pleco suggestion for a planted tank

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benito1188

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2008
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los angeles, california
im thinking of adding a pleco in my heavily planted tank but im not sure if they are safe to have around my plants. im torn among these three that i really like and are available to me but please help me decide and tell me how big they get, if their aggressive and most importantly if they are planted tank safe.

1.) long fin albino bushy nose pleco(i know this one is plant safe)

2.) vampire pleco? - heres a photo -- http://www.exotic-aquarium.com/sub/rareff20.JPG

3.) spotted bushy nose pleco? - heres a photo --- http://www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish1/spotted-medusa-pleco-1.jpg

PS im not sure of these are the right names of these plecos and those pictures are what i think they are.

thanks so much
 
One question is what type of plants do you have? I have a sultan L-264 (a leprocanthicus) that likes to eat swords. The vampire is in the same family (lepro); I have one, but I've never seen it eat sword plants (maybe because the L-264 eats it first). These are supposed to be carnivorous (both the sultan and vampire), but I see them munch on zuchinni too.

Second, if you're thinking of the spotted medusa, L255 (Ancistrus sp.) I'm guessing, like other ancistrus, they are generally plant safe. However, they do apparently have a reputation of being more delicate than regular bristlenose (Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus). See: www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=30394

However, I'm guessing that the spotted bristlenose at the LFS is just a non-albino version of the regulary bn. (If it's less than $10, it's probably just a Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus, www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=49), then either the albino or the spotted is ok.

Depending on what plants you have, then a vampire may be ok too (my vampire doesn't touch guppy grass that's floating, chain dwarf vals, and java fern).
 
how big do vampire and L255 get?

do vampire eat fish/shrimp/snail aggressive?

how about the L255?

which one is more sort of in the hobby/expensive?

i mostly have anubias and ferns but i plan to carpet glosso and hairgrass
 
The anubias and ferns should be ok with any pleco. Don't know about the other plants.
The links I mentioned on planetcatfish should answer some of your questions. The rest can be answered by looking around planetcatfish.com
 
if you want a useful pleco that eats algae, try chaetostoma sp.; common names are bulldog or rubbernose . . .
 
I find bristlenose plecos to be annoying mine keeps uprooting stuff because its so active. Even though its not intentional if your plants are well rooted they will be fine though. My suggestion is the twig catfish, that is easily my favorite even though its not a pleco. It is very delicate and cool to watch.
 
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