Brackish Pleco?

bugeye · Post by **bugeye** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:36 pm

Can anyone suggest a suitable species of Pleco to keep with a SGP, or any other interesting, compatible fish?

bugeye · Post by **bugeye** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:38 pm

Sorry, I forgot tank size - 55 (US) gallons with x1 SGP

Zaffimitsu · Post by **Zaffimitsu** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:55 pm

Commons and bristlenoses MIGHT work, if acclimated correctly.

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:08 pm

GSP? No, commons and bristlenose cannot go high end brackish which is what the GSPs will require. No commonly available plecos can that I know of.

sstimac · Post by **sstimac** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:29 pm

nope, definitely not.

bugeye · Post by **bugeye** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:58 pm

Many thanks guys. Which species will clean the tanks for me or will I have to do my own manual cleaning?

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:15 pm

Manual.

sstimac · Post by **sstimac** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:51 pm

It's the price you pay. Oh well, it's worth it, I'm sure. I have a 46 bowfront mbuna tank that i have to manually clean. It's all good, mostly just algae removal from the glass. I let it take over the rockwork.

Post by **nmonks** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:18 pm

We need a pinned topic on this... but anyway, yes, there are plecs that inhabit brackish water. No, you aren't likely to see them. Among the species that naturally live in estuaries (though at the freshwater end and probably actively avoiding mid to high salinity water) are Hypostomus ventromaculatus and Hypostomus watwata. A number of plecs have become established in Florida as exotics, and at least one of these are common in brackish water ditches: Hypostomus plecostomus. So any of these could probably be kept at SG 1.003 perfectly safely and without causing the fish any health problems.

Your problem is that Hypostomus ventromaculatus and Hypostomus watwata aren't traded at all, and though Hypostomus plecostomus was common in the 60s and 70s, it is all but absent from the trade nowadays.

I have seen other plecs kept in low-end brackish tanks, even species like Panaque nigrolienatus that ordinarily live hundreds of miles from the sea. The question is whether this harms them over the long term. Catfish aren't "allergic" to salt, and many, many freshwater catfish naturally inhabit brackish water. In the US, channel catfish do so quite commonly, and I've read reports of things like Mystus and Synodontis catfish being found in slightly brackish waters in the wild. But personally, unless I had evidence to the contrary, I wouldn't risk it.

Cheers, Neale

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:26 pm

though Hypostomus plecostomus was common in the 60s and 70s, it is all but absent from the trade nowadays

So the fish we call "plecos" aren't actually plecostomus at all? We should be calling them all Hypos!

Post by **nmonks** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:42 pm

Absolutely! I don't think I've ever seen a real H. plecostomus in the flesh my entire life, and I've been keeping since around 1985. They may be more common in the US, but you just don't see them here in Europe. No great loss of course, as we have all those wonderful L-numbers to play with instead!

Cheers,

Neale

Pufferpunk wrote:So the fish we call "plecos" aren't actually plecostomus at all? We should be calling them all Hypos!

sstimac · Post by **sstimac** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:45 pm

I would imagine that keeping many plecos in an environment such as a low end brackish would be detrimental their health, especially P. nigrolineatus. P. nigrolineatus prefers conditions similar to blackwater. Very acidic and relatively soft. This is the opposite of brackish. It's a shame some would put this fish in brackish water as it is such a beautiful fish with specific needs.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:55 pm

I just responded to a Q at WWM from someone that is keeping his w/aGSP, as he's converting it to SW! Poor plec (I mean Hypo)!

Post by **nmonks** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:12 pm

I agree, but the local aquarium shop to me has one with scats and monos and a Celebes halfbeak and has had them together for years. My Panaque nigrolineatus hasn't quite had things that bad, but she's been in everything from a mbuna tank to a blackwater aquuarium over our eleven years together and seems to have sailed through it. Once they're settled in and feeding, there're pretty hardy animals.

Cheers, Neale

sstimac wrote:I would imagine that keeping many plecos in an environment such as a low end brackish would be detrimental their health, especially P. nigrolineatus.\(

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Post by **nmonks** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:14 pm

Well yes, he's going to kill it. If he wants a saltwater catfish, recommend something like an Ariid or Plotosiid, or maybe something like Mystus gulio if he's feeling adventurous.

Cheers, Neale

Pufferpunk wrote:I just responded to a Q at WWM from someone that is keeping his w/aGSP, as he's converting it to SW! Poor plec (I mean Hypo)!

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Brackish Pleco?

Brackish Pleco?