# Plant-safe plecos?



## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

I've always wanted to keep plecos in a planted because they're just such good algae cleaners but I am not too sure which ones are plant-safe. I have a 55 gallon tank and would like to get plecos that are less than 6" max. Anyone have any idea on which plecos would be a good match?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I like Bristlenose, Rubbernose and Peckoltia's for smaller algae eating Plec's. I've never had trouble with any of them bothering my plants, aside from one of the Peckoltia's when I first got him, and that was just minor damage to an Anubias.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Thanks, that was a fast reply. Do all/most of the Peckoltia species stay under 6"? Anyone else with other suggestions for plant-safe plecos?


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## joephys (May 9, 2006)

I have a rubberlip pleco. Its ugly, but in a cute way. It has never harmed a plant and is a lot of fun to watch him eat. I think peckolitas typically get to around 3 inches, so you should be good with them. They look cool too. Their bodys tend to be bigger around, so even though its short, its still a decent sized fish. The onces I have seen for sale around here are expensive though, 50-100 bucks depending on the species.


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## jmanrow (Sep 10, 2006)

The "plecos" I have found to do a the best job of algae cleanup are Ancistris and Rubberlip Pleco. 
I still prefer to keep Otocinclus, though. I stock my planted tanks withat least one per 10 gallons.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I've never had a problem with my Bristlenose or Clown pleco bothering plants.


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## drgold (Oct 22, 2006)

My L128 and L18 rasped on my anubias. It was definitely worse with my L128, though. Bristlenose can go after plants, but usually don't. My L66 and L260 are plant safe, because they prefer meaty foods. My L204 eats mostly wood and doesn't touch the plants. Clown plecos like wood, but will go after bit of algae. 

If you're just looking for an algae eater, go with otos. Albino bristlenose are generally safe, too. They're also very easy to breed (I've bred them for a year and easily sold 400).


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

I might be looking at the L02 Tiger pleco or the L134 Leopard Frog pleco for size reasons and they just look better than most other Peckoltia species. The L66 King Tiger might also be an option. Bristlenoses look too funky for me, reminds me of Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama. Haha. How much do you sell your bristlenoses for?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Anything in the Hypancistrus genus will stay away from the plants.

L134 will not eat your plants, in general I believe most plecos tend to favor the leaves of Echinodorus sp. over any other plant.

Here's a great article that should answer your questions-
PlanetCatfish.com :: Shane's World :: Catfishology :: Plants and Plecos


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Thanks Raul, the site was very informative. Now the list of possible plecos includes the L46 zebra pleco. Do you have any plecos in your planted tank(s)?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

lildark185 said:


> Thanks Raul, the site was very informative. Now the list of possible plecos includes the L46 zebra pleco. Do you have any plecos in your planted tank(s)?


Sure, I actually keep and breed L46 and L236. Both are primarily carnivores, however keep in mind plecos love a lot of open ground to roam in and hide. They won't be too happy in a planted tank where there is little or no open space - infact a stressed pleco is a pleco that clings onto the glass. They enjoy hiding amongst the driftwood or males prefer caves, especially if you want to breed them.

I'll post a picture of my setup if you're interested.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

I'm interested in a picture. Actually, I've been reading on plecofanatics.com and planetcatfish.com for breeding techniques and such for the plecos that I might be interested in. Which would you suggest; the L02 tiger, L134 leopard frog, L66 king tiger, or the L46 zebra?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

lildark185 said:


> I'm interested in a picture. Actually, I've been reading on plecofanatics.com and planetcatfish.com for breeding techniques and such for the plecos that I might be interested in. Which would you suggest; the L02 tiger, L134 leopard frog, L66 king tiger, or the L46 zebra?


I'll post the picture tommorow as it's dark here and I don't want to startle the fish.

I believe you should choose a pleco you find really attractive to you and that you would enjoy trying to breed as pleco's are slow breeders. Most breed every 25-40 days depending on how well they are fed. And there's still no gaurantee as they need a sudden change of conditions to spark the spawn, not as easy as most common of our common fish but they have longer lifespans, up to 15+ years and still breeding! That's why there are in no hurry to spawn as often.

Are you looking for an easy species to breed or just a pleco that you find attractive and hope to breed?

If you really like the L66, I would suggest you look at the L333 'White Line Tiger' Blue at Exotic Finds has; they're simply stunning and they're of the same subfamily as the L66!

Aim for a ratio of 2M:1F - ideally a 2M:5F (but this depends on how big your tank is) is what you should aim for as the female's will only spawn with the alpha male in the group. Breeders usually have troubles getting a single male to spawn as females don't take notice as much as he hasn't proven himself (so to speak). Nothing gets the females in heat like a bunch of rowdy males sparring over a cave! 

