Choosing the right pleco for me?

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JESTERX626

JESTERX626

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 24, 2005
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I have a tank of four 5" dwarf snakeheads, they're the lesser aggressive ones of their species, and only fight amongst themselves. I'm interested in a new addition to that tank, a pleco. What pleco grows no more than 10 inches max, and wont suck the slime coat off my snakeheads? I guess i'm looking for a super peaceful one
 
It will always be chance when it comes to slimecoat sucking...
Theres literally over a hundred that are under 10", so its up to, what colours or patterns would you prefer, a more specific size maybe, personal choice really. Would there have to be a min size so they don't get eaten. How much you want to pay...
Hope you don't want one as an algea eater...
 
Maybe a royal?

Lil bigger then 10" but thats what I would do.
 
AnDr3w;869048; said:
Maybe a royal?

Lil bigger then 10" but thats what I would do.
Click to expand...

well they get to over half that again so...
Maybe an L191 could be a good idea, bulky fish aswell.
 
Good point. To be more specific, something more along the lines of min. size of 6", and max size again, at 10-11". What type of plecos are available to me that costs under $50 and go with my size preferences? I have black sand, and the back of my tank is spraypainted black. A colorful pleco would definately stand out. Suggestions please?

What colorful pleco's run around the $1-49 range, and what colorful pleco's run around the $50-100 range?
 
ummmm...
Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus would be bordering on your max. size restriction
L18 gold nugget... if you could find a reasonable sized one although they dont tend to do particularly great or grow to well
L. triactis (L091) although a bit shy
Leporacanthicus galaxias could be quite cool
Peckoltia sabaji pretty cool
P. leopardus- wont take any nonsense
H. sp. L128, if you can get a big one cheap enough...
LDA 33, although not sure on cost of these.
Low fin L200 would get big enough
Those are some ideas before i go have some tea, but might be an idea to go through planetcatfish database and have a look at what you might be interested in and the sizes etc. Heres a start, happy hunting:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/numbers.php?mode=l&thumbs=16&start=0&genus_id=0
 
L200 and L128 are rarely found with good size to them, and are pretty pricey. They grow very very slowly as well. Triactis are really good looking, and stay in your ranges. L066 or L333 are a little smaller, but they would look really good in the tank. L264 stay smaller than 6" SL, but are a great fish. There are so many, it will be easier if you give some guidelines as to what colors, and patterns you want.
 
One of the things I like about some pleco's that I've seen, are high dorsal fins, I really like it, it reminds me of a indian feathered headdress and or mohawk. Is there anything like that?

To sum it up again with added corrections, I'd like, something around

6-12" long max, 6" being the absolute minimum because I dont want my snakeheads growing up and picking on something way smaller than they are.

High dorsal fin.

Colors that contrast well with black background/blacksand, such as white, orange, red, yellow, to that sort.

I don't know much about plecos or if ones more aggressive than another species of pleco, but I'd prefer one as peaceful as possible.

The Triactis does look good, how much does one around 6-7" run around?
 
Triactis run from $40-100 depending on size and colorations. Check with exoticfinds.net, one of our community vendors.
 
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