Plant Safe Pleco Suggestions Needed

15879 Views 17 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Chris267, Aug 7, 2007

obet_07304

Discussion Starter · Jun 23, 2007

I'm planning on trading my BN pleco this weekend. She has become aggressive toward the other occupants especially the 2 albino cory during feeding time & otto's when their in the glass. Also picked up a bad habit of eating my Swords

. I'm planning of getting more otto's for it. Are there any other pleco that don't get to big, not aggressive & don't eat plants that you guys can suggest? Today I saw LFS Albino bushy-nose pleco in LFS & fell in love w/ it. Anybody here have any experience w/ this fish? Pros & con? One more thing is the bushy nose & bristle nose the same species of pleco? Thanks.

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ILuvMyGoldBarb

· #2 · Jun 23, 2007

Depends obet, there are over 60 different species of Ancistrus pleco. More than likely the Albino and the one you have are the same species though. If your plec is eating your swords then he's not getting enough veggie matter in his diet and needs to have veggies added to it. As for the aggression, there's not much you can do about that. You may want to consider getting a smaller BN plec, every fish is different

crazie.eddie

· #3 · Jun 23, 2007

I currently keep 2 L-046 zebra plecos, which are omnivorous, but prefer more protein, along with a L-183 starlight brisstlenose pleco. Neither plecos has touched my plants. My shrimp seem to enjoy eating some leaves of some of my plants though.

dipan

· #4 · Jun 23, 2007

crazie.eddie said:
I currently keep 2 L-046 zebra plecos, which are omnivorous, but prefer more protein, along with a L-183 starlight brisstlenose pleco. Neither plecos has touched my plants. My shrimp seem to enjoy eating some leaves of some of my plants though.

Those zebras are out of reach for most people ... $$$

Some rubberlip/rubbernose pleco's might be worth a try also.

ringram

· #5 · Jun 23, 2007

MY BN pleco works just fine in my tank. Non aggressive, at least from what I can tell. There isn't really any plant damage that I can tell, but I feed them all well

I bought my BN pleco at a LFS about 3-4 months ago for $3.99 (3" at the time). He's probably grown an inch or so.
I think the rubber-lipped plecos are good. Not sure about the butterfly plecos, as I've never owned one.
And yes, I agree that every fish is different. Maybe trade your BN pleco in and get another, smaller one.

obet_07304

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 23, 2007

dipan said:
Those zebras are out of reach for most people ... $$$

Some rubberlip/rubbernose pleco's might be worth a try also.

Yeah, I would like a Zebra but as Dipan said $$$. I think the rubberlip/rubbernose pleco grows large. How about the Albino bushy-nose pleco? Do they grow large or eat plants for that matter. Thanks.

ILuvMyGoldBarb

· #7 · Jun 23, 2007

Rubberlips don't get too big. They max out at somewhere around 6-8" The biggest problem with them is that they prefer cooler, fast-running water. The Albino BN is going to be about the same size as the one you are getting rid of since they are more than likely the same species. Most fish in the Ancistrus genus all grow to be anywhere between 4 and 8 inches. As I said before, it really depends on the fish, most Ancistrus species of plec normally won't bother your plants.

obet_07304

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 23, 2007

ILuvMyGoldBarb said:
Rubberlips don't get too big. They max out at somewhere around 6-8" The biggest problem with them is that they prefer cooler, fast-running water. The Albino BN is going to be about the same size as the one you are getting rid of since they are more than likely the same species. Most fish in the Ancistrus genus all grow to be anywhere between 4 and 8 inches. As I said before, it really depends on the fish, most Ancistrus species of plec normally won't bother your plants.

I thought Albino BN Plecos top out @ 4"? Mine is about 3 to 3.5" & had her for more than 2 years now. Maybe I'll just go w/ the Otto's, 5 more would be good, right? Thanks.

ILuvMyGoldBarb

· #9 · Jun 24, 2007

As I said, it all depends on which species in the Ancistrus genus you get. The smallest gets to be about 4" and the biggest about 8". I currently have 4 Common Ancistrus plecs and all are the same species. My largest male is about 5-6" and my female is about 4". It could simply be that you have a female Ancistrus. Of of the secondary sexual traits in the Ancistrus genus is size. The females in the genus tend to be slightly smaller than the males.