Hypancistrus (L333, L46) are generally easier to breed than Peckoltia sp. (L134), but I would choose the species you find most attractive as this will keep you interested when often times they disappoint you and refuse to breed.  But now that L46 are endangered, they are very difficult to find and often times go for $1000's.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I agree that you should go for whatever you find the most appealing yourself.

One thing I should mention is that not all of the species listed above are algae eaters, since your post started out looking for an algae eater. The L46 Zebra's are more carnivorous than vegetarian, and I also have an L134 who is beautiful, but I don't _think_ he eats much algae. I can't say that with 100 % certainty though, because he's in a tank with a regular Bristlenose.

Let us know what you decide on.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

I don't think I will decide soon as I am a college senior and this will be my last year away from home. I'll wait until the end of next semester before I purchase the plecos, whichever I decide, so that I may bring them home to raise. The LFS near me called "The Fish Place" has a very wide variety of plecos that I can choose from so I'll probably get the plecos from them once I decide. But before I do that, I'll have to do more "homework" on each species and their habits.


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## drgold (Oct 22, 2006)

I sell my baby albinos for $4 at 1.5" and $3 for browns of the same size. One of the LFS's buys them for $6, but only takes 6 fish every two weeks. 

I just sold a young breeding group of 4, 2.5" fish for $40. They're really inexpensive and a great bargain for all that they do. I bought my oringinal breeding group of 6 fish for $75 and sold a good $1000 worth of their fry in a year.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

That translates to a lot of babies throughout the whole year. I didn't know there was that big of a market for BN plecos since I thought they were relatively common.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

From my experience the amount of waste a pleco produces (even the dwarf ones) is far worse than any gain from the algae they consume. If you have ever scene a pleco in a light substrate tank you would not believe it. 

As far a plants. I've had bristlenoses ruin fragile foreground plants like hairgrass.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Anyone here have a Pleco only tank? I'd think that would be pretty cool.

Yesterday I almost purchased this beautiful Clown Pleco at Pets Supplies Plus. Look fat and healthy, at $7 I thought it was pretty cheap. Then I got to thinking that all my moss/riccia/stem plants wouldn't work too well with him. 

Almost considering turning a 40g breeder into a pleco only tank (maybe a few small fish) with lots of caves and driftwood. Not sure how well different species get along.

I like the LDA08 Gold Ancistrus sp. that Exotic Finds has. They stay small as well.

Kind of off topic but how is Pleco pronounced? Is it Pleeco (long e, like in leak) or Pleco (short e, like in gecko)?


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

You could turn the 40 gal. into a pleco breeding tank. its pronounced pleco with the short e like gecko.


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## star rider (Feb 27, 2006)

My next 'project tank' will be qa pleco tank..tho I think I want it to be a large tank 100 gal with lots of driftwood.

I currently have BN's albino's and brown.

I just recieved 8 albino's about 2 months ago. they are scattered in several planted tanks. the only problem I have had is they may occassionally uproot small plants( usually chain sword )

they do tend to be messier than other fish..but the waste is visible and vac'd up at water changes.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

lildark185 said:


> You could turn the 40 gal. into a pleco breeding tank. its pronounced pleco with the short e like gecko.


I wouldn't mind breeding them one bit. Around here you _might_ get lucky and find a Clown/BN. A larger shop does carry a couple of the more scarce varities, cheapest is like $75!

I was asking how to pronounce it because someone a few days ago said it using the long e. Thought all this time I was the one saying it wrong.


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## drgold (Oct 22, 2006)

lildark185 said:


> That translates to a lot of babies throughout the whole year. I didn't know there was that big of a market for BN plecos since I thought they were relatively common.


everyone needs an algae eater (at least everyone thinks so) so they're easy to sell. I brought 8 per week to the LFS for quite a while and they were always sold out when I came back.

But yeah, each female has 30-80 eggs every 3-4 weeks. It turns into a lot of babies very quickly.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I couldn't help myself at the LFS today. Originally went there to pick up 3 Amano Shrimp but came home with a lovely Clown Pleco. He's still in the bag as I am slowly acclimating him. His home will be a well planted 10g for a few months until my 40g is up and running. He's still quite small but very colorful and active.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Yay for splurging! LoL. I hope you can get a mate for the clown pleco so you can breed them in the 40g soon.  Meanwhile...you can read up on breeding plecos at plecofanatics.com. 

