Pleco questions

[Guyb93]

As I’m starting to drift away from keeping cichlids my interest has swung towards catfish, plecos in particular .
There is little information on pleco aggression.. other than plecos can be aggressive . Always an owner of a pleco but first time owner of multiple how serious is this supposed aggression ? I mean as a keen cichlid owner I know about aggression but never experienced catfish aggression , is it a similar situation? Will there always be. Dominant fish or will the aggression be spontaneous and unpredictable?
So far I’m housing 6 x blue eye lemons 2x green phantom 2x clown
All very small at the moment largest being a 3inch green phantom they will be split regardless of aggression in future due to bio load
Second question , wood I have a tone do not a worry but I ant get a definitive answer on weather wood is food for them , I have many various wood in my tank from oak to plane tree to spider wood if it is food are and types of wood harmful ?

 

[Colin_T]

The aggression in suckermouth catfish is all about territory and the food in their territory. If the tank is big and the fish have space, they don't bother each other. If you have 2 big male plecostomus in a small tank, they will fight.

Driftwood is eaten by lots of suckermouth catfish and is part of their diet. They don't get much nutrition from the wood but it does provide fiber that feeds bacteria in their gut. They also get microscopic organisms (biofilm) on the wood and they do digest that.

They should always have access to algae as well as plants and wood to eat. You can offer other foods like algae wafers, bottom feeding pellets, and various frozen foods like brineshrimp, prawn, bloodworms, etc.

 

[Guyb93]

The aggression in suckermouth catfish is all about territory and the food in their territory. If the tank is big and the fish have space, they don't bother each other. If you have 2 big male plecostomus in a small tank, they will fight.

Driftwood is eaten but lost of suckermouth catfish and is part of their diet. They don't get much nutrition from the wood but it does provide fiber that feeds bacteria in their gut. They also get microscopic organisms (biofilm) on the wood and they do digest that.

They should always have access to algae as well as plants and wood to eat. You can offer other foods like algae wafers, bottom feeding pellets, and various frozen foods like brineshrimp, prawn, bloodworms, etc.

The tank footprint is roughly 5x2x2 around 500l so I’m happy with space currently , just when I read aggression I imagine cichlids aggression often pointless and just a display of dominance so maybe with ample room I may never see aggression. And thanks about the wood I couldn’t find a real answer on weather it’s food or habit they rasp