Gillyan

Actually I like that idea...even though I should be biased to plecos being a pleco person-lol-but as they require a meatier diet and graze plants and decor for food may be an option to try definitely-plus they are a nice fish. Several diff. varieties, relativeky easy to acer for from what I know of- true with the breeding, I have no experience personally but know a few fish friends who have and they enjoy them a lot. To add to this idea I wonder if if you have thought about a combo of maybe a pleco group or one pleco-algae diff types, brown, green, some extra food debry,etc. depending on the pleco and a small cory shoal-to clean up food debry? I have a friend who has Bn's with cories and some tetras and has tank with one Rhino with cories also and some other fish not sure what: both are the most immacualte tanks and have live plants- sparkling! No algae, stable water parameters, has softer water than I do but has to do far less water changes than I do, and his tanks are smaller with a bigger bio load than mine-interesting!

This is true. Not too much protein, but nonetheless will need some,they can be a little bit more diff. to keep than say the Bn or the Rhino. I keep mine with Bn's and they all love the veggies- but my Panaques need some brine shrimp/little bits of freezedried blood worm. About once a once every two weeks but they also spawn- so that might the reason for the need for extra protein- I love my little clowns but they do not do so much house cleaning definitely not as much as the Bn's or the Rhino. Good point about the protein though- research about any clean up crew is super important.

I think you're on the right track- cjerrom is right about the Panaques but you may need several a sthey are not so diligent in cleaning. BN's are diligent cleaners- poop a lot if you have a colony which isn't hard as they'll reproduce so easily, maybe try albinos-add a different coloring to your tank also people really like those ones-easy to sell especially as adults and longfinned also as suggested. You'l need a few if you want a lot of poop though. My experience for the poopiest pleco is the Pterygoplichthys scrophus or the Rhino/Chocolate pleco, do a much better job at cleaning than panaques about even with the Bn's if you have a colony and poop like crazy(definelty the King's of poop) but they spend all night basically buffing your tank clean-they can grow big, but if you get a male not so large(maybe 8 inches max). With all these you'll need wood, with Bn's you'll need to feed them veggies almost every other day and with Panaquaes supplement with veggies and a meaty diet- blood worms/sometimes brine shrimp also. With the Rhino- no supplement required will eat any waste food not specific on what they're fed.

Will try to post some pics- have had troubles in the past with posting my pics-they are doing really well so far no dentistry required yet -but probably soon are growing faster now.And yes they are so much fun and interesting nice to know there are other Puffer peeps out there! They are my fav fish- every morning I have their tank in the kitchen, crazy I know, but anyways, they come up and swim and interact with my boys in the morning, even my toddler during breakfast before they go to school its truly quite something- they are like dogs or cats in a way- much more social than my other obsession the plecos-lol. Even more social than cichlids! I am so happy with them!!! Thanks everyone!!!

Looking for adult female L180. F1 Please Thank you.

Yes they are South American Puffers. They are quite the characters, I am glad to see they are getting better, it was sad for me when they were sick, even though it was to be expected, or they warned me at the LFS, but still seeing sick fish and having sick fish can be worrisome.Thank you SuperGuppyGirl I appreciate this and will definitely make it out to Devon just to even meet you and your tanks would be great, snails or no snails. My hubby bought me a couple plants today and they came loaded with snails so popped as many as I could into the the snail breeders, hopefully they'll start getting romantic!

So I recently got some SAPs for my 90 Gallon, they are really quite the characters. After about a year or so of research as they require a lot of special care,I plunged. Got them home and they broke out with yup-ICK, was expected, but have had a really long road in recovering them. I can finally say today I see no cysts- but the LFS said maybe over 6 weeks or longer of a continued battle with the disease. Anyways they are eating well- foraging for snails and finally fattening up-I have two small 5G tanks set-up with snails/breeding them and am finding they are eating more than what can reproduce. Also feeding them Mysis. Any suggestions on what I can do to sustain there huge appetite now that they are getting healthier? In the past I coundn't clean the tank enough and get rid of snails now am finding I am needing more than what I can produce. Any thoughts, very much appreciated.

I would also suggest a colony of Ottocinclus of 4 or more, they do a great job on plants-very delicate also stay soooo small, are not agressive at all- I would suggest finding a reputable breeder or follow the suggestions above- female BN's are not funny faced and fantastic at cleaning!!!

I have Ancistrus Cirrhosis breeding trios x3 Albinos, regular and marbles. Mnay baies, juvi's an exact number could not say.1 Rhino pleco, 1 L181 male, 2 little Clown plecos and 1 Ottocinclus -who is about three years old!!!

UPDATE edmonton at B*g A*s they have long-finned albino juvis and L182(the famous Starlight pleco)-these guys get quite a bit larger than the common ancistrus but in my opinion all ancistrus and ottocinclus affinis are the BEST at eating algae. Other Plecos-the more fancy L#s are good while young then require a more meaty diet as well as the common alge eaters. Hope this helps

No problem, glad to hear she will be happy and have a very Big home! Fantastic, thanks!

Thank you to SuperGuppyGirl and Skygrl for the info- not overly sure exactly how many years in total- but for some time now we have taken in rescues, here in Alberta now and before were I lived my husband and I did the same and many of the fish we keep are rescues, for some reason we attract unwanted fish, have not really had too much of a problem with housing them before as they were smaller and just unwanted- but this last rescue was quite a big one and I can almost be sure in saying everyone has a home and we rescued them on Thursday-so I am so grateful to the people who have opened their homes and hearts out to these beautiful exotic fish and huge thank you to A.A- for having people concerned for the well-being of these ancient animals. "Please do not flush or release into our environment any unwanted fish- there is always another solution!!!!"

