# Pleco?



## eddie (Mar 8, 2007)

does anyone here keep plecos with your fish, i saw some crazy looking pleco at Gold Ocean Aquarium on HWY#7 and Leslie this afternoon, some of them has orange/red fins and they are big 6". they have some gold nugget 1" for $20, are they worth to keep? also other kind i have never seem before. there are gold (not gold nuggets), black with white dots, also has king pleco i can't tell,$42 i think. I want to get plecos for my tank too, wanna to get some rare one, any ideas?


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## moon (Mar 11, 2006)

I have gold nugget and inspector plecos. Gold nugget at 1" may be somewhat delicate. I got four 1.5" GN from Big Als last year. Two died within two weeks and have two left. Very slow growers but doing well. Both GN and Inspectors can be spawned in captivity. You can more info on exotic plecos on Canadapleco.com and Planetcatfish.com


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I have a red sailfin myself.. one of the more common pleco out there and cheaper..

I personally love them... I try to stay away from the tiny guys. 
Definatly follow moons links and learn up about the specific pleco you are interested in... They all have thier own care in some ways...


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Dont start with a rare pleco. Plecos require a different mindset related to feeding, current, hiding places, and just the general way they live their lives.

If you want to start with something uncommon, cool. But rare, no. You just won't be able to give it the environment it really needs.

And keep in mind- you'll be lucky to see it for 10 minutes in a day.

I strongly recommend bushynoses to start

http://z.about.com/d/freshaquarium/1/0/Z/L/catfish14.jpg

they max out under 6"

If you have a big tank, say 4x2 feet or more, get a sailfin, gibbiceps, or common.

If you absolutely insist on having a $60 fish you're never going to see, and you have a pH below 7.8 and keep your water changes to atleast 1x a week, and don't overfeed, and give it lots of hidingspots and powerheads for good current to it and keep your surface agitation really high, you can get an L200

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/DSC_8716.JPG

But I STRONGLY recommend against it. All the 'cool' plecos are caught in the wild out of the river and go through a lot of roughness and torture before they get to you. That's morally acceptable if you're giving it a perfect home, but if you're incapable of that through lack of experience, don't do it.

Experience is the best way to get knowledge. I'd like seahorses- don't know how to take care of them. If I was going to start out though, I'd find the easiest seahorse to care for and pick that one. Its like your first car. Get a trashy used chevrolet and beat it around for a year- then trade up.

Dont buy a 500 horsepower car and bend it around a tree a block from the dealer. That's exactly what'll happen if you buy a rare pleco.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

A 1" gold nugget pleco!?
Man, that's an extremely odd size for a gold nugget. Usually, they come in 2"+.
Gold nugget are extremely diffucult to breed. I've never heard of any one breeding them before. 
Although I know that breeders in asia can breed just about any stuborn fish with hormone induced.
But still, the breeder must have been getting pretty desperate to dumping out 1" plecos.

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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Almost guaranteed those are wild caught actually.


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## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

There are 100's of plecos out there. Check on planet catfish or other pleco forums before you get one. Some eat algae, others meat. If you have a very large tank plenty get huge. See what one strikes your fancy, check out what conditions it needs and then hunt for one.

If you just want ones for algae control BN (bristle nose) plecos are great and cheap


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

nightowl1350 said:


> There are 100's of plecos out there. Check on planet catfish or other pleco forums before you get one. Some eat algae, others meat. If you have a very large tank plenty get huge. See what one strikes your fancy, check out what conditions it needs and then hunt for one.
> 
> If you just want ones for algae control BN (bristle nose) plecos are great and cheap


 ....

Have to disagree.

If someone had just gotten their license, I'd recommend a chevy cobalt, not a Ferrari 355. You'll bend it around a lamp post the day you get it- and that's what you'll do to a rare pleco too.

You just can't have the experience necessary to provide the right current, dietary balance, etc. Start at the bottom not the top. Read all the advice that's been given and see what makes more sense.


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