Determining a Jag’s aggression when housed with a Pleco?

[PaiLum92]

I want to add a Pleco to my 72g tank with my 7”-9” Jaguar Cichlid.


The tank is a 72g temp tank, will update to 150g soon. Problem is, is that the Jag has already started moving sand/rocks around, and claimed the entire tank. I have a large clay pot in there that it cannot move, that the Pleco would be able to fit behind, but not the Jag.


So, If I get a pleco a tiny bit smaller, or the same size as my jag, would the pleco know to find this hiding spot? Or would the Pleco just become a nice little snack for the Jag?

Or would a couple of large apple snails be better suited?

 

[Gruff Master]

I'm sure the Pleco would head for cover as soon as you placed it in the tank. But if the pleco is harassed by the Jag it will not be able to move about freely. If the purpose for having the pleco is to eat algae and uneaten food, being forced into constant hiding by a territorial Jag will defeat the purpose. I've had plecos in the past and they were pretty much left alone by my Jag and everything else. So there is a chance of it working out. Just keep an eye on it. Adding one in a larger tank with more deco to provide cover is usually better. I just don't keep plecos anymore. The common ones don't eat much algae as they grow older and larger. The extremely long trailers of pleco feces is another reason why I don't like them. Maybe the smaller, fancier types are different. I've never had the small ones so I'm not sure. I had one Apple Snail and it quickly turned into an outbreak of hundreds. Even after I removed the large one, I was removing the smaller ones for months out of my tank and sump. They didn't harm anything but I didn't like to see an army of little snails crawling all over my tank.

 

[Jimmy16]

if the tank is big enough it will be fine.