Looking for advice for Pleco stock, looking for small species of Pleco.

[Vestyxe]

For starters I'd like to apologise if I've posted this in the wrong section, I was torn between here and speak easy but decided to come here because it's directly tied to the fish.

I'm looking to know:

A: If it is acceptable to add more plecos to my tank (small species).
&
B: What small species I could place in said tank (Excluding super expensive or delicate fish like the Zebra Pleco).


I have a thirty gallon (UK gallons) tank, sandy bottom, two chunks of wood and a cave, with java ferns groaning out all of these, I am stocked with:
Bristlenose Pleco (Young adult) x 2
Mustard Spot Pleco (Juvenile) x 1
Farlowella Acus (Juvenile) x 1
Trilineatus Corydoras x 4
Rummynose Tetra x 4
Atya Gabonensis x 1
Assassin Snails x 3 (plus babies in the sand) I don't think snails do anything for the bio load, just mentioned them for the sake of it.

So, would I be pushing the limits to add an other small species of Pleco or two? Would it be cruel or cause a generally negative impact on the tank?
I was thinking perhaps a clown or flash Pleco.

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated, thanks & sorry for tedious post.

[Richard B]

What is the footprint of the tank? (length x width) As the bristlenose & mustard grow they'll each want their own territory which equates to about a square foot of bottom area. Another plec would require the same - I've discounted the farlowella as it is a different type of plec to the more robust (body) types you have.

Have you considered

Parotocinclus jumbo

?

PS - snails do add to the bioload maybe negligible if you have very few but you need to consider numbers. A clown might work ok but I've found Albivermis (flash) can be aggressive - it may take a dislike to the mustard as they are closely related

[Vestyxe]

31 inches long, 13 wide, 16 high.

While I do have sand for them to hide in, I've heard that they don't live very long and are easily bullied a lot of the time, I don't know if this is true having no experience with them whatsoever, I've been told this by multiple people plus not to disrespect the animal at all but it also isn't all that interesting apart from the whole burying itself thing, sorry.

I went into a fish store today and asked the same questions in my original post, an employee insisted a few times that a golden nugget pleco which would be shipped in in a few days would do well, whereas I think it would be too large for my tank and already having a few species would add to a negative situation, were they just trying to make a buck out of me or am I wrong to think that?

Thanks for your time.

[apistomaster]

Most Gold Nuggets die long before they reach maturity in captivity. They usually slowly waste away in a typical neophyte's care and this can take many months.
You are right to ask whether that shop is just trying to make a buck out you because they are.

[Vestyxe]

That's horrible, is there any specific reason why? Failure to provide them with something?

Anyway, I won't be purchasing said fish.
Thanks for the info.

[magdalo]

I agree. I always shy away from these Gold Nuggets and other Baryancistrus as they are known to be very difficult to keep in the hobby. Why not add one more Mustard Spot, since you already have one? Together with the Bristlenose, you can feed them a steady diet of plant-based food. Just a suggestion. Good luck!

[Richard B]

I'd avoid 2 mustards in case one starts to pick on the other.

Gold nuggets generally need higher temperatures & are often in very poor condition when imported, so need a lot of TLC to get them established which is why they don't fare well in general hobbyists tanks.

If you have a farlowella that's doing ok, the P.Jumbo should be fine as they are active little fish & not easily put off by larger tank mates for too long - I had mine for a number of years before passing them on to a friend & they were kept with a pair of common B/Ns & a black lancer - all much larger than they were. If you prefer, the other suggestion of a clown plec (p.maccus/aff. maccus) would be a good one

[apistomaster]

It looks like Richard likes Parotocinclus jumbo. They are rather plain in appearance but they do have attributes well suited to your tank.

I have a suggestion. Perhaps adding a few more of the Farlowella?
If you keep them in small groups of 3 or 4, you will get to see them more often and observe some very interesting behavioral interactions not seen with only one specimen. Breeding may occur which is very interesting even if you do not wish to try raising any resulting fry. Farlowella fry are very challenging to raise.

[Vestyxe]

Yup.


I do like the sound of that, I do like a farlowella, see more often? He's always out bumbling around at algae wafers, sitting on the front of the glass and such, cute fish but the group behaviour has me entrigued but for now I'm just going to sit on the idea, bide my time and see how things go.


Thanks for the advice everybody.