What is the Best Substrate for Pleco Fish?
Plecos spend a lot of time combing over the substrate in search of food, and their natural habitat features debris, clay, and gravel. You can use a mix of clay and gravel for your tank’s substrate.
Some aquarists choose a bare-bottomed tank with their plecos, but any live plants you keep in the aquarium will require a nutrient-rich substrate. Some substrates that you can use with your pleco fish include:
1. Flourite Dark
This porous clay gravel substrate by Seachem is ideal for planted aquariums. The green of the live aquatic plants will contrast beautifully with the dark color of the substrate.
This substrate will not affect the PH of the water since it is not chemically treated or coated. There are no fertilizing compounds added to the substrate, although it does provide iron.
One interesting thing to note about the fluorite dark is that it absorbs the nutrients of any fertilizers that you add to your aquarium. The substrate will then release small quantities of the nutrients over time.
The substrate does not degrade, and Seachem promises that it will be effective for the life of your aquarium. This will be a relief from those substrates that get muddy over time or those that need to be replaced after a year or two.
The substrate will cloud your water when you first add it to your aquarium, but this issue will resolve itself in at most two days.
2. Fluval Stratum
This mineral-rich substrate will encourage healthy plant growth. It is collected from Japan’s Mont Aso that is famous for its mineral-rich sediments.
The substrate features a light and porous structure to enable roots to penetrate easily and extract critical nutrients. Your live plants will flourish and support the health of your setup.
The substrate provides a large surface for the colonization of nitrifying bacteria which enhances the quality of the tank water.
The substrate promotes a neutral to slightly acidic PH and supports an ideal environment for your plecos. If you have shrimp in your tank, this substrate will provide a refuge for the juveniles.
3. Imagitarium Aquarium Gravel
This substrate from Imagitarium helps recreate a natural environment in an aquarium. Its earth brown color is highlighted by elements of granite and crimson to mimic a river bed.
The substrate discourages the presence of unhealthy debris by promoting the growth of healthy bacteria, which breaks down waste.
You can easily clean the substrate using a gravel siphon since it is sized perfectly.
4. Carib Sea Aquarium Sand
This substrate features soft sand that will be kind to your plecos. You can be sure that the bodies of your pets will not be damaged even as they play in the substrate.
You can recreate a natural river bed using this substrate as it is specially selected to reflected various exotic regions like the Rio Negro.
It is free of dyes and paints, and it will not alter the chemical balance of the water.
How to Prevent Your Plecos from Disturbing the Substrate?
If you are going to keep plecos, you will need to provide a lot of hiding spaces. In the absence of caves and crevices, these fish will burrow into the substrate for cover.
You can use rocks and wood to create safe spaces for your plecos. Prop the wood against rocks to provide structure, and keep in mind that some plecos nibble on driftwood.
You can also use the lengths of PVC tubing to provide artificial caves. Ensure that your pleco can get out of any ornament that you provide as cover.
If you use live plants, ensure that they are the sturdy since plecos feed on plants.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Substrate for Plecos
You will need to customize the kind of substrate you get for plecos. Some guidelines to follow include:
Avoid Substrates that Break Down
Aquarists are often concerned about dirty aquariums as a result of using organic substrates. Soil was previously used as a substrate, but it constantly muddied the water, even if a layer of sand or gravel was used to seal it.
Some brands produced specialized plant substrates like ADA Aqua Soil to eliminate the challenges of dealing with muddy tanks. Such substrates are inherently compact balls of soil that are packed with essential nutrients.
Over time, however, the substrates will disintegrate like regular soil and create a mess in an aquarium. They also lose their nutrients and you have to replace them regularly.
The best alternative is the use of inert substrates. While they may not be as nutrient-rich as their counterparts, inert substrates will absorb nutrients from root tabs and release them in small doses.
These substrates do not break down, and you, therefore, do not need to replace them.
Wash the Substrate Thoroughly Before Using it
Most substrates will be marked “precleaned”, but you still need to rinse them. They accumulate debris, dirt, and residue that can be harmful to your plecos.
You will need to clean your substrate in batches of around five pounds each. Pour in the substrate in a bucket and follow it up with cold water that should be around an inch around the substrate.
Shake the bucket back and forth and leave it to soak for five minutes. The water should be more get clearer as you repeat the rinsing process.
Vacuum the Substrate Regularly
Vacuuming the substrate in your aquarium will remove any small particles like uneaten food, food waste, and plant litter. Organic waste is particularly dangerous as it breaks down and releases ammonia. Do not worry about getting rid of good bacteria, as your biological filter will do most of the biological filtration by providing surface area for the useful bacteria.
You can vacuum your substrate once a week, depending on the setup of your tank.
Is a Bare-Bottomed Tank Good for Plecos?
Plecos need lots of hiding spaces, and they will get stressed if the aquarium is open. If you forego using a substrate, ensure that you include a lot of caves and crevices.
Sure, if you are breeding plecos, a bare bottom tank would be the best choice for you, because it is much easier to maintain. Plecos produce a lot of waste, so you will need to clean the substrate often. With a bare bottom tank it is much more easy to suck out the debris.
Conclusion
It is common to miss your pleco in the aquarium since they like hiding in caves. When choosing a substrate for your pleco tank, ensure that it will not affect the water’s PH.
Use inert substrates because they do not break down and wash them thoroughly before adding them to your setup.
