How to pick a pleco up properly?
- Thread starter JackDempsey72
- Start date
I usually put on berry white to put the plecos( big or small) in the mood than do what mrtoofay post pics of. Thumb on forehead index finger under the plecos(where the pleco collar bone is) they can thrash all they want but you have full control.
Every time I see a pic of someone holding a pleco I can't help but think why? Wouldn't a rubber net be better? I guess I just don't understand wanting to touch your fish. I saw a vid of a guy rubbing his stingrays. Im not trying to pick on anyone it just seems odd.
Why not? You get full fins exposed, track growth, moving tanks, etc its not like we are picking them up every day 24/7.
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Sent from my SGH-M919 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
um.. Not sure if you've handled plecos before, especially larger ones. I have no experience with rubber nets, but regular nets are definitely big NO NOs. Not only the spikes on their body catches the nets, the fins ends up sticking through them as well. If you lift them out of the water in a net, they will trash themselves together with the net and almost never ends up pretty. If you go to petco and buy plecos from them, you'll surely have seen them struggling to release them into the bag.
When held this way, plecos are actually very calm, they rarely struggles or trashes around. That is very important when moving from one container to another, and very important when introducing them into the tanks. I have purchased and sold plecos to and from other mfk members, and I've seen them dropping plecos because they trashed around too much, when trying to transfer into bag, or introducing them into tanks.
We don't hold them this way because we like to, it's just the safest and easiest way to transport them. If you don't hold them this way, a 12" pleco is harder to transport than a 24" arowana!! Since they extend all their fins when held this way, being able to inspect them and admire their beauty is just an added bonus.
It's definitely not a fetish.... well.. at least not for me.
Thanks for the response. Rubber nets are great. With sharp dorsals/ stingray barbs etc it works great. To me it seems very unnatural to hold a fish out of water with your hand unless it's food you just caught and not a pet. To each his own. No offense intended.
Not natural to catch a fish in a net either but we do it. Kinda hard to say anything is natural when it comes to moving a fish from a tank for any reason. I have sold some pleco's to MFK's and I will use a net to get them to the surface but I won't lift them out. I use my hands. They do get caught up in the nets pretty badly when lifted up with the nets. Rubber nets are from what I hear are a safe alternative since there soft on the fishes body and no real way to get the fish fins stuck.
The traditional nets tend to tear up or fray when used against a pleco like L25 or any other cactus. So should only be used as a herding tool. Haven't been able to find a rubber net in my area to test out though.
The traditional nets tend to tear up or fray when used against a pleco like L25 or any other cactus. So should only be used as a herding tool. Haven't been able to find a rubber net in my area to test out though.
How big does a pleco have to be to get picked up as I have a 2 1/2 to 3 inch pleco. And thought maybe they have to be quite big like 6 inch maybe
Sorry Alex that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to see why people (other than vendors) do this.
