Pleco Appreciation Thread

[Nichola_C]

I would not worry about never seeing a Hypancistrus sp. pleco, like L066. They are carnivores, more so than omnivores or herbivores, so I would throw a shrimp pellet into your tank overnight and give it a courgette once per week or so. They like shellfish, but if you only have one pleco, I would chop a small sliver off your mussel or prawn and throw it into the tank at night.

When I had L260s, I only saw them if I snuck into the living room in the middle of the night with my headtorch's red light on, and they would still scuttle away. My L199s, also a Hypans species, are a bit less skittish. But it has taken more than a year for my Panaque maccus to pop into sight during the day.

Thanks for the tips, its all very confusing as I started another thread about L plecos and feeding mussels and everyone on their is saying just feed vegetables, but everything I have read on the net tells me to feed prawn or mussels etc once a week.

 

[Boundava]

If you got a smaller BN I don't see why you couldn't put two in a tank.
I don't have enough tanks to keep the plecos separate, all the pekoltia, hypancistrus, whiptails, and lizards are in the 120. The two royals are in the 125. The (yet to be named) scarlet cactus pleco, Ghost, Mrs. Muir, Eggnog and another 2 juvenile offspring are in the other 120 (and Ghost is sitting on another clutch of eggs-he is old now so it may be his last ). My two small BN males (was hoping one would have been female) and all of my clown panaques are in the 75 gallon acrylic. Gruyere the big male offspring of Ghost and Mrs. Muir (G&MM) is in the 75 gallon with the wolf fish. My two super reds and two other small albino offspring of G&MM are in the 22 gallon-waiting to grow up a bit. Guess its good that I like to over filter my tanks, lol. Plecos are poop masters-especially the royals!

 

[Nichola_C]

If you got a smaller BN I don't see why you couldn't put two in a tank.
I don't have enough tanks to keep the plecos separate, all the pekoltia, hypancistrus, whiptails, and lizards are in the 120. The two royals are in the 125. The (yet to be named) scarlet cactus pleco, Ghost, Mrs. Muir, Eggnog and another 2 juvenile offspring are in the other 120 (and Ghost is sitting on another clutch of eggs-he is old now so it may be his last ). My two small BN males (was hoping one would have been female) and all of my clown panaques are in the 75 gallon acrylic. Gruyere the big male offspring of Ghost and Mrs. Muir (G&MM) is in the 75 gallon with the wolf fish. My two super reds and two other small albino offspring of G&MM are in the 22 gallon-waiting to grow up a bit. Guess its good that I like to over filter my tanks, lol. Plecos are poop masters-especially the royals!

Yes I dont get why people don't like them because they poo alot....so do we....although I might see their point as I don't like many humans either hahahah

 

[Boundava]

Lol, you aren't the only one. Lot of humans are on my ? list!

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

I have many plecos, but some (most) are camera shy.

Here are three of them;
Albino BN is Ghost, he's a big boy and easy to get a photo of as long as he has something delicious to eat!
View attachment 131448
View attachment 131451

The calico BN female is Mrs. Muir (as a very young Mrs., lol)
View attachment 131449
The watermelon royal pleco (L330) female is Belle
View attachment 131450

My other plecos are:

1. Royal pleco male L027 name is Thor; still a baby
2. Peckoltia sabaji L124; Cookie Dough
3. Five clown panaque L104/162 in order of purchase; Mars Bar, Mr(s). Goodbar, Twix, Butterfinger and Watchamacalit
4. BN male, velvet black (offspring of Ghost & Mrs Muir) named Greyere
5. BN female, albino (offspring of Ghost & Mrs Muir) named Eggnog
6. Two pecoltia not 100% on the species (closely resemble L080/L049 and L140) and one is slightly different than the other, but they are both striped black and white and both named Reese's.
7. Two small super red BN yet to be sexed
8. Scarlet cactus pleco, L025, juvenile
9. Three Hypancistrus L004
10. Two BN males, black-small, unlike Ghost, lol

Not plecos but neat pleco-like catfish

1. Three Caracas whiptail cats
2. Three red lizard cats, L010A

I have had:
Sultan plecos L264
Ghost plecos L141
Rubbernose plecos L402
Green phantom plecos L200 the Hemiancistrus subviridis not Baryancistrus demantoides
Chubby plecos

I would like to aquire some more L141 and Chubby plecos in the future. The Sultans were beautiful and social but I don't have room for them any longer.

What can I say, I love plecos...?

Oh wow, you have royal plecs and rubbernoses!! I'd love to see the rubbernoses you keep!
I'd love to see more of the royal plecos, too! Your menagerie of plecos is absolutely astonishing!!

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Yes I dont get why people don't like them because they poo alot....so do we....although I might see their point as I don't like many humans either hahahah

I'd rather do constant water maintenance than give up my plecos to be honest... If I had the space I'd get a dozen more!

 

[Boundava]

Oh wow, you have royal plecs and rubbernoses!! I'd love to see the rubbernoses you keep!
I'd love to see more of the royal plecos, too! Your menagerie of plecos is absolutely astonishing!!

Had rubbernose. Unfortunately they never lived more than a couple months. Though I got them from different sources and at different sizes.

 

[Nichola_C]

My Tiger Pleco has found a new fav spot, in a hole in the bog wood. I like that I can at least see where he is as his tail sticks out haha

I just worry he's not getting enough food as I never see him eat, but I guess that's normal as he only really comes out at night. I'm thinking of getting an auto feeder which will release his food in the middle of the night.
I'm an early to bed person so am normally in bed by 9.30 and I dont think he's up and about by then and anything I put in before I go up seems to be eaten by the corys

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

My Tiger Pleco has found a new fav spot, in a hole in the bog wood. I like that I can at least see where he is as his tail sticks out haha

I just worry he's not getting enough food as I never see him eat, but I guess that's normal as he only really comes out at night. I'm thinking of getting an auto feeder which will release his food in the middle of the night.
I'm an early to bed person so am normally in bed by 9.30 and I dont think he's up and about by then and anything I put in before I go up seems to be eaten by the corys

I'm sure he's alright, just try and make sure that he's got some stuff at the bottom of the tank for if he gets hungry.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

My Tiger Pleco has found a new fav spot, in a hole in the bog wood. I like that I can at least see where he is as his tail sticks out haha

I just worry he's not getting enough food as I never see him eat, but I guess that's normal as he only really comes out at night. I'm thinking of getting an auto feeder which will release his food in the middle of the night.
I'm an early to bed person so am normally in bed by 9.30 and I dont think he's up and about by then and anything I put in before I go up seems to be eaten by the corys

You could try adding some slightly softed, blanched veggies in the tank before you go to bed. If it's a long length of courgette or cucumber, doubt the cories could finish it off before the pleco gets to it

 

[Nichola_C]

You could try adding some slightly softed, blanched veggies in the tank before you go to bed. If it's a long length of courgette or cucumber, doubt the cories could finish it off before the pleco gets to it

I will try that tip, thank you. You wouldn't do that every night though would you?? I've heard they like to feed every 2-3 days.
I put a spinach cube in a few days ago, and a mussel in a few days before that, but like I said not sure who eats them as I never see.
(Thats on top of the usual veggie pellets, or meal worm tabs or usual flakes that I put in for the other fish, on a rotation)
I put a cucumber wedge in the other day but only the snails munched on that)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I will try that tip, thank you. You wouldn't do that every night though would you?? I've heard they like to feed every 2-3 days.
I put a spinach cube in a few days ago, and a mussel in a few days before that, but like I said not sure who eats them as I never see.

No, I wouldn't do it daily - not sure how often you should really, I'm really new to plecos, only had mine for a couple of weeks

But you could also try shifting their daylight period, so you can turn the main tank light off earlier in the evening, leaving the blue light on (do your lights have a blue light setting?) then sitting and watching the tank for a while when it's on the blue light. I often see my more nocturnal fish getting active once I've turned their tank lights to the blue setting. Especially if I'm watching a film or something and turn the room light off as well.

ETA: I also don't wipe down the inside glass of the tank except for the front pane. Leave the back and sides for pleco/shrimp/otos (all different tanks)

 

[Nichola_C]

No, I wouldn't do it daily - not sure how often you should really, I'm really new to plecos, only had mine for a couple of weeks

But you could also try shifting their daylight period, so you can turn the main tank light off earlier in the evening, leaving the blue light on (do your lights have a blue light setting?) then sitting and watching the tank for a while when it's on the blue light. I often see my more nocturnal fish getting active once I've turned their tank lights to the blue setting. Especially if I'm watching a film or something and turn the room light off as well.

ETA: I also don't wipe down the inside glass of the tank except for the front pane. Leave the back and sides for pleco/shrimp/otos (all different tanks)

Hi, great minds. Yes I altered my tank lights when I got him, so now it turns to blue lights around 7pm (I have fluval flex so I can program the lights with my phone to come on/off and change colour the same time every day)
I dont clean my glass either, my snails do that

 

[Pidge1992]

This may be my new favorite thread! I LOVE plecos! Adorable pond puppies! Lol ?
Here are pics of my two, a tiny baby rubber lipped pleco and my big common. Their names are Astro and Dino lol. Astro is only a few months old and maybe 2 inches, Dino is a rescue and over 2 years old and is maybe 8 inches. Photos do not do justice, Astro is the riches and prettiest dark chocolate brown shade with coppery fins and Dino is almost jet black.

 

[Pidge1992]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1947658285385740

Hope I did this right, but here is a video of Dino getting a wafer lol