So what ya' keepin' ?

[rev]

Ok, so who's keepin' plecos, which ones & how many :?: :?: :?:

[kimmers318]

Hubby has a common in 90 gal tank
I have an albino bristlenose in 29 gal
and recently bought hubby another albino bristlenose for african tank...it is currently "hiding" in my 20 gal for Fathers Day and allowing me to slowly acclimate him to hubby's higher ph. He wants one, have read where others have successfully kept them in higher ph, but hasn't wanted to take the time to acclimate one slowly so as not to shock it. Hence, I am doing it to surprise him for Fathers Day! Hopefully he will thrive, there is lots of algae for him to eat. Store ph is a little lower than hubby's according to the store so I am giving this little chap a week starting at where he was originally housed and doing small water changes daily with tap water which is higher ph to bring it up.
I LOVE MY BRISTLENOSE!

When I have room in the future for more I am definitely going to look into some of the smaller plecos because they are just too cool. Any suggestions on that front would be appreciated.

[rev]

Look at Panaque & Peckoltia sp. Not all grow large & a very diverse range of colors & patterns. My fav are L104 Panaque (clownpleco)
I'll include a link for you to look at hundreds of different plecos. Planet Catfish is by far the most informative site on all things catfishy & you don't have to be a member to browse. Here's the link :

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/index.php?sid=92b36fad0727fec54b3298ba32f843e7

[Slinky_Bass]

Ok, so who's keepin' plecos, which ones & how many :?: :?: :?:
My brother really suprised me by getting me a common plecostamus for my birthday. I've had him for a week now and he's already stripped most of my driftwood bare of algae. He's about 7cm long now and fairly bold, if he finds one of the tablets I drop down for my corys and loaches he'll just latch on and claim it as his own.

[Abbeys_Mom]

I just found a new home for my 17" common pleco. She was a great pleco, she would eat fish flakes from your hand. I just couldn't keep up with my 55g and I didn't have another tank big enough for her. I do currently have a bristle nose, barely seen him. He's having a love affair with a resin log ornament and won't leave it for fear of some one else calling it home.

[Fishguy2727]

Two birstlenose in the 55 discus tank and two rubberlips in the 40 community. I will probably add a gold nugget to one of these.

[jeffs99dime]

gold nuggets are awesome!

[Neithan]

I have 2 Ancistrus sp. (new name for them is apparently Ancistrus cirrhosus), aka bristlenosed catfish and 2 Parotocinclus spilosoma, aka gold spot dwarf plecos in my 200 liter tank. The bristles are rarely seen, while the gold spots hang about all over the front glass and bicker with the corys over food pellets.

In the 295 liter tank I have 2 Panaque maccus, aka clown pleco, 1 Panaque sp. (LDA-68), 1 Bunocephalus coracoideus, aka banjo catfish and 2 Rineloricarias, aka whiptail catfish. Unfortunately I'm unsure of the exact species of this one. The whiptails are among the bravest of these - one is always lying around close to the front glass, the banjo is sometimes seen in the most weird positions on a swordplant (usually tail up and head down) and the panaques are seen fleetingly, when I stealthily tip toe my way to the tank ;)

I'm hoping one day to have a tank or four only for plecos, but that day is far, far away in the future.

[Slinky_Bass]

Ah, what lovely bottom dwellers you have! I love the banjo and the whiptail catfish but I've never ever seen them at my LFS. About the most exotic thing I've seen them stock is the synodontis nigriventris, which I tried my hand at keeping but after 6 years it turned out to be a real tank buster for my first little tropical tank so I ended up re-homing him :(

[thesarge]

I have 4 common plecos ranging from 3" to 5". They seems to be pretty aggressive towards each other, but they are fun to watch. They don't hid very much and are very active at all times during the day.

Abbys_mom, how did you get your pleco to feed from your hand?

[Abbeys_Mom]

I have 4 common plecos ranging from 3" to 5". They seems to be pretty aggressive towards each other, but they are fun to watch. They don't hid very much and are very active at all times during the day.

Abbys_mom, how did you get your pleco to feed from your hand?

You probably have all females. I find it's harder to buy male commons, unless the pet store is down to the last few. The males are always hiding in wood or under rocks. The females hang out on the glass most of the day. I have had both through the years. I trained her by holding zucchini in my had and letting her come over to try and eat it. After a month or so, she associated my hand with food. If I opened the lid she would wait and inch below the water line and I would put my hand in to feed her. Slowly she got to the point she would break the surface to take food and even let my touch her stomach. If I was cleaning the tank she would brush back and forth across my hand looking for food. I think I posted a video of her eating flake in the video section of this forum.

[thesarge]

hmmm That's really interesting. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks...

[Severus]

gold nuggets are awesome!

+1. I would love to have a gold nugget

[jeffs99dime]

+1. I would love to have a gold nugget

i know a lfs that has one! it's kind of a drive for you though

[dreamcharmer]

Ok, so who's keepin' plecos, which ones & how many :?: :?: :?: I have a sailfin pleco in a 55 gallon tank.

[Juannie]

Here's my big boofa. I've had him for about 2.5years now. I think it's just your common pleco, not quite sure. He's very resiliant and tough as nails - he's in a tank with my oscar and synsiplum and gives as good as he gets.

[Severus]

i know a lfs that has one! it's kind of a drive for you though

Really? where at, depending how far i might actually be bored enough one day to take a long drive. a really long drive...


Juannie - your pleco looks great

[Neithan]

I completely forgot to post pictures! If they appear in the same order as they are mentioned in the attachments, the first one is my male bristlenose munching away on a cucumber, the second is a whiptail and one of the panaques, the third is another panaque (probably the clown one), the fourth is the banjo and the last is the panaques again.

They did =P