Burks

· #10 · Jun 24, 2007

I keep both ABN and Clown Plecos in my planted tanks. No problems and both stay small.

ILuvMyGoldBarb

· #11 · Jun 24, 2007

I wouldn't keep just a Clown Plec alone though in a tank, they are not really algae eaters. They are omnivores and will occasionally chew on it but they eat mostly live foods and prepared foods. I've never seen mine eat any algae but he loves Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp, and NLS Pellets.

spypet

· #12 · Jun 24, 2007

as much as I'd love to own a colorful pleco, I can't risk their size in my 30gal nano fish foreground only planted tank, so I got a few Ereithes conta sucker mouth catfish from FranksAquarium. They are not much to look at, but they stay tiny, active yet timid. I have light colored course sand, so they contrast well in my tank; in a black or burnt red gravel tank, they'd probably seem to disappear. don't forget you can use otocinclus.

obet_07304

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 25, 2007

spypet said:
as much as I'd love to own a colorful pleco, I can't risk their size in my 30gal nano fish foreground only planted tank, so I got a few Ereithes conta sucker mouth catfish from FranksAquarium. They are not much to look at, but they stay tiny, active yet timid. I have light colored course sand, so they contrast well in my tank; in a black or burnt red gravel tank, they'd probably seem to disappear. don't forget you can use otocinclus.

That's what I'm thinking. Probably go w/ the otocinclus route. Thanks.

spypet

· #14 · Jul 31, 2007

a few new questions...
I didn't get the Ereithes conta catfish from Franks cause they were not rasping algae eaters, just little catfish, so I'm back to square one. I've had first hand experience with plecos doing a great job rasping algae off driftwood. I was wondering if they'll do the same thing to lava rock? I'm getting a light dusting of green algae on my lava rocks, and my ottos and Flag are not doing me any good with it. My tank's a shrimp killer, so RCS or Amanos are out of the question. I'm thinking of getting a 1" albino bristlenose(longfin 4" adult) off an Aquabid seller - do you recommend anyone selling there in particular? seems I can get 4-6 of them for $5 each priority shipped, and might split the order with a local area friend. Also, are long thin Farlowella supposed to be like plecos in the that they are effective at rasping wood and rock? or are they more like Otto's in their feeding habits. my lazy Farlowella seems to scavenge the bottom most of the time.

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greenleaf888

· #15 · Aug 1, 2007

Have you considered getting a gypsy king tiger pleco? They apparently stay fairly small, up to 6 inches and they are very attractive. I know they cost a little much, but if my experience with pleco's has taught me anything, they do an excellent job of cleaning algae and other waste and they are an incredibly resilient fish in most cases. I plan on replacing my common pleco, which is now outgrowing my tank with one of these. From what I have read they seem suitable for a planted tank.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1042

Ukrainetz

· #16 · Aug 2, 2007

I have an albino bushy nose, and it doesn't give me any trouble whatsoever. Very cool looking fish, and hasn't grown much either (about 2.5")

eklikewhoa

· #17 · Aug 3, 2007

I think you will fair well with the ABN as most are good algae eaters and will not bother plants.....My only thing with having a pleco in a planted tank is that they are bottom feeders and whip their tail pretty hard which could cause a problem with small foreground plants or plants in general.

I have had ABN's in a planted tank before and they did fine but that tank didn't have any fine foreground plants. As for algae on lava rocks......I would think that they would not eat it off of them if there was a choice cause it's pretty porous and somewhat sharp at the same time.

My vote will go to Otos....There are different variants of Otos too if you wann have a different look to it. I have Niger Otos and they look really nice and zebra Otos is next on the list.

Chris267

· #18 · Aug 7, 2007

ILuvMyGoldBarb said:
I wouldn't keep just a Clown Plec alone though in a tank, they are not really algae eaters. They are omnivores and will occasionally chew on it but they eat mostly live foods and prepared foods. I've never seen mine eat any algae but he loves Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp, and NLS Pellets.

Mine love algae! They have cleaned my tank no-end and don't touch any other foods ??? I have three and you can see tracks when they are eating .. just goes to show that all fish are different

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