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|
Plecostomus Factoids |
|
|
Origin |
|
|
Sex
Difference |
Bumpy pectoral fins on males |
|
Maximum
Size |
18" + |
|
Breeding
Age |
Not sure -- probably a year old |
| Breeding Comment | Breed in holes in bank |
|
Attitude |
Loafs days. Works nights. |
|
Foods |
Algae plus any food |
|
Water |
Flexible |
LA
PicBristlenose plecos will stick in your net. They can pop out those hooks at will. Handle carefully.
LA
Pic
Plecos actually look pretty good when they feel like coming out of hiding.
Origin.
Plecostomids hail from
Heavy Armor. Their heavily armored body protects them from all but the fiercest aggressors. African cichlids will eat their eyeballs. Piranhas learn to flip them over and eat their soft underbellies. Big oscars can whip them back and forth and “snap them.” But in general, not too many fishes can hurt a plecostomus.
LA
Pic
When you pick plecos up, they're ALL sailfins. Look out for that side
fin.
LA
Pic
Especially if it's a huge one.
Netting
Plecos. Rather than net the biggies (which crawl out of nets), we catch them by hand. Make sure you
hold down their pectoral fins.
LA
Pic
Nice pleco mouth for algae scraping.
Sucker
Mouth.
With their sucker mouths they eat algae and other vegetation.
Special rasping lips enable the plecostomus to tear holes in driftwood,
delicately strip the top layer off the green leaves of an Amazon sword
plant, and polish the glass walls of your aquarium.
Most people keep them for their latter attribute.
LA
Pic
The big plecos can destroy anything organic.
Grows
Large.
In a large tank some species can grow to 18 inches and become quite
destructive. In addition to
breaking off your filter stems, a big pleco can literally strip the scales
off a large oscar or koi at night. Smaller
plecos usually remain harmless. Slow
moving fishes such as angels and goldfishes occasionally get pestered by
plecostomids.
LA
Pic
Little guys, like the otocinclus can't harm anything.
LA
Pic
Here's a bunch doing what they do best -- hanging out. In herds they
could eat plants.
LA
Pic
They love canned green beans.
LA
Pic
The clown plecostomus stays small but not as small as the otocinclus.
LA
Pix
Long-time resident plecos learn to eat at the top. Some also learn to
poke their heads out.
Nocturnal.
Plecos like to hide during the day in caves or behind your filter
stem. After a few weeks most
learn to eat during the day. Although
plecostomids prefer to dine fashionably late in the evening, many soon
learn to cruise the water surface belly up and wolf down their share of
the floating flakes or pellets.
LA
Pic
Two-inch rhino plecostomus.
LA
Pic
Maybe you can see the "horns" better on this guy.
You can see his horn here.
LA
10-inch rhino -- nice dorsal.
New
Plecos.
You need to give your new plecostomus extra rations once he polishes off
your algae. He prefers the night shift.
Just remember that your other fishes usually eat all the floating
food before your pleco “wakes up.”
Give him some extra flakes in the late evening.
New
Tanks.
New tanks starve plecos to death.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, grows on the glass walls of a new tank.
The other fish eat all the food before your newly recruited pleco
gets off his duff. Add some
food for him just before you turn off the lights.
He doesn’t need much but he does need something to eat.
Plecos do very well in established goldfish tanks.
Plecostomus really love the vacation feeder blocks.
LA
Pic
Little plecos munching on a vacation block. They like 'em.
LA
Pic
Medium plecos really love the vacation blocks.
LA Pix
They also like slices of blanched (to make them sink) zucchini.
Special
Foods.
As pleco foods go, algae wafers work exceptionally well.
These are specifically made for plecos.
Plecos also love the “vacation blocks,” but devour them so fast
you won’t believe it. Under
normal conditions plecos will eat any type of fish food you feed, IF the
other fish don’t polish it off before you turn the lights off.
The
Sexes. Small
ones all look alike. Mature
males sport tiny bristles and when breeding look more orange in the
“sticker fins” on their sides
LA
Pic
Too bad this farlowella can't clean the outside of the glass.
LA
Pic
Much larger farlowella.
LA
Whiptail cats usually just sit there all day unless hungry. They get
active at night.
LA
Another whiptail catfish.
LA
Younger whiptail with0.75-inch Badis badis in front of him.
LA
Whiptails are just kind of cute.
LA
Nice looking with that dorsal fin upright.
LA
Some whiptails have those "stabbers" on the side of their
mouths.
LA
Pic
Albino regular plecostomus.
LA
Pic
Adult albino sailfin pleco. Nice looking 10-inch specimen.
LA
Pic
His working mouth.
LA PIC
His working anus.
LA
Pic
Still at work two months later with healed dorsal fin..
LA
Pic
Albino sailfin plecostomus.
LA
Pic
Little rubbernose plecos -- two inchers. L 187A
LA
Pic
Three-inch "cherry plecos." Really dye injected albino
chocolates.
LA
Pic
More cherry plecos.
LA
Albino chocolate pleco. Dorsal view.
LA
Albino chocolate pleco. Ventral view.
Types.
Dozens
of different species make it to the marketplace.
Most people get the regular ones grown on pleco ranches in
 |
Bristlenose
and Bushynose |
|
Clown
and White-Spot |
|
Yellow
and Albinus (widemouth) |
|
Butterfly
and other Hi-Fins |
|
Farlowellas
and Whiptails |
|
Otocinclus
(under two inches) |
LA Pic
Lots of very
attractive plecos out there -- sailfin plecos.
LA
Pic
Sailfin plecos mangiaing green beans.
LA
Pic
Ditto once they caught on.
LA
Pic
Albino bristlenose plecostomus. Four-inch male. Also with
"stabbers."
LA
Pic
L-200.
Deutsche Plecos: The Germans print a book of plecos that assigns them “L” numbers. In this book you’ll find plecos you never heard of (and may never see). It helps if you sprechen sie Duetsche kleine bissel. Great book Some of these less common plecos appear from time to time. To see some, go to ’Spensive Plecos.
LA
Pic
Look real close to the right and behind this two-foot koi. You'll
see a two-foot pleco.
LA
Pic
Hefty sized "chocolate" pleco.
Last Word: We like plecos better than Chinese algae eaters. Chinese algae eaters get mean fast. Small ones suck hickeys on your fish. Big ones kill your fish. We’ve even seen Chinese algae eaters kill African cichlids. On the other hand, we’ve also seen African cichlids kill plecostomus. They start by plucking their eyes out. LA.
© 1998, © 2004, © 2006 LA Productions
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