Tropical Fish Keeping banner

African Cichlid algae eater question

6K views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  Inga 
#1 ·
I have kept South American Cichlids for years and have had great success with them. Recently I decided I wanted to try my hand at African cichlids. Went to my LFS and bought several Zebra Cichlids of a varying color. They all seem to be doing well, growing and coloring up nice but I've noticed algae forming on my rocks and equipment. If this were a typical S. A. tank I would just add a pleco but I've read different things regarding this with African tanks. Could someone tell me if this is ok in an African tank or give me an alternative? Thanks in advance...Joe
 
#2 ·
i don't see why you can't add a pleco to the african tank.both of them are ok with a ph of 8.0 but not any higher for the pleco.if not you could just scrape off the algae as plecos don't eat certain algea anyway.
 
#6 ·
A properly acclimatized pleco should do fine. I doubt the cichlids will even notice the pleco. They are armored for a reason. I have kept plecos(Bushy nose, veil, clown, zebra) many times over the years with African cichlids both Mbuna and Tropheus. If you are getting them local you should not have any water issues between the LFS and the tank. I think our domestic fish are less influenced by water parameters than wild caught, I have a discus breeder here who breeds his discus in 8.3 PH hard water, if that says anything. I would say go for it. Although I also urge you to add some herbivore cichlids to the mix, there are plenty of them. I loved my tropheus colony, never had any algae, those little hyperactive buggers scoured the rocks daily(dont recommend tropheus BTW, just saying).
 
#7 ·
For plecos it's hit and miss. Some do very well in an african cihclid setp(mine did) but people who have done say that after quite a few years when the mbunas have serious size than they can fall victim. You can try it but in the long run you will more than likely end up with a dead pleco. The armor protects thier skin but not thier eyes. Mbunas have been known to eat the eyes of plecos, pirahnas have been known to flip them over and eat thier exposed underbelly, and oscars have been known to whip them back and forth until they "snap". Plecos are not inpenatrable...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top