Leopard frog pleco, right fish for my tank?

[k8nabel]

Hi everyone! 
 

Long time lurker, haven’t posted in years. 
 

I have a 29 gallon with cardinals, black emperors, sterbai corys and amano shrimp. Planted with Amazon swords, Java fern, and cryp wendetii. Lots of good hiding spots in driftwood and stone. 
 

I run two sponge filters, one easy flow and the other isn’t. Runs about 78-82 depending on ambient temp, ph is usually right at 7, I keep my nitrates at 20. 
 

I would really like to add a leopard frog pleco but am worried the low flow won’t be acceptable for it. Would the oxygenation of the two air pumps running into the sponge filters be ok? 
 

If you don’t think this would be a suitable set up can you make an alternative suggestion for a pleco. My corys are about 8 years old now. I had three others who seem to have died of old age of the last year or so, so I expect the last two sterbai are probably coming to their end and I’d like to still have a bottom dweller but not another school of corys. 
 

**the background on the tank is my daughters hand painting as this tank is in her playroom. 

Edited July 21 by k8nabel

[Lennie]

Hello, 

The tank is pretty and two sponge filters would be good enough, but a pleco would feel so exposed in such setup due to not having much hiding spots and the amount of light everywhere gets in the tank.

Also, although I love plecos, I have to say they are hard to see unlike ancistrus. They mostly just hide until it is pitch dark in the tank, and you cant see them anyway. My L199 doesn't use caves and only utilitise gaps created by the wood or work pieces as her home.

Bristlenose plecos are mainly out and you can see them very commonly. But, I guess you have a.swords and some people report theirs destroy the amazon swords, so may not be the best choice.

If I were you, I would keep red lizard whiptails. I love these guys. They would love those temp ranges and ph. A group of 4-5 sounds good in a 29g.

Quote

 

Edited July 21 by Lennie

[k8nabel]

Those are rad! I will do some more research and definitely keep them in the running! It’s hard to see but the center piece of drift wood in this tank is actually three large stones and a bunch of different drift wood pieces put together that create multiple different caves and tunnels underneath. But I would really like to be able to see my fish and I really like the red color. Initially I was looking for red or orange in a pleco but all the options get larger than I want. 
 

thank you!

[Lennie]

On 7/22/2024 at 12:05 AM, k8nabel said:

Those are rad! I will do some more research and definitely keep them in the running! It’s hard to see but the center piece of drift wood in this tank is actually three large stones and a bunch of different drift wood pieces put together that create multiple different caves and tunnels underneath. But I would really like to be able to see my fish and I really like the red color. Initially I was looking for red or orange in a pleco but all the options get larger than I want. 
 

thank you!

yw!

If you have any questions about their care,  I can try my best to help you. I love these guys, and still keeping some and also bred them in the past.

 

Also whiptails are not very popular. It is refreshing to keep and witness their behavior and look in a tank environment compared to very classic other fish we used to see on a daily basis.

If you want similar colors, then super red bristlenose would be your best bet, but again, your amazon swords would be likely gone in such scenario.

 

There are more brownish looking ones. Make sure you are actually buying the red ones and not those brownish ones (which some people say hybrids and easier to breed)

Edited July 21 by Lennie

[T. Payne]

I have a colony of 10 L134 that I'm raising up for a breeding project. I see no issue in adding one to your aquarium.