Plecs

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cryosi

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Some of them are herbivores while others are carnivores. Just because one eats the veggies, wont mean they will not eat meat. As they will. Some get big and some are small, some get way big for our tanks. Most of them will be more active during the nite rather than days ! They love most meaty foods, bloodworms, tubiflex,shrimp/prawn,fish(usually dead tank mates), etc and cucumber, courgette(zucchini), lettuce. Excellent filtration is needed for the amount of poop these plecs, can and will produce when in full eating mode.

examples...

Common Pleco can get from 12inches upto 24 inches so unless you can accomadate a full grown plec, best advice is watch them grow elsewhere. They can also live for up to 20-25 years in a very good enviroment. water 68 - 82 F, and a pH in the 6. - 7.5 . A nice hiding place would suit a small plec.
they will also Love your plants!


Bristle nose pleco - Ancistrus These great plec's will help keep down any algae in your tank and they will not ruin your plants in your tank. They will graze off the algae form the leaves leaving them intact. They get from 4 - 8 inches in length. The males have lots of bristles when mature the female will not have the same bristle amount as the male, althou she will ahave few. The males get mature at about 2-2.5 inches. They need bogwood or a tube in the tank to breed, they produce orange eggs, which the male will look after. He uses his bristles as bait to entice the female to mate with him. Water 70 to 80 degrees, pH 6 to 7.

Zebra Pleco - Hypancistrus zebra One very attractive and rather expensive plec to have. They do have a relation which is Chocolatre zebra plec which half the price, but not as well know inthe trade or buy LFS. All of these are currently wild stock that are available. Unlike the Black and white which are tank breed and some wild stock. These B&W Zebra live in 20 ft of water in the amazon, they like warm water around the 80f mark and lots of hiding places. The males are easy to identify they have a broader head when viewed from above. The female wil be pointier than the male. They are carnivore, so will need meaty food in thier diets, (same goes for Chocolate zebra( found in fast flowing water from Rio Tapajos).Zebra Plecos and Chocolate zebras are very shy fish, but they are very territorial as well and wil fight with other same species so plenty of tank space is needed. They are not as easy to care for as a common plec, and extra care is needed.

Clown Pleco These plec will grow upto about 3inches. 25 gal is minimum size for as they get approx 3 inches, the mega clown gets about 4.5 inches and is an omnivore. ( minimum size for them is about 30 gal)
They need other Clown in the tank with them, idealy a speices tank. Again nite plecs, so althou they will be seen in the day most of the time will be spent active at nite.
The Clowns are classed as peacefull plec's they need a wood diet , will clean your tank of algae in a few days!( they need algae tabs and other foods as well as bogwood). A small group of 6 of these would be ideal.

These plecs need lots of hiding places ( such as Zebras,and other small Peckoltia ) and will get terroritory so the more you have the bigger tank you will need! They also need excellent filtration as they will produce lots of mess in the tank form thier food! they prefer warmer water around 80f mark again same as Peckoltia and Zebra's.

Signs of illness, such as sunken belly or swollen belly, may mean a form of parasite. So when you buy any from a store always ask to see the underneath of the plec and check as it may save you money in the long run.


 
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