Plecostomus

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NVR ENUF said:
Unbelievable! I was feeding the fish and the 3" pleco I thought had died shortly after adding is alive and well and is about a foot long. How I never noticed it before is beyond me. Obviously, I'll have to remove it during Winter but at the rate it's growing, I might not be able to house it indoors.
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nice...i put a couple of plecos in my pond a couple of years ago..havent seen it since lol i assume its still alive thought since little patches of algae are missing from time to time lol
 
Here in Utah they bring them back to the LFS for half credit in the winter and reby them at full credit in the warmer months... IT isn't unusual here anymore to see 19"-24" Plecs in the lfs...
 
nativelover said:
plecos can tolerate anywhere from 90-32 degrees F. i had some in my previouse pond no problem. and ive got one in my pond right now. about 15"
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So your's lived thru the cold months? That would be cool if mine did too, so I won't need to remove it. If not, I guess I could get store credit for a new one for next Spring. Since I've only seen it that one time, could get tricky to catch.
 
in all that space dont be suprised if it doesnt hit 14" or so by winter. itll get to 2 ft within a couple of years, maybe sooner. Hypostomus plecostomus is probably the hardiest plecos
 
Plecos will not take temperatures below 55 degrees fahrenheit!. You can catch them in the fall when the whether chills, put them in a large bucket with a sponge filter and a heater in your basement to "overwinter". If you have 4 or 5 specimens they should spawn the 2nd season and you will have 3- 5" fry by the end of the summer. The parents will begin to look like small aligators by year 2.
 
we had a pleco and he got HUGE, my dad picked him up with his bare hands. BAD IDEA
 
No, a bad idea is netting a pleco. All plecos I handle are caught by hand. It causes less stress to the fish, and limits their timeout of the water. I have been tagged by a 22" common, and it hurt, but better me than the plec.
 
many pics are taken of plecos being held. you can get rubber nets aswell to help stop odontodes getting caught up
 
There are a large variety of pleco type fish , with different environmental limits. I lost one at a water temp of about 55F. However, they are some varieties common in Houston area waterways which have water temps below 40F. Also ,the moat system in the San Antonio Zoo is full of them ( I last visited about 10 yr ago) and that is colder than Houston.
I suppose with global warming they will be in the Great Lakes soon.
 
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