I've got a 75 gallon tank, and now have 6 plecos in it. When I first got my tank, I had bought 3 plecos... A Leopard Sailfin Pleco (about 3 inches), a Rubbernose Pleco (also about 3 inches) and a Green Phantom Pleco (about 2 inches). I bought a variety of other fish as well. Apparently, it was too soon for me to put fish in that tank, as the water went threw a 2nd cycle where most of my fish died. The Rubbernose and Green Phantom died (along with most of the other fish). I thought the tank was ready, and so did the LFS (I had brought a sample of the water to my LFS after 1 week, and he agreed that I was ready to populate the tank at that time). Well, I had to let the water continue to cycle and see if the remaining fish would survive. At that point, I had the Leopard Sailfin Pleco, 3 Angel Fish, and 4 Fancy Guppies. They survived, and after letting another 4 weeks go by, my tank water was remaining stabilized. I bought more fish at that point.
I had added more Plecos immediately. I got a Golden Nugget Pleco (about 2 inches), a Green Phantom Pleco (about 2 inches), and a King Tiger Pleco (about 1 inch). The GN and GP have grown about 1 inch in the past year, and the LSF has grown to about 9 inches now. Last Summer, I had added an additional Pleco to the community... a Blue Panaque (about 2 inches). He's still around too.
My latest addition was 5 weeks ago... A Zebra Pleco (L46). I got him through Aquabid at a cost of $148 (Overnight Shipping included in that price). I couldn't believe how tiny he was (about 1/4 of an inch). Since I don't have a 2nd tank, I had to place him in the large tank with everyone else. For the first day, I had him in isolation... I have one of those little Net Enclosures (made out of a mesh net in a box shape) for babies that I put him in. I wanted to make sure he survived the 1st day after the trama of being shipped and then placed in a tank where the water compounds were different (the Seller said that he only kept the pleco in regular untreated tap water). Well, after 1 day, I decided that I can't keep the new baby in isolation like that indefinitely.. It's gonna take a long time for him to grow (and he only grows to a max of 3 inches), so I let him loose in the tank. It's been 5 weeks now, and he's definitely a survivor. I see him in his little hiding spot, and he's right by my Green Phantom (and sometimes my King Tiger plecos). Nobody has bothered him. When I clean my tank (once a week), I take him out of the tank (and put him in a small glass filled with the tank water), so that he doesn't get extra stressed with all the commotion of me siphoning out the old (dirty water) and refilling the tank with fresh water. Once the tank is refilled, I put him back in, and he swims back to his hiding spot.
