Pleco has patchy faded spots?

[lacefacefish]

The rainbows and the angels are young (only had them a month), the rest of my tank are adults though. I will watch out for them becoming aggressive. Thanks for the advice with the pleco, hopefully his color will come back once he has an acceptable hiding spot and some bogwood. The pet store guy told me plecos were really easy keepers and would be happy as long as they were fed so my tank is really catered to my other fish, but that will soon change. Thanks again!

[lacefacefish]

I got him a nice piece of bogwood and propped it up to create a cave, right away my pleco made it his home. Wish I would have known he needed that sooner!

[ScottishFish]

Did you wash, scrub, and soak the wood before dropping it in the tank? Wood can often be very dirty, if not you may notice the water in your tank turning a very dark stained colour, this is the wood releasing tannins. Best to soak wood for a few days before putting it in the tank, some people even boil it.

[lacefacefish]

I got it from the tropical fish store pre-soaked. My pleco loves it, he has been stuck all over it from the moment i put it in. Thanks!

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree with scottishfish. Two angels (if a mated pair) will work in that 30 gallon all by themselves. Your tank is not stocked well at all and you will soon have some serious problems.

Rainbows are all schooling fish, Tigers belong in large schools, and still there are guppies, a betta and a sailfin? wow Sorry, there will be no happy ending here.

[lacefacefish]

My pleco is getting his color back, which is awesome. He only has one faded spot now instead of his whole body being patchy!

But about stocking, I gave the barbs away to a friend who already had some and I was not aware angelfish were supposed to be alone or mated (thanks pet store)...When the pleco gets bigger he will go into his own house (another 30gal, I knew how big and old he could get when i bought him but figured there was no need for two tanks until he got bigger), Could the angelfish go in there with him too?

I realize certain fish have certain quirks and there are things that should be looked out for, but my betta has been living in a community tank with guppies for over a year and there has never been a problem. My betta blows bubble nests and has a little cave he claimed for his own, he zooms around the tank and ignores the other fish even when they school around him at feeding time. He seems happy and free in the big tank I don't wanna put him back in the 5 gal that he was in (he even had 3 guppies with him in there when i first got him when he was very small). My betta is my favorite! If I noticed him being stressed, nipped at, or overly aggressive I would move him right away :)