# which pleco in a South American tank



## Slummies (Sep 1, 2008)

Hey everyone.

setting up a 500L SA tank and wanting to add a Pleco. i dont want one that will get huge just the smaller ones. i heard the bristlenose would work but they cost more than my Discus!!

thanks you!


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

you could pick up a bulldog/rubbernose pleco. they stay on the smaller side and i just got a small one for like 5 bucks. not expensive.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

You absolutely must have an albino long-finned bristlenose!! They are absolutely fabulous. They can be pricey, but I've seen them advertised by breeders on another forum for considerably less than LFS. I have one in my SA/community tank, and he/she is often out, easy to spot with the coloring and very beautiful with fins flowing in the water. And a good little algae eater, too. They only get to be about 5", I believe . . .


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *Slummies*,

What type of cichlids and other fish are going in your SA tank?

A couple of sites you can check out.

PlanetCatfish