Loaches Online Forum

I am looking for a pleco that can survive the cold water in my dojo tank. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck keeping one alive in cold water. Several people have told me to try a bristle nose catfish (or pleco)

i know that BN cats are very tolerant to aggressive fish, but im not sure about keeping them in a cool-water tank

-brett.

I have done a lot of research on coldwater fish and to make a long story short my 3 dojo's share a tank with 2 fancy goldfish. Wish we had more choices but that's all I have been able to come up with.

Kris

Hi Jeremy,

What temperature are you maintaining your Dojo tank at? This will be the main factor in determining whether any alge-eating species will be suitable. Bristlenose catfish (Ancistrus sp.) don't like it much cooler than 23 deg C (73 deg F) which will be at the high end of the Dojo's preferred range, so it will not be particularly comfortable for either of them to be housed together long-term.

Krista, there are plenty of other fish you can keep in with your Dojos other than the goldfish if you ever want a change.

Emma

Emma Turner wrote:Hi Jeremy,

What temperature are you maintaining your Dojo tank at? This will be the main factor in determining whether any alge-eating species will be suitable. Bristlenose catfish (Ancistrus sp.) don't like it much cooler than 23 deg C (73 deg F) which will be at the high end of the Dojo's preferred range, so it will not be particularly comfortable for either of them to be housed together long-term.

Krista, there are plenty of other fish you can keep in with your Dojos other than the goldfish if you ever want a change.

Emma

Great Emma, I have my tank at about 65F right now. If you don't mind to point me in the direction of some other companions for them that would be wonderful.

Thanks so much,
Kris

my tank stays around 70. I have guppies in with my dojos and they are thriving.

White Cloud Mountain Minnows? Dojos might eat the inevitable eggs/fry tho.

nielsamd wrote:White Cloud Mountain Minnows? Dojos might eat the inevitable eggs/fry tho.

No disrespect to the WCMM but I had something a little more interesting in mind. I have a guppy tank and to say the least the last thing I want is more fry of any type, hehe! I was excited to find that the violet goby likes cold water until I read further and discovered they like it cold AND brackish! I guess I will just stick with the dojo's and goldfish for now. I am sure Emma might think of something that I would fancy.

Thanks,
Kris

There's a whole wack of native fish Kris........

http://www.nanfa.org/bccdiversity.shtml

Martin.

Thanks Martin...looks like I have the dreaded ICK in that tank now, but I will clear them up. Thanks so much for the site.

Kris

No flaming me for ignorance, please. I'm just logging on today, found out my clown loach brown zits are a-okay.

I was using temperature guidelines as noted on liveaquaria.com---maybe I'm torturing the dojos without realizing it. I keep my tank at 76 degrees.

In terms of loaches and pleco, I keep 4 clown loaches, 3 golden dojos, and 2 angelicus loaches in my 46g tank (yes, I stay on top of those water changes and I overfilter). Anyhoo, I have a gold nugget pleco. My 3 golden dojos have been in the tank somewhere between 12-18 months, and the pleco around 9 months. They sure look happy--they are bold, socially well-behaved, they love to surf my powerheads, eat well, and have nice full figures. No illness in the tank in more than 18 months.

So at the risk of possibly being way off with my temps, that's what's working for me.

doglover what temp do you keep you tank at?

also all you other dojo keepers do your dojos act as thought they are starving and any time you put any kind of food in the tank they go nuts trying to get their share as well as everyone elses? just dont know if mabey i am not feeding them enough or if they are just little piggys

Tank is at 76 degrees. And my dojos are nowhere near the frantic eaters like clowns or angelicus, who go nuts when the food is out.