Which species of fish should I add first? Advice please!

[utahfish]

The thing that puts me off plecs is they get so BIG!

Get a dwarf species. Clown pleco get about 3 inches. Bristlenose 5-6 inches same with rubber lip or one can always get a school of ottocinclus but they are sensetive and require being in groups and do better in established tanks but only get about an inch if that.

 

[LostBear]

Get a dwarf species. Clown pleco get about 3 inches. Bristlenose 5-6 inches same with rubber lip or one can always get a school of ottocinclus but they are sensetive and require being in groups and do better in established tanks but only get about an inch if that.

I like oties - but as you say, they need to be in a shoal and I haven't the room in my tank. Plus - I'm not keen on taking fish out fo the wild. there is a high mortality rate and it seems cruel to me.

 

[utahfish]

I like oties - but as you say, they need to be in a shoal and I haven't the room in my tank. Plus - I'm not keen on taking fish out fo the wild. there is a high mortality rate and it seems cruel to me.

Yup i dont buy ottos for the same reason. Theyre usually starved when bought and have a tough time acclimating to tank life.
Like i said clown bristlenose or rubber lip pleco all stay under 6 inches the clown being the smallest at around 3 inches. As long as they have wood theyre pretty sturdy fish live around 10 years!

 

[seangee]

Like i said clown bristlenose or rubber lip pleco all stay under 6 inches the clown being the smallest at around 3 inches. As long as they have wood theyre pretty sturdy fish live around 10 years!

Might need a bit more commitment than that
My BN arrived through my letterbox in 2004 - still going strong.

 

[dmpfishlover]

Get a dwarf species. Clown pleco get about 3 inches. Bristlenose 5-6 inches same with rubber lip or one can always get a school of ottocinclus but they are sensetive and require being in groups and do better in established tanks but only get about an inch if that.

I will be adding either a clown or bristlenose Pleco...Just can't find either right now...I will probably have to have my LFS order some for me like I did the Harlequin Rasboras.

I was at the fish store last week and asked if they had any BN Plecos and they directed me to a tank with small regular Plecos in it. I told them that they were not BN Plecos and that they would get too big for my 55 gal tank eventually, and they told me they would be fine. I told the person that they wouldn't be fine and said I would wait to find a Clown or BN. Good thing I can identify Pleco species!! No wonder so many people get Plecos and don't realize it is a mistake!

 

[utahfish]

I will be adding either a clown or bristlenose Pleco...Just can't find either right now...I will probably have to have my LFS order some for me like I did the Harlequin Rasboras.

I was at the fish store last week and asked if they had any BN Plecos and they directed me to a tank with small regular Plecos in it. I told them that they were not BN Plecos and that they would get too big for my 55 gal tank eventually, and they told me they would be fine. I told the person that they wouldn't be fine and said I would wait to find a Clown or BN. Good thing I can identify Pleco species!! No wonder so many people get Plecos and don't realize it is a mistake!

Yup or lots of people get them believing the pleco will only grow to the size of the tank, which is true, then it will prematurely die

 

[LostBear]

I will be adding either a clown or bristlenose Pleco...Just can't find either right now...I will probably have to have my LFS order some for me like I did the Harlequin Rasboras.

I was at the fish store last week and asked if they had any BN Plecos and they directed me to a tank with small regular Plecos in it. I told them that they were not BN Plecos and that they would get too big for my 55 gal tank eventually, and they told me they would be fine. I told the person that they wouldn't be fine and said I would wait to find a Clown or BN. Good thing I can identify Pleco species!! No wonder so many people get Plecos and don't realize it is a mistake!

This is what put me off them.

Many years ago, when new to fish-keeping and totally reliant on the kindness of strangers, we accepted the advice of the Fish People who said a plecky would be okay for our two-foot tank.

He grew . . .and he grew . . . and he grew . . .

We bought a four-foot tank - and he STILL grew. He was enormous. In the memory of my mind's eye he was roughly the size of a small orca (and jumped as high!), though common sense tells me that that is unlikely - but I'll seriously bet he was comfortably over a foot long. Little fish started disappearing . . . he got bigger and uglier, and tbh I started to get slightly frightened of him. He was like something out of an Edgar Alan Poe story ("The Telltale Pleco" "A Cask of Amontipleco" "The Plecky of the Rue Morgue" - that sort of thing). He was sinister and mean and he stared at us all the time. I know that fish can't help but stare, what with having no eyelids, but it can be off-putting when that fish looks big enough to swallow the kids' guinea pigs without even having to chew.

I hated him with a PASSION! I wanted him to die, and he wouldn't - he just smugly sucked on the glass, with his big, horrible mouth, sneering at me. In the end I told my husband "Either that damn thing goes or I do," He thought about it longer than I felt was necessary, but eventually put him in a bucket and took him to someone he knew from work. I don't know what happened to him and I don't want to know.

However, it wouldn't surprise me if he is now 30 years old, and 18 feet long and has eaten a bullmastiff.

 

[utahfish]

This is what put me off them.

Many years ago, when new to fish-keeping and totally reliant on the kindness of strangers, we accepted the advice of the Fish People who said a plecky would be okay for our two-foot tank.

He grew . . .and he grew . . . and he grew . . .

We bought a four-foot tank - and he STILL grew. He was enormous. In the memory of my mind's eye he was roughly the size of a small orca (and jumped as high!), though common sense tells me that that is unlikely - but I'll seriously bet he was comfortably over a foot long. Little fish started disappearing . . . he got bigger and uglier, and tbh I started to get slightly frightened of him. He was like something out of an Edgar Alan Poe story ("The Telltale Pleco" "A Cask of Amotipleco" "The Plecky of the Rue Morgue" - that sort of thing). He was sinister and mean and he stared at us all the time. I know that fish can't help but stare, what with having no eyelids, but it can be off-putting when that fish looks big enough to swallow the kids' guinea pigs without even having to chew.

I hated him with a PASSION! I wanted him to die, and he wouldn't - he just smugly sucked on the glass, with his big, horrible mouth, sneering at me. In the end I told my husband "Either that damn thing goes or I do," He thought about it longer than I felt was necessary, but eventually put him in a bucket and took him to someone he knew from work. I don't know what happened to him and I don't want to know.

However, it wouldn't surprise me if he is now 30 years old, and 18 feet long and has eaten a bullmastiff.

Bull mastiffs are too slobbery maybe a large poodle

 

[LostBear]

Bull mastiffs are too slobbery maybe a large poodle

I bow to your superior plecky knowledge.

 

[utahfish]

I bow to your superior plecky knowledge.

 

[FishloverKapil]

Hey, I think you can begin with clown pleco or rubber lip pleco! They both look amazing and pretty easy to look after!

 

[itiwhetu]

We are responsible for our own purchaser's don't put that responsibility onto the fish shops. Do your own research, understand the fish you are buying, and make them happy in your tank. Look at the fish tanks at your LFS. Rules,1. are the species kept in the right tanks with each other. 2. If there is a dead fish in a tank don't buy any fish from that tank. 3. Are the fish you are buying behaving as they would in the wild. If you are happy with these things and your tank is suitable for your purchase then buy the fish and enjoy your experience. Fish will die from time to time for no apparent reason don't over analyze this, just move on.