plecos and bichirs

[Mike fail]

so can plecos be kept with bichirs i used the search option and found nothing
ive got a
1018 gold nugget
longfin bristlenose
as far as bichirs im not sure yet
it will be in a 150 probably

 

[Charney]

I have always been told not to keep them together. I have talked to some people that have had the plecos suck on the bichir and create wounds.

 

[moonchild1970]

Exactly.

 

[beblondie]

One has to remember that in the areas of the amazon where a number of plecos exist there is little in the line of protein based foods. Aquatic insects and small inverts do not do well in the heavy current. Plecs are very adaptable to feeding on availiable food sources and one is the mucus coating of other fish. There is good anacdotal evidence of these fish doing this in the wild and plenty of evidence of these fish doing this in captivity. The closest taxonomic relitives of Loricariidae are the Trichomycteridae. There are several mucus feeding only trichomycterid catfishes. It really would not be a suprise to find that mucus feeding is a common feeding method in many Loricariidae catfishes. These fish are really not obligate herbivores.
However all is not lost while there is no guarantee some possible plec are listed below
Acanthodoras cataphractus-(4")
Amblydoras hancocki-(6")
Platydoras costatus-(8")
Ancistrus dolichopterus-(4.5")
Ancistrus adonis-(30+")
Ancistrus lamboensis-(6")
Panaque nigrolineatus-(9.5")
Panaque suttonorum-Blue-eyed plecostomus-(7")
Peckoltia vittata-(4-5")
Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps-(19")
Glyptoperichthys punctatus-Spotted sailfin pleco-(7")
Rineloricaria fallax-(4.5")
Chaetostoma sp.-Bulldog Catfish-(9.5")
Liposarcus anisitsi-Snow king sailfin pleco-(17")
Synodontis alberti-(6")
Synodontis angelicus-(22")
Hoplostermum thoracatum-(8")
Hemiancistrus annectens-(8")
Hemiancistrus landoni-(9")
Isorineloricaria spinosissima-Spiny suckermouth catfish-(12")
Loricaria nickernsis-Nickerie suckermouth-(6")
Baryancistrus sp.-(L18,L81,L177)-(6.5")
Leporacanthicus galaxias-Galactial suckermouth-(13")-Anne

 

[Rockbass6]

My 4'' bristlenose had a liking for my senegal he sucked on his head leaving a light color mark behind the pleco went in for trade and the senegal fully recovered in 3-4 days.
It does happen from time to time so I don't mix the 2 anymore.

 

[killerfish]

some plecos like the taste of bichirs slime coat and will try and eat it large plecos can take scales off but some do fine with them just have to try it and see how your pleco reacts Beblondie posted a good list

 

[Freeze_Dried_Bloodworm]

I have 2 plecos with my ornates, nothing ever happened, they've been together for 2 years now

 

[ArowBichir]

Depends on the fish i heard a lot of people say they don;t work I tried it and it worked out with my ornate

 

[gangster]

So far so good...ive got a 9"+ common pleco w/ my 6 bichirs and they have been fine...pleco just kicks them out of his cave if they try and front.

 

[Kohaku]

Here is a picture to show why it is not advisable to keep them together.

I has a similar incident some years back that kill my female B.bichir. I kept them together for 4 years and nothing happen. I do not when the pleco suddenly aquire taste on the body slime of the bichir and it sucked dried the body slime and torture the B.bichir to death as shown in the picture.