Raul: Did you get a chance to take a pic of your pleco setup?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

lildark185 said:


> Yay for splurging! LoL. I hope you can get a mate for the clown pleco so you can breed them in the 40g soon.  Meanwhile...you can read up on breeding plecos at plecofanatics.com.
> 
> Raul: Did you get a chance to take a pic of your pleco setup?


Yes! 

Sorry for the delay, I got caught up with midterms.

Here it is (ugly, but functional)-









This a JBJ 24G, with one cave where the alpha male stays and is currently nursing a brood of about 15 fry who have been with him for almost a month and in the back right corner, under the Eheim filter there is a driftood piece which forms a cave where the beta male and female stay. They love shade and that's why the tank is dark, it's covered with floating duckweed (unfortunately) and P. stratiotes.

In the picture you can the female right next to the cave and a little fry clinging onto the glass, in the top right is a single Choclate Gourami. As of today, the fry finally left the cave.

I will take a picture of my other pleco breeder tommorow.

Here's the alpha male if you're interested (L236):









BTW, I never vaccum their poo or uneaten food, the MTS and Cherry shrimp do that job pretty well!


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

The setup doesn't look too bad but it does serve its purpose. The plants seem to be growing upside down. Haha. Doesn't the moss get sucked up into the Ehiem and eventually damage it or could? I can clearly see the odontodes on the pectoral fin of the alpha male. Can't wait to see your other setup. Good luck with your midterms, I've been busy with mine as well.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

lildark185 said:


> The setup doesn't look too bad but it does serve its purpose. The plants seem to be growing upside down. Haha. Doesn't the moss get sucked up into the Ehiem and eventually damage it or could? I can clearly see the odontodes on the pectoral fin of the alpha male. Can't wait to see your other setup. Good luck with your midterms, I've been busy with mine as well.


No, the moss piece you see is actually huge. It can't be moved by just a slight current.

Here's the other setup-









Ignore all the plants, I just threw them in there. They're going into another setup really soon.

Good luck!


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Does the pleco mess with the RCS at all? I haven't seen mine pick on the yet, doubt he ever will. One actually landed on top of him after hopping from the sponge filter. Little guy never moved.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

From the look of Raul's pictures it doesn't seem like they mess with the RCS at all. How many clown plecos do you have, still the one that you picked up last week?  Are they in the 40 gal yet?


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

lildark185 said:


> From the look of Raul's pictures it doesn't seem like they mess with the RCS at all. How many clown plecos do you have, still the one that you picked up last week?  Are they in the 40 gal yet?


Not yet. Still only have the one Clown. I wanted to get another one to be sure the two weren't related. I'm heading to a different store tomorrow.

The 40g won't be up until late November/early December. Funds are keeping it from being completed. The good thing is I'm not doing a super high tech tank like I had previously planned, that cut the cost and time nearly in half. Just need a weekend with my dad to build a stand.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

If you wait long enough to Christmas, you wouldn't have to cut back on some costs if you know what I mean.  I think I've basically narrowed my choices for a pleco down to the Clown pleco or the Leopard Frog pleco, but leaning more towards the latter.


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## Grayum (Jun 14, 2006)

From personal experience, I can say some plecos can really destroy plants. If you look at my post in "el natrual" you will see the damage (anubias degrading). My common or "rhino" pleco has no problems, but my Gibby has got quite the taste for them. 

As for breeding bn's, I dont find the 2m 1F works at all. I'd say its the other way around, you get twice as much breeding and none of the fighting. Also, filtering with peat can stimulate breeding, and has done so with mine. i get 40-50 fry every 1.5 2 weeks.

Graham


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Grayum said:


> As for breeding bn's, I dont find the 2m 1F works at all. I'd say its the other way around, you get twice as much breeding and none of the fighting. Also, filtering with peat can stimulate breeding, and has done so with mine. i get 40-50 fry every 1.5 2 weeks.
> 
> Graham


Yes, but BN are Ancistrus sp. are very different from Hypancistrus sp. with their breeding habits. That's why BN's are sought after, they are the Guppy of the pleco world. The reason most breeders recommend more males to female is because it's the female that chooses the suitable mate, not the other way around.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Raul-7 said:


> The reason most breeders recommend more males to female is because it's the female that chooses the suitable mate, not the other way around.


Using Grayum's 2F, 1M idea, the females can only choose the single male so I suppose it'd work to produce more babies.

I went to the LFS today which carries quite a large selection of plecos and saw the price for the L134 Leopard Frogs: $35 each. Quite expensive for the average college student. I might have to settle for the less attractive but attractive nonetheless L103 Clown pleco, similar in looks to the L134 but not as intense.


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