Any Pleco Fanatics out here?

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I used to think plecos were a bit on the ugly side but thanks to my bf I have come to see their true beauty ;) . I have had a bushynose pleco for a good 2 years now and I recently aquired a gold nugget and an emporer that petland sold to me for $6.99 as a striped rapheal catfish! HAHAHA! Soon I'll be getting a female albino bushynose and a brazilian royal. I think royals rule. I'd also like to aquire a snowflake and a queen arabesque. My emporer seems quite messy (poops a lot) but it come with the territory :) Why is it so easy to get addicted to plecos?
 
WOW!! I've been a member of plecofanatics.com for some time now but these pics on this post are amazing! Never seen any that large! Great pics! I have a 125 thats mostly plecos, i currently have 3 royal plecos, 6 clowns, 2 tigers, 2 king tigers, 1 leopard and 2 that i'm trying to identify, i have a small one i think is a snowball and a 7'' that i'm not sure of, its dark with white spots. Would post a pic but not sure how to do that. My favorites though are without a doubt gold nuggets, i recently lost 3 of them that i kept for over a year, they match the zebra as far as looks i think. Also had a peppermint pleco too. The main thing with all the fancy plecos is to check out their stomachs before you buy one, sunken do not buy! I just put a large carrot in the tank and their already swarming it. The royals are especially fond of cucumbers, zuchinni. I used to worry about fouling the tank but there consumed before it has a chance to. Not all are veggies though, the tigers and goldens are more into bloodworms. I plan on purchasing zebras sometime in the future and trying to spawn them, just want to make sure i get the true zebra as i've been told there are some that arent the same aka cheaper price, i've seen them at lfs for 25 $ but i woudnt think there the same kind. I do know that there habitat in the wild is being destroyed, i guess that would be the reason for the high cost. If anyone has had any success with buying them online please let me know.
 
Here goes,
First the old:
-Several 10" + Gibbies L083
-Several 20" + Commons
-3 Bristlenose
-1 Chocolate 10"
-1 Royal L190 10"
-1 Rubbernose
-1 Green Phantom L200
-1 Genetic mutation L007 Vampire plec w/ Blue Eyes (Biggest Loss)
-1 Lyretail Adonis
-4 Veiled Temminki (1 Albino)
-2 True Zebras 3" L046 (Second biggest loss ever)
-1 Blue Panaque l239
-1 King Tiger L066
-2 Rhino
-1 Queen Arabesque L260
-1 Butterfly, Replacement to True Zebra
Current:
-1 Blue Panaque L239
-1 Mango L047
-1 Sultan L264
-1 Full Spotted Royal L330
-1 Orange Seam L081
En Route:
-2 Green Phantoms L200
-1 King Tiger
-2 Blue Panaques L239
-2 Blue Phantoms L128

As you can see I harbor no love for plecos!!
 
My family spends a LOT of time in costa rica at a scientific research station, and we got permits to self-import some when I was, like 7. We brought in a sackful of zebra fry (that is, about 10), a mango and gold nugget, which crossed. We got a royal from a brazilian guy ( we traded him a dovii). Also, some assorted plecos. In the market, incredibly rare plecos that would go for like $500 here are sold for 100 colones per kilogram (100 colones is about a quarter) for the purpose of plecostomus soup. This a nasty practice by the way, which involves cooking them live. We once knocked over a just-starting pot with 5 or 6 good sized mangoes swimming around.
Their progeny live on. :woot:
 
since then, by the way, we have gotten more through tradong out our zebras. Our cardinal rule is never sell, we only trade or give away.
 
I am now happy to say that I have a new 300g just for my plecos. I want to get a few more that will stay in the 6-10 inch range
 
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