Looking for the right pleco

[Crash89]

I have a empty 55gallon aquarium,
My plans: Grass on the bottom, stemplants in the back. Very basic, very open swimming space. Corydora habrosus as bottom dwellers, rummy nose tetras as a schooling fish. And i want to ad a pleco.
But now wich one can i add?
I want a bigger one (9 inch max)
That wont hurt my corydora or eat my plants. So what kind do you guys suggest?

 

[BZMFK]

Something like a starlight bristle nose or gold nugget pleco can work.

 

[Crash89]

I like the gold nugget idea, it looks good, gets the size i want. But i read they need wood to chew on.. i dont want wood in there so anybody got some experience with gold nuggets?
The starlight is a little to small in my opinion.

 

[BZMFK]

I heard that panaque plecos like clowns and royals chew on wood and that gold nuggets prefer a higher protein diet with more meat.

 

[Crash89]

I heard that panaque plecos like clowns and royals chew on wood and that gold nuggets prefer a higher protein diet with more meat.

Doesnt that just put my corydora habrosus in danger? Cuz they are small and full of protein?

 

[BZMFK]

I wouldn't think so. Plecos don't have aggressive and predatory behaviors towards other fish. If you see a pleco eating a fish, it probably died and the pleco is only scavenging its remains.

There are other plecos around the same size that don't have the same protein requirements. Blue and green phantom plecos follow the standard pleco diet we think of.

 

[BIG-G]

I have a small group of five L018.
mine will only eat vegetables for some reason. Zucchini,sweet potatoes, green peppers and the occasional sinking pellet.
I’ve tried multiple times to offer them shrimp and tilapia, they do hang out on the driftwood a lot. Never seen them really scraping it though.
They do not bother the plants in the tank btw.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

Gold nugget, green and blue phantoms, and vampire would be my picks. They won't hurt the corydoras because they are too fast and have sharp barbs ontop of pleco being relatively peaceful. As mentioned before, pleco only eat dead fish

 

[Crash89]

Do gold nuggets need extra heat? My tanks are 22-24degrees celcius (around 71-75 fahrenheit)

 

[BZMFK]

They do like warmer water. Around 80F or slightly higher is what they need.