14 fake plants and a half dozen live ones. There are six pieces of hollow driftwood (fake). I do twice a week water changes and gravel vacuuming. Would Oscar be safe with Grumpy? Some of the pleco advice I have found says that he would be because of the difference in size but I thought I would ask some more experienced fish keepers before I attempt it. Thanks in advance for your answers.
Two plecos in one tank?
- Thread starter LydiaGreen
- Start date
I would really worry about the aggression. Many plecos hate eachother in a confined space. If I remember, a 44g hex has a fairly small area on the bottom. As long as you have hiding places, you might get away with it, but watch for signs of fighting. Definitely do a little rearranging just before you add Oscar.
Yes - I have been accused of keeping things a little too clean before. I used to change the filter on the HOB with every water change too! Big rookie mistake... very expensive too. Live a little - learn a little.
I change about 25% each time. I have two fantails, a red cap oranda, and three dojo loaches in the 44 as well and although it is supposedly myth, I do find that the goldfish poop a lot and I just keep thinking to myself, "I wouldn't want to swim in my toilet!" My levels are good this way (stable for 6 whole months now - made lots of rookie mistakes and took advice from the kid at Walmart - oy! I know) and it is what my fish are used to now so I figure I had better keep it up. Do you think it would be okay to wean them down to a once weekly cleaning?
I change about 25% each time. I have two fantails, a red cap oranda, and three dojo loaches in the 44 as well and although it is supposedly myth, I do find that the goldfish poop a lot and I just keep thinking to myself, "I wouldn't want to swim in my toilet!" My levels are good this way (stable for 6 whole months now - made lots of rookie mistakes and took advice from the kid at Walmart - oy! I know) and it is what my fish are used to now so I figure I had better keep it up. Do you think it would be okay to wean them down to a once weekly cleaning?
Yes goldfish do make a mess. I also made the rookie mistakes and got 3 goldfish in a 10 gal. Found out that wasn't right at all so moved them to a 29.. now i see the reason for the water changes. From my personal experiences, i did 25-30% water changes once a week. What kind of filter do you have? Just wondering?
My filter is the 60 gallon one from Walmart - Hagen is the manufacturer I think. It was $50 extra but I have found that the filters that come with the Wally World tanks just aren't adequate for goldfish. Maybe they'd be okay for other species of fish but not my goldies. The actual filters are just the disposable carbon ones - they're black framed with blue filter material on the one side.
My naivete may be showing though. I called the tank a hex but the back is square (two sided) and the front is three sided. Is that a bowfront? I got this one because it had a lot more space on the bottom then the true hex but enough height for my loaches to get up a good speed when they're swimming around (they really do respond to weather - there's a big winter storm approaching and I can tell from their reaction).
I think I'll try the two plecos together and see how it goes and I'll just leave Oscar's original tank set up and running for the first week in case I need to rescue him. Thanks for the advice all.
My naivete may be showing though. I called the tank a hex but the back is square (two sided) and the front is three sided. Is that a bowfront? I got this one because it had a lot more space on the bottom then the true hex but enough height for my loaches to get up a good speed when they're swimming around (they really do respond to weather - there's a big winter storm approaching and I can tell from their reaction).
I think I'll try the two plecos together and see how it goes and I'll just leave Oscar's original tank set up and running for the first week in case I need to rescue him. Thanks for the advice all.
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Hi LydiaGreen & Welcome to the tank!
It looks like you are on the right track. With the 2nd Pleco you might find you are overstocked in the tank... golidies + Pleco's make for a lot of poop and take-up some space.
It should not be too bad if it is for a short period of time, but be sure to upgrade or find a 2nd tank soon .
Also, having goldies and big-poop issues also, I find that having 2 filter systems on the tank seems to help keep the mess down. I suggest using an Aqua-Clear (AQ) high-volume filter with a coarse sponge and ceramic disk (bio) to remove the larger debris, then a 2nd fine-filter HOB (like a whisper or other non-bypass filter) or Internal Powerhead filter with fine-filter (floss) attachment.
Eg: My 50 gal goldie tank has an AQ 500 power filter with sponge and ceramic disks AND a whisper 40 with fine floss filter and 2ndary sponge (for extra bio-surface).
The AQ 500 changes the water 10 time per hour, removing the large debris. I squeeze-out the dirty sponge in a bucket of old tank water every water change. The whisper 40 changes only the water 1 per hour, however it removes the fine particles and algea very effectively and does not get clogged-up as fast, changing the floss every 3 to 4 weeks.
Hope this helps with you future planning
It looks like you are on the right track. With the 2nd Pleco you might find you are overstocked in the tank... golidies + Pleco's make for a lot of poop and take-up some space.
It should not be too bad if it is for a short period of time, but be sure to upgrade or find a 2nd tank soon .
Also, having goldies and big-poop issues also, I find that having 2 filter systems on the tank seems to help keep the mess down. I suggest using an Aqua-Clear (AQ) high-volume filter with a coarse sponge and ceramic disk (bio) to remove the larger debris, then a 2nd fine-filter HOB (like a whisper or other non-bypass filter) or Internal Powerhead filter with fine-filter (floss) attachment.
Eg: My 50 gal goldie tank has an AQ 500 power filter with sponge and ceramic disks AND a whisper 40 with fine floss filter and 2ndary sponge (for extra bio-surface).
The AQ 500 changes the water 10 time per hour, removing the large debris. I squeeze-out the dirty sponge in a bucket of old tank water every water change. The whisper 40 changes only the water 1 per hour, however it removes the fine particles and algea very effectively and does not get clogged-up as fast, changing the floss every 3 to 4 weeks.
Hope this helps with you future planning