Pleco's with large, violent cichlid.
- Thread starter Marc280106
- Start date
dmopar74;1791235; said:
Are those your dovii in your avatar, if so that male is absolutely gorgeous.
How big are they?scubasteve06;1791897; said:Are those your dovii in your avatar, if so that male is absolutely gorgeous.
yes they are, both are around 7", the male maybe 8", and thank you!
Mr Pleco;1791753; said:Why where you thinking about adding a plec to your tank to begin with?
I've always had a facination for them, ever since i first started in the hobby. Back then a Bristlenose was among my first fish. Since then i've been obsessed with having pair's of cichlids, which meant keeping a Pleco in my tanks was not really practical. I had basicly put them out of my mind up until recently, when my brother got into the hobby and added a Gibbiceps to his collection. I will watch him for quite some time whist visiting there. Now that i sold my female Red devil, the oppertunity has arisen to get a Pleco into my collection once more.
Anyway, i went to my lfs today and came home with a 3-4" common Pleco, which was the largest they had, other than the two monster common's and a Gibbiceps they had in their display tanks (They were beautiful.). So presently he has gone into my 40g with a 7" Carpinte, to grow out for the 120g. As suggested i added him in darkness to allow him to get used to his surroundings in relative peace. The Carpinte knows he is there and has sussed him out wiith a few nudges, but other than that seems to be leaving him be.
What sort of growth rate should i expect from a common Pleco? I picked up some algae disc's for him whist at the lfs and some zucinhi from the supermarket. I have read that carrot and lettuce are also good. What other food's are good for these guy's?
Again, thanks for all your help.
Morning All.
Right, your common pleco is a funny creature.
Basically, whilst under 6" their pretty shy and retiring and eat algae, shelled peas, blanched green leaves, zuccinis etc... they do carp a lot, which is a pain, but other then that, their really hard working fish at cleaning a tank of algae and uneaten food.
Once you've got a monster (7"+) after a few months (depending on diet, tank size etc etc) their taste change to a meatier diet.
I feed mine very little veg nowadays as he shows no interest in the stuff. he will simply patrol the surface at feeding time and wolf down some pellets, and as a treat i throw him a frozen silver side ever week or so.
Takes about a year or so til the hit the 12" mark, then growth really slows.
Had mine about 7 years on and off (actually was on of the first fish i bought) and hes only just pushing 14"
Best of luck
Craggy
Right, your common pleco is a funny creature.
Basically, whilst under 6" their pretty shy and retiring and eat algae, shelled peas, blanched green leaves, zuccinis etc... they do carp a lot, which is a pain, but other then that, their really hard working fish at cleaning a tank of algae and uneaten food.
Once you've got a monster (7"+) after a few months (depending on diet, tank size etc etc) their taste change to a meatier diet.
I feed mine very little veg nowadays as he shows no interest in the stuff. he will simply patrol the surface at feeding time and wolf down some pellets, and as a treat i throw him a frozen silver side ever week or so.
Takes about a year or so til the hit the 12" mark, then growth really slows.
Had mine about 7 years on and off (actually was on of the first fish i bought) and hes only just pushing 14"
Best of luck
Craggy
This may not help much but I currently have a 4" common plec with a 5" oscar. On day one the O tried to snack on the plec and got well scraped up for her troubles. Since then the O steers clear and the plec readily shoves her aside if she's in the way. Of course, attempted snacking isn't the same as territorial aggression and an O isn't an RD so this my not be too much use.
Thankyou for sharing your experience, Chillidragon. I don't know much about them, so all feedback is good.
As stated, he's currently in the 40g with my Carpinte and is doing really well. He seems to spent most of his time up the top left hand side of the tank, hanging out on the filter outlet. But there was quite a bit of algae up there, which he cleaned up, so i can understand why. I added a peice of iceberg lettuce to his favourate corner and he is munching on that at present, so all in all i think he's doing pretty well.
As stated, he's currently in the 40g with my Carpinte and is doing really well. He seems to spent most of his time up the top left hand side of the tank, hanging out on the filter outlet. But there was quite a bit of algae up there, which he cleaned up, so i can understand why. I added a peice of iceberg lettuce to his favourate corner and he is munching on that at present, so all in all i think he's doing pretty well.