Thank you for the responses, they are very much appreciated. Funny thing, just got back from the LFS I dropped off a sailfin plecostomus and an I.D. Shark, and the manger when I called was so sure when I called that they were worthless, or so he said, I opened the container and they sold, even before I got them out of my container into theirs, and man who didn't get one of the fish-walked away saying you shouldn't have just given them away-I would have bought the Id shark from you-I have a 500G tank! The sailfin they said he'd be sold before the weekend! But he sold on the spot! I feel like such a fool!- you know we are in no way well-off or anything like that- we just saw a situation-and knew we had to do something- never wanting to make any kind of profit- the only thing we wanted in return was a cucumber or zucchini for our fish in our little tanks and now I feel like we were just plain stupid to even think people would be honest and care enough-just to help us out in return for a pretty penny they are going to make. I'm sorry- to rant.

Hello anyone out there!- wondering if I have broken a rule -if I have am REALLY sorry. Or if my topic is just not interesting to any one. Am going take two of the other rescues to their new homes in a little while just getting them ready. If anyone has any ideas or comments-I would appreciate it-rude, mean, cruel-don't really care- maybe some helpful ones too- feel free to speak your mind. Thanks.

Hello I am not a keeper of Cichlids, however my husband and I just rescued a Beautiful Gold Severum- She/he is gorgeous and so intelligent, 'goldie' comes to the glass and interacts with us and we are so fascinated and amazed as we are keepers of Ryukin Goldfish and Bristlenose plecos-not to speak ill of the goldfish and the Bn's but it is incredible how in one day he/ she-aka- goldie, already recognizes us and is affectionate. I take my hand and caress the tank and he/she comes and seems to caress my hand with his/her body and when I go to the room immediately he/she will go to the nearest part of the glass to see if I will come to talk to him/her or caress-not hungry just wanting attention- almost like a dog or cat- very new experience for me and my husband. We were faced with a situation- of unspeakable horror for us and maybe someone out there may understand, there were five large fish of different species living together in unspeakable conditions, needless to say we bought a bucket and filled with distilled water from Sobey's and drove home- The only thing my husband and I did was place them-each separately in clean water-with some prime and weis bacteria cycle.This morning we were expecting that perhaps we would have a fatality-no one-amazingly everyone is happy- have found a home for two already. I am writing this, hoping that someone who keeps Cichlid's will to take him/her- I believe from my research that it is a he and was worried of disease or septicemia, but clean water is incredible!!! He had some fin rot-so I'm sure whomever reads this knows what that means-today though in around 24 hours his fins are HEALING,have been checking for parasite/external and signs of internal parasite- lethargy or not eating, moving flukes fast gill movements act. or any thing unusual- the signs I would check for in my goldfish or plecos and he/Goldie seems just fine- apparently his species is rare- most are sold as Gold Severum but in fact are not, but from my research I believe he is true specimen and not a hybrid and was just living in inexplicable conditions. To be honest if we could afford it- we would go and buy a tank and try to keep him- but can not. We just don't have the resources to care for him. However we also knew we could not leave him in the conditions he was in. we would love to know that he could be with others of his species as has never even known a member of his species since being a baby from what we were told and be a daddy or a mommy or just receive the love and attention we believe he deserves. I have contacted my LFS and they are sooo happy to take him- but will sell him and make money for their purposes- this we believe is our last option- perhaps someone out there would actually want him for what he is worth-a living being! We asked if we could have an air pump/small as a trade-knowing they purchase them in bulk and would be like $5.00 for them, for him knowing he is worth a lot of money for our Bn's that we purchased from them- they were unwilling, saying they don't do that. We understand, they are a business, we are not though, but at the same time we don't want money or anything for profit-just a small help with our fish and an air pump, some algae wafers, , even a zucchini or a cucumber, anything like that would be of such great assistance for our little guys as we try and keep them well and healthy always that may help us with the care of our fish. However we understand times are difficult and at least to have him have a home a be happy would be a HUGE comfort. If any one out there can help please let us know-we will continue our search for a suitable place for him as we knew that taking this rescue on would be difficult and are responsible for him for the rest of his life. I was unable to upload pictures it said the file was too big,but will be happy to, send pictures to anyone who is SERIOUSLY interested in giving him some dignity. Thank you for your time.

Hello everyone, Just wanted to take a moment and tell you a little about myself. I am a stay at home mom. I have been in the hobby for a little over 3 years-started out out with guppies when my son was a baby to stimulate his eyes and learning-( their vibrant colours and rapid movements!!!) It turned out to be so rewarding for his development and calm anxieties that it progressed, now he's 3 and he helps me with the fishes' care and feeding and it has helped me teach him about empathy, nature, animals and science. My youngest is starting the famous "terrible twos" and is just as fascinated with the hobby as my oldest, he is full of energy but there are moments that he unhappy with the world and will just sit in front of a tank and listen to the water and watch and become calm. I have 3 tanks currently and two quarantine tanks with a fancy-tail goldfish in one- a rescue from a pet store(the poor little fish had been mistakenly put in with comets and they bullied him pretty bad so he is now healing and hopefully will make it!) and two juvenile bristle nose in the other. My passion is the bristlenose's, my husband has a love of goldfish and my boys love all animals but especially their guppies. I keep two full grown Ryukin goldfish with bristlenose in the largest tank - although the two species are from different continents they live very happily together, a very Canadian lifestyle !!! The goldies are so messy and make an environment in which algae thrives- so the bristlenoses live as happy as can be cleaning the tank and they have even spawned twice in with them! In the guppy tank I have several fancy types and some Otocinclus, again a happy environment! Since the guppies are so prolific I give away fry and adults to friends and family and a few have become fish enthusiasts, as well!