A question for the plecophiles...

[jjohnwm]

I'm not a pleco guy, minimal experience with only a few common species of them over the years. At the moment my question relates to a trio of Hypostomus laplatae (Red-fin Uruguay plecos) that have done well and grown from 2-inches to 10-12 inch lengths; but the same general question applies to other species as well.

I use 1-foot sections of concrete drainage pipes with an inside diameter of 3.5 inches in most of my tanks as hides and shelters. They're heavy, quickly become overgrown with algae and look...well, perhaps not natural, but at least they blend in nicely with the driftwood and rocks. The laplatae have always used these pipes but now they have achieved a size that requires them to fold their pectorals all the way back to enter the pipe. The biggest of them appears to be actually scraping the sides of its pectoral spines as it rests in the pipe.

I'm wondering if this will result in damage? At the moment, there is no noticeable mark on the pectoral spines to indicate a problem. I have in the past lost a number of Bristlenose plecos who jam themselves into crevices in driftwood, don't extricate themselves and are found dead on the floor after the wood has been removed for awhile while working inside the tank. This has made me more than a bit gun-shy about the situation. Are the laplatae going to jam themselves into too tight of a cavity and suffer for it? It seems unreasonable to worry about it, but...

Obviously I could discontinue use of the concrete pipes, but they work so well with other species of fish that I am loathe to replace them with ABS or PVC. Cichlids spawn in them, Java Moss and Black Beard Algae grows readily on them, loaches and other secretive fish hide inside.

They're one of the best ways to catch shy fish without tearing up the whole tank in the process. Wait for the fish to enter, quickly slap a net or your hand across each end of the pipe and you're golden.

In any case, there are numerous other hiding and resting spots under/behind large pieces of driftwood and rocks, but the fish seem to prefer those pipes most of the time.

I've also recently bitten the bullet and purchased a single Hypostomus luteus, the most expensive single fish I can recall ever buying. He's still a bit too small for this to be a worry but...he'll grow...

Any comments or opinions gratefully accepted.

 

[bkfamus]

Congrats "pleco guy" on the new H. luteus. My buddy just got another one too, 11"... Expensive, but nothing compared to the 4" Pseudacanthicus sp. LDA05 I recently purchased... I'm more of a plecoholic than plecophile...

I'm no expert so will defer to others w/ more experience, but I do not believe all plecos need actual caves. Rather I think you'd be fine using driftwood and rocks to create hides. The same buddy who got the 11" H. luteus breeds tons of plecos from small plecs like H. zebra to his current breeding groups of Pseudacanthicus sp. L097 and L114. He has pulled all caves from his display tanks which include a few Hypostomus species, and only uses them in breeding tanks. The more nocturnal plecos still seek out places to hide among the driftwood and rocks, but don't seem to suffer from the lack of caves..

I've got plecos in all but 2 of my tanks and have caves in some w/ the smaller plecos.. In tanks w/ larger plecos I tend to just have driftwood and rocks. I use natural grapevine caves for my cichlids, and some of my larger plecos will also use these caves... But my largest, L095 prefers to stay on the underside of driftwood. My Scobinancistrus, Baryancistrus, Hemiancistrus and previously, Panaqolus, and Hypostomus species also seemed to prefer to stay out in the open on driftwood rather than in caves. If you prefer to keep using caves, I would seek or build something bigger to avoid further damage.. Plecocaves.com does have some bigger options, but not sure if they make any big enough for your needs...

 

[jjohnwm]

Thank you, sir! That's exactly the sort of practical hands-on stuff I was hoping to find. Plecos, along with African cichlids, are a couple of areas of the hobby with which I am woefully out of touch. My laplatae have been growing and doing well, but they can go many days without being observed at all, and seeing them eat is an even greater rarity aside from their casual working over of wood and rockwork in their tanks. Their bellies always seem to look about right to me, full but not bloated in appearance. I am starting to pay more attention to supplementing their diets with greens like dandelions and spinach, in addition to things like cucumber and zucchini slices that I've used all along.

I think they live much more luxurious lives during summer, when my Goldfish and other plant nibblers move outside for the breeding season, leaving the plecos as the main inhabitants of the indoor tanks. Less food competition for them all throughout the warm season. I'm going to take your advice and will begin to remove the concrete pipes gradually from their tanks; they have plenty of wood and rockwork for cover and concealment. I can always go to 6-inch ABS pipe later if I feel the need.

Right now the luteus is my main object of worry. Looks great when I see it, but it's still very shy at this point (just a week since I got it), completely nocturnal. I know it's eating since the food disappears and it has no tankmates in quarantine, but still...I hate to admit it but an expensive fish does cause greater concern than a cheapie. It's plenty small enough to use the concrete pipes without concern at this point, and doing so makes it easy for me to keep an eye on it since I set them up in its tank so that I can see into them.

By the way, the luteus is really just an indulgence for me, a fluke of sorts. It's an Uruguayan species that I can keep in my cool tanks, it looks awesome (Phase 1 with just the beginnings of a wide terminal yellow band on the tail), and the end goal is just to have another cool-looking big pleco in my 360 with the goldfish and gymnos. I had actually intended to buy 2 of them, but the smaller size ones sold out very quickly and I just didn't want to layout the cash for more than one of this size (5-6 inch range). Prices on this shipment of them are far lower than the few occasions that I've seen in the past.

I'm not a plecoholic or even really a plecophile...but I'm definitely a spendophobic...

Will try for a pic.

 

[Cal Amari]

These are beautiful fish, and I once thought I'd become a pleco guy too. I spent about 50 bucks on some variety of royal, can recall the exact l# now, but it was gorgeous light and dark green stripes, soft blue eyes, majestic. Doesn't seem like a lot now, but over a decade ago it was the most expensive fish I'd bought too. I got it in my tank and didn't see it for 2 weeks. Occasionally I'd see it at feeding time, or just after, or briefly when I'd first turn on the lights in the dark before it slid out of sight. But if I wasn't trying to surprise it, I would only see it once ever few weeks and briefly at that. After 6 months or so of that I decided I'm not a plec guy. Tracked him down during a water change, sold him back to the fish store, and have only kept efficient and affordable bristlenoses since.