Bushy nose Pleco making quick of any broad leaf plant in aquairium! And my crypts!
So I have finally traced (I think) the destruction of my foot tall and foot thick crypts to my bushy nose pleco. I got her at 2 inches and she is now about 6 years old.
When i first got her i had done a lot of changes to the tank, the biggest was a put WAY too much light on it. My beautiful crypts kept appearing to just rot right on the leaves and then they kept getting smaller and smaller. Thought it was crypt melt but they kept putting out new leaves so i didn't think that was the case. Also I had beat the crap out of those things more than once without ever having it happen. I eventually concluded that too much light and no added ferts caused the plants to use up all their energy reserves trying to grow and burned themselves up.
I still have the remnants of that crypt grove and they refuse to get over a few leaves and only a couple inches tall. When they do put off a few larger leaves it is just a short matter of time before i find damage on them and then the next day that leaf will be just a stem. This has been a multiple year investigation in changing things and parameters, lighting, some co2, then none, etc., in the tank to figure out what was going on.
A while back after she went through and destroyed some amazons that were as tall as the tank so I decided to look keep a closer eye on her. And it looks like she is probably the culprit.
Long story short, I have now heard about these critters going through amazons but has anyone heard about them munching on Crypts? I don't want to get rid of her and i don't want to set up a new tank just for her but something has to happen. Also anyone that says these things don't live a long time are wrong. I was also told that clown plecos only live a couple years. My guy is the first fish I ever had and is now 15 years old!
When i first got her i had done a lot of changes to the tank, the biggest was a put WAY too much light on it. My beautiful crypts kept appearing to just rot right on the leaves and then they kept getting smaller and smaller. Thought it was crypt melt but they kept putting out new leaves so i didn't think that was the case. Also I had beat the crap out of those things more than once without ever having it happen. I eventually concluded that too much light and no added ferts caused the plants to use up all their energy reserves trying to grow and burned themselves up.
I still have the remnants of that crypt grove and they refuse to get over a few leaves and only a couple inches tall. When they do put off a few larger leaves it is just a short matter of time before i find damage on them and then the next day that leaf will be just a stem. This has been a multiple year investigation in changing things and parameters, lighting, some co2, then none, etc., in the tank to figure out what was going on.
A while back after she went through and destroyed some amazons that were as tall as the tank so I decided to look keep a closer eye on her. And it looks like she is probably the culprit.
Long story short, I have now heard about these critters going through amazons but has anyone heard about them munching on Crypts? I don't want to get rid of her and i don't want to set up a new tank just for her but something has to happen. Also anyone that says these things don't live a long time are wrong. I was also told that clown plecos only live a couple years. My guy is the first fish I ever had and is now 15 years old!
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I have a bunch of Crypts in my tank and my bushy nose doesn't bother them or any of the other plants. She just mostly hangs out on the wood until it's feeding time. She's only about 2.5 inches long though.
I feed a variety of foods for everyone but she LOVES the Wardley Shrimp Pellets, way more than the TetraVeggie Algae Wafers. She will chase the Hillstream Loaches and everyone else away until she has gotten her fill of shrimp pellets.
Do you have driftwood in your tank?
I feed a variety of foods for everyone but she LOVES the Wardley Shrimp Pellets, way more than the TetraVeggie Algae Wafers. She will chase the Hillstream Loaches and everyone else away until she has gotten her fill of shrimp pellets.
Do you have driftwood in your tank?
I do have a large stump of malaysian drift wood in the tank but she never really touches it. Usually that's the clown pleco that rasps on the driftwood. She does like the shrimp pellets that my corys get but that never seems to be enough. maybe i will try the zuchinni, something to keep her full to see if these things can bounce back and be left alone. How would you weigh that down cause i know it tends to float.
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I used the odd salad forks from the everyday silverware drawer until I made up my 'plecoware' veggie screws. :smile:
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