Pleco to fit my needs

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Q

Quo Vadis

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
912
21
18
Wisconsin
I am currently growing out some fish for my 300+g tank I will be building in spring. I would like a pleco for the tank, and I should probably get it now, so I am not adding a smaller pleco with larger fish. This what I am looking for:

-6-12in size range
-Good algae eater
-Not too expensive, preferrably $20 or under. I do have a LFS guy that if I order thorugh I can probably get cheaper than normal though.
-Looks cool, but this is in the eye of beholder, so I guess I have to decided if I think it is cool!

And to clarify the second point, I do know plecos are not the solution to algae, and they produce a fair amount of waste. However, that beeing said, I hate cleaning the glass, rocks, driftwood etc., and I like keeping a pleco that does that for me. WC are easy for me though because of my hose setup!
 
I find pleco,s great for cleaning up tanks glass, intakes , decor, I have a rogue about 8 " that i move from tank to tank to clean things up after spawns. keep a 14" in the 180, he is a gibby. my rouge a sail fin, perhaps 2 years old and 8" I drop vegies and pleco chips in also as i move him around, he does a great job, yes poop festooned all over but that`s what water change/vacuum every week all about. suck the poop and reduce the nitrates.
 
better off not netting them, catch them like a lizard, then hold thumb on back of head and 2 middle fingers on the breast bone. very smart docile fish.
 
Thanks guys! I d really like the look of Gold Nuggest, and I think my LFS has some right now for fairly cheap. You find them to be good algae eaters? I don't care if they eat left over food, etc., I just don't want them stealing food and slacking on the algae!
 
for a 300g tank, you going to need a large pleco to do what you asking. either way should say they need wood to rasp on.
 
pops said:
better off not netting them, catch them like a lizard, then hold thumb on back of head and 2 middle fingers on the breast bone. very smart docile fish.
Click to expand...

I agree, just pick them up firmly. They usually only thrash when you first touch them

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With the good nugget is could be hit or miss on what he does as far as algae. I got a starlight bristle in one of my tanks but he is a dwarf pleco but good with the algae. If you could find some adult SAEs you could add them for back up if it's an option.
 
Um... am I the only one seeing the $20 and under part?

for 6"+ and under $20, you are pretty much only looking at commons.

If you want something that grows large and decent on algae, something like L95 is relatively good, but they'll cost way more than $20. The keyword here is "Relative" Most plecos won't be doing too much algae eating when they are larger.

Need to set a realistic $$ for a larger pleco. btw, most plecos won't grow more than 2" from now to spring. If you want a larger pleco by then for your 300g, then you'll want to get a large pleco now. Even commons won't grow more than 3" in that time frame.
 
LFS least here usually have large plecos that where given to them be cause they got to large. finding a 6 to 12' not hard, and they cheep, forget the asking price they just want the monster out of there 20g sale tank. 5 , 10 bucks.
 
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