Your Fish Tank Guru

Hello,

Well sometimes in buying tropical fish and building your tropical fish tank we might get to antsy and learn somethings and forget others.

Well I did that myself this last month. I needing to solve my algae problem and learning about Plecos (Plecostomus) and other Tropical Fish that eat algae. I thought great that solved my problem. I will buy a Pleco, so I did with out the number one thing you should do before you buy fish. I did not do any research on Plecos. For example what a healthy one looks like. Also thinking all they eat is algae, which later I found out was false. They eat wood as well. Even though Plecos are not the prettiest fish they are part of the fish community in your aquarium as well.

What to look for when buying a Pleco is do they have a round belly not flat or concaved. The Pleco is healthy if he has a round belly. Does there fins stick out more often then not. Also make sure your water is close to the pet stores water as in PH and Amonia levels. If buying on line email them what is there water conditions. Plecos are very sensitive to that. Also buy a wooden decoration for them and Pleco tablets what I learned is very good is Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers for Plecostomus & Algae Eaters.

Also again a big valuable lesson in what I learned. Research, Research and more Research before you buy the fish. This means do an internet search before you go to the pet store.

Sample of wood you should get for your aquarium if you get a Pleco

Here is what a Pleco which is short for Plecostomus looks like, there are many types of Plecos but this is one of the more common.