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post photo, many of the bro should be able to ID
My daughter and her class mates bought quite a few of the $1 to $2 plecos from polyart recent for a school project. Can any one shed lights on what those plecos are? They are dark colored with light strips or spots, and about 1-2 inches long. Sorry that I have no pics to show as the fishes are all in the school now. How big will they grow?
I am not a pleco expert but I thought most plecos are expensive, especially those with L number. I have been keeping fish for years but never kept a pleco before. I am thinking of keeping a bristlenose for a start (I put up a thread on that some where down here) but have yet to do something.
post photo, many of the bro should be able to ID
As I wrote in the first post, the plecos are all in the school now and I can't go in to take a photo.
But I think there should still be plenty left in polyart. They look pretty common to my untrained eyes; small dark fella with light strips or spots.
No offence to the pleco lovers....I am starting my quest into this so still a lot to learn.
i think those are the common sucker fish .
common sucker fish can grow realy-realy big
Oh no. That is not good. I kinda know they will grow big but am not sure enough.
The school tanks are all 1 foot type. I told the girls not to buy and if they really like fish of that shape or behavior, they can just buy the corydoras. But don't know why they are so mesmerised by the pleco.
Anyway, I intend to get bristlenose for my own tank, for algae control. How to tell whether those are bristlenose or not?
I read there are some small size plecos around ie 5-6inches adult size. How do tell whether those in the LFS will remain small when they grow up?
When I ask the LFS, they always say it will take a very long time for the pleco to grow big. I kinda get the hint that the fish will probably die before they ever reach the full size so there is nothing to worry about. But that is not ethically correct.
you can try otos, can't grow big (max around 5cm) and look almost like pleco
ThoseI'm a pleco expert, but those fancy looking small pleco (5-6 inches) are prety expensive $35++
Last edited by Shadow; 16th May 2009 at 08:08.
There are now more choices of common pleco or sucker fish for under $5. The redish-light brown one, the black with brown spots, and the albino. Bristlenose, and long-fin albino bristlenose are available for $8-10 from Aquastar and Y618.
Common suckers can grow up to 1 ft plus. But it will not happen in a 1 ft tank (only in ponds and big tanks).
Finally got a shot of the pleco.
Can anyone ID what this pleco is?
Looks like one of the Pterygoplichthys species.
yes, I did a check and it looks like a sail fin pleco, Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps or a similar species.
Does anyone know what L number it belongs to? (If it has a L number).
just a question.. can oscar and pleco be put together in a 3 ft tank?
Last edited by celticfish; 16th Aug 2009 at 01:40. Reason: SMS lingo
it looks like a common sailfin.
ONLY Blue Zebras.
Yes, I mis-identify it last time. It is a common sailfin, L001 or L022 Pterygoplichthys joselimaianusOriginally Posted by eeeeemo
the pleco should be the size of your oscar or bigger..just a qn.. can oscar and pleco be put togt in a 3 ft tank?
Last edited by celticfish; 16th Aug 2009 at 01:39. Reason: SMS lingo
I agree with the ID of this sucker mouth catfish but it is more attractively marked than the specimens I see in the USA. Perhaps because it is still very small and young. They can easily reach 18 inches.
Old fish breeder. SA Dwarf Cichlids, Hypancistrus sp L260, L333 and Peckoltia L134 breeder. Also Sturisoma, Dwarf Corydoras spp, wild Discus and Killiefish. Like breeding Characins and wild Betta spp too.
Still no guarantees. I had a 15"+ Pleco killed by 10" Oscars. They were comm together for about 3 years without incident prior to the attack.
Hi jetset,
It is unusual for Oscars to kill such a large specimen(15 inches).
Even a breeding pair of Oscars would not ordinarily be able to kill such a large specimen. I once had a 17-1/2 inches long Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus.
I owned a fish shop at the time. I was able to open it with my parent's help while I was still in high school, circa 1969. I acquired the large pleco from a customer trade in. Theis species wasn't common at the the time. Spotted Hypostomus spp with less well developed dorsal fins were the standard. This was at a time when most plecos imported were Hypostomus spp collected in Trinidad. I had it in one of the shop show tanks for a couple years before I lost it. It may have died just from old age for all I know. Despite the fact these are a large species, they are quite an attractive and peaceful one.
I wanted to breed Oscars back then and began accepting Oscars that had out grown customers' tanks. Once I had acquired 6 adults I began feeding them heavily on large earth worms and I soon had two pairs. During their paring off stage they could get rough with each other but they ignored some 6 inch Hypostomus in their tank except to chase them out of their territory.
Old fish breeder. SA Dwarf Cichlids, Hypancistrus sp L260, L333 and Peckoltia L134 breeder. Also Sturisoma, Dwarf Corydoras spp, wild Discus and Killiefish. Like breeding Characins and wild Betta spp too.
Unusual perhaps as this was my only incident and nothing to compare with. Did not comm plecos with my Oscars thereafter. Anyway, it was only after 3+ years... they were previously fine before that incident.
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