Will be setting up my new 125.
Transferring my two O's and Plecos from 75.
If your answer is SAND, can a Plecos be placed in that tank?

One more question:
Can my Plecos handle the 85 degrees my Oscars are requiring?

Thanks

O's prefer temperatures between 74 degrees Fahrenheit and 81 degrees Fahrenheit with an ideal around 77 degrees, You are WAY to hot. As far as I know (I dont have sand) plecos are just fine in sand. I have aggregate gravel and I will soon be changing to black sand, and I have a 15" Pleco.

I believe the temp was up to 85 temporarily to treat you sick one correct?

As for sand and plecos it should be fine...a few members on here have both but I have noticed people mention that the plecos like to move the sand around quite a bit but thats nothing I would worry about.

Yes, for treating Ick, you need the temp at 86 degrees... just make sure you have plenty of air going.

After the treatment turn down the heaters again.
The plecos will like that more than the hot water.
Sand or gravel is a very personal choise.
I got gravel in both the tanks that my plecos are in.
They love the gravel and will dig holes to stay in.
But sand will do as well.
Sand will be easier to clean, as i hear from some members, but i love to vacuum the gravel.
Oh, well, "love" is maybe an overexpression...lol

I have sand and a pleco. WARNING... the O's will rearrange the sand nightly but not too bad. The pleco will make CRATER size holes !! I posted some pics under another thread showing what mine did to my tank. It's easy to fix but know that you'll have to do it daily. Otherwise... thumbs up on the sand and it is a heck of a lot easier to clean than gravel.

This is the one pic I have... the holes actually got deeper as time goes on and I fill them every morning! Busy guy at night!!

thanks. in all my readings i am finding that all the suggestions are to keep O's close to 80-82. I had my tank always at 78 and my Nemo has been going down hill since he got sick. As soon as I got the heaters, and cranked them up, he came back to normal. I hope the plecos like sand don't want yours or mine to choke up on the sand after getting used to sucking so hard on the gravel rocks. thanks again.!

yes, for ich. but he loves it. he hangs next to that heater like it's his best friend. the jerking stopped, even his appetite came back. how long do i keep it this warm and how do i gradually go back down? one of the heaters stopped working yesterday and as soon as the water started to cool down, he started his jerking really drastically i might add. so i ran to the store and replaced the broken one and once i started it up, he was back to his old self again - swimming, looking for food, etc.

how long does this heat treatment last? no one explained for how long in all the articles i read.

when you clean your gravel with the vacuum, do you go ALL the way down to the bottom of the tank below the gravel? or just the surface? thanks again.

so you think my plecos will realize how fine the sand is right away? he is used to sucking the gravel like crazy. don't want him to choke since i will just be introducing him to sand for the first time.

thank you for writing.

wow, your tank is beautifu. what size is it, what size are your oscars and your plecos? okay, i don't see your plecos. is he under the sand? was he always in the sand or did you have gravel before hand? thanks again. blessings.

i also see that you have airbubbles from the bottom up. is that better with the sand? i have the filters from above that cause many bubbles as water drops into the tank.

wildaortiz wrote:


I'm assuming your responding to my post. My tank is 120 gal. The Oscars are about 6" right now and the pleco is about 10". If you look really close on the left side of the pic he is hanging between the heater and the sump box. The O's and Pleco learn about the sand and don't choke on it. They still pick it up and spit it back out but I have never heard of any problems. I did have gravel in my starter tank.. this is easier to clean but takes a different type of tube to syphon with - you can't use the big wide tube you use on gravel. I actually just pulled that off and used the little tube and it works perfectly. As for the airbubbles.. I just love the look of the bubble wall and I can make it have more bubbles or fewer bubbles to change the appearance. The O's love the bubbles and often swim thru them.

Hope this helps....