|
 |
Pleco ~ Plecostomus~ Suckermouth Catfish ~ ~ Armor-Plated Catfish ~ Family: Loricariidae
 Juvenile Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps Photo © Animal-World One of the hardiest and most enduring of all catfishes, the Pleco or Plecostomus is the most common catfish used for getting rid of problem algae in the aquarium!The Pleco or Plecostomus are nocturnal so it is best to feed them in the evening just before turning out the lights. A word of caution, they have been known to remove slime from latterally flattened fish like discus and angelfish when they are sleeping! Even though they are herbivores they can get quite large and can become too big for small aquariums. Keep some wood in the tank since rasping algae from the wood provides a perfect place for more algae to grow maintaining a constant food source for this fish. Also, the cellulose in wood is necessary for their digestive process. Pleco or Plecostomus make very good community fish as they are peaceful with other tankmates. The only exception to this is they can get aggressive and territorial towards other plecos if they were not raised together. There are many species (over 100 Hypostomus species) sold under the name "Pleco" and the main differences between the species seems to be in their varying color patterns. For more Information on keeping this fish see:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| Geographic Distribution Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps |
|---|
|
| Point data provided by FishBase.org |
Since they are herbivorous the Pleco or Plecostomus will eat undesirable algae. They will not harm plants, but make sure the aquarium is well seasoned and do feed a supplemental sinking algae pellet to make sure they don't starve. Because they are super algae eaters, they must have their veggies! (Note: they have not been observed to eat blue algae.)
Distribution:
The Pleco or Plecostomus are found in most of South America.
Size - Weight:
These fish get up to 24 inches (60 cm).
Social Behaviors:
They are a good community fish.
Sexual Differences:
Not known.
Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
The Pleco or Plecostomus will swim in the bottom of the aquarium.
Acceptable Water Conditions:
Hardness: 1-25° dGH
Ph: 6.5 to 7.0
Temp: 24-27° C
Breeding/Reproduction:
This fish has not been bred in an aquarium.
Availability:
The Pleco or Plecostomus is readily available.
Comments from people who have kept this fish:
My parents had one of these when I was a kid. It got huge, so we put it in our pond in the yard. It kept getting bigger though, and no pet shops would take it. Eventually a friend of the family saw it and thought it was real cool, so we gave it to him. I kind of miss it.
Hi I have a 55gal aquarium and 2 Leopard Plecos. I find that they are getting a bit large for my tank. The 2 I bought in Dec 2006 at 2.5 inches are now 8 inches. I hope they are at the max for a 55gal.
i bought a sailfin pleco for my 10 gallon tank almost 3 months ago. He was roughly 2 1/2 inches and now he is close to 4 1/2 inches. i didnt know they grew that fast, or maybe it's something else. he gets along well with my 4 golden zebra danios, even though they pester him once in a while. I also, just today, bought a small Cory catfish and they seem to be friends already.
I recently purchased a sailfin pleco to put in my 4x2x2 foot african tank along with a bristlenose near 3 times the size of my new baby sailfin! Being a little worried at the size difference, I woke up the next morning to discover the skeleton of my bristlenose and my sailfin eating away at it. I'm still blown away by this. I just bought another sailfin to add to my tank and still a little worried with the size difference between them, but they love being together. I have been looking at getting a gold spotted pleco to add to my tank, would be nice!
My pleco was the meanest 8-9 inch fish in the tank. he hid most of the time. we even kept it with piranhas, although i highly suggest you don't. the pleco had many hiding places that the piranhas couldn't get into. we often took the piranhas out of the tank for an hour or two so it could clean our 70 gallon tank without being bothered. this was 5 years ago when we sold all the fish. im thinking abought getting 2-4 plecos, no other fish, just them, or maybe some guppies or minnows also.
Me and my husband bought a pleco at walmart 5 mins up the the street. We have had it for over a year now. We started it in a 10 gallon tank and moved it to a 45 gallon tank. It is about 8inchs long now. It keeps the tank very well maintained. It is a very dark color and can be camoflaged. Sometimes we can't find it in our tank even though it has grown so rapidly. About six months after, we bought a leopard pleco at the pet smart up the street. At first the plecos didn't get along to well. The first one we had would always chase the leopard away. But in time they seemed to come to an agreement. Every once and a while we would catch the dominant pleco showing that he or she is King/Queen of the castle.
Some of the coolest comments:
If you want a fast growing pleco, every now and then chuck a slice of zucchini into the tank. just microwave it in some water for 30 sec - 1 min, just to soften it, let cool. A generally yummy treat for most loaches and catfish i have owned
The common pleco displays sexual differences in males by small barbels that grow around the mouth when they are mature, females have larger stomachs. As many of you have found, they can grow quite large, leading to good resale value. I have a clown knifefish, an arowana, two young plecs and a rainbow shark. All are carnivorous, but leave the 3" plecos alone.
Author: David Brough. CFS.
[Home] [Newsfeed]
[Saltwater Aquariums]
[Reef Aquariums]
[Freshwater Aquariums]
[Cats][Pet Birds] [Small Animals] [Reptiles] [Cute Pets] [References] [Team] [Pet Links] [Pet Supplies] [Care Sheets] [About Animal-World] [Site Map][Privacy Policy] [Recommended Pet Books]
