Pleco Suggestions For 55 Gal

[laurac94]

Hi, I've just sold my common pleco, and my sailfin pleco because they were getting too big. ): I got them when I was a complete newbie so now I am looking for a suitable fish for my tank. I want a smallish pleco, something around bristlenose size with character.
My sailfin was my favourite fish, he was like a dog (; so does anyone know smallish plecos or another catfish with personality?

 

[Paradise3]

You could get a Rubber Lipped Pleco(Chaetostoma sp)
 
They stay small but have a really big personality. I have a Chaetostoma formosae which is the Blonde Rubber Lipped and he's got a big personality for such a small fish. And he's a nice gold-bronze colour with red fins The formosae get to just past 4 inch long.
 
Or you could get Chaetostoma aff. milesi which is the Spotted Bulldog Pleco They max out at 5 inch long and eat just about anything vegetarian lol.
 
This is my Chaetostoma formosae

 

[karlnina]

we had the same problems with our pleco's they were in with our discus so after being advised that we should'nt really keep plecs with discus we got a bristle nose pleco which will only grow to about 5 inches plus he/she is an albino

 

[greenmumma141]

Rubberlips require a much stronger flow than other plecs, and while being okay in a community, they can be a bit robust, hence the nickname "bulldog". I had one over a year ago and had to rehome him because he bulldozed my cories.
 
Personally, I love my albino bn. He cleans all day, and is almost fullgrown. If you get them small enough, you get to wait to see if it'll get bristles or not They're fun, and he gets along great with all of my bottom dwellers, but still has enough personality to dig holes in my sand when he's mad, or rustle his fins and tails in protest.

I had purchased a sailfin too when I first started, and i loved him!! I was really sad to let him go, but like yours, he was just getting too big and it wasn't fair to him. I have found my bn to be a great, size appropriate, replacement

 

[Paradise3]

Rubberlips require a much stronger flow than other plecs, and while being okay in a community, they can be a bit robust, hence the nickname "bulldog". I had one over a year ago and had to rehome him because he bulldozed my cories.
 
Personally, I love my albino bn. He cleans all day, and is almost fullgrown. If you get them small enough, you get to wait to see if it'll get bristles or not

They're fun, and he gets along great with all of my bottom dwellers, but still has enough personality to dig holes in my sand when he's mad, or rustle his fins and tails in protest.

I had purchased a sailfin too when I first started, and i loved him!! I was really sad to let him go, but like yours, he was just getting too big and it wasn't fair to him. I have found my bn to be a great, size appropriate, replacement

 
Mine deals well with a slower flow as he's in with guppies, threadfins, sparkling gourami's, a platy and shadow catfish
 
He's also the gentlest fish in the tank XD

 

[greenmumma141]

See, that just goes to show that every experience is different. We literally nicknamed ours "bulldozer" lol I really liked the way they look though, very cool fish for sure

 

[laurac94]

Thanks for all of the replies so far, I really like the look (and size) of the rubber lipped pleco. Where did you get yours from? I'm in the UK too, I've never seen them for sale before

 

[Paradise3]

Thanks for all of the replies so far, I really like the look (and size) of the rubber lipped pleco. Where did you get yours from? I'm in the UK too, I've never seen them for sale before

 
Whereabouts in the UK? I got mine from my boyfriends shop(darksoul996 is his username) in Worcester
 
They have some different ones in at the minute, they have Chaetostoma aff. milesi at the minute which are really quite blue-y grey in colour with leopard print spots. 
 
Greenmumma141: Yep lol. Mine doesn't really have a nickname lol, he's just my baby

 

[laurac94]

I'm in huddersfield so nowhere near you unfortunately. I'm looking at ordering online because im after a rotkeil severum and a blue acara too. My lfs said they could order some in but havent managed a month later so I've decided to look elsewhere. 
My plecos were called tank and fluffy 

 named my my boyfriend and my mother lol
 
I like the look of the tiger or king tiger plecos, anyone kept these?
It will be a relatively slow flowing tank, I've got 5 big chunks of bogwood that will be going in there once all of the tannins have gone into my piranha tank.
There won't be any plants other than maybe some fake ones.
Also got 3 pictus cats in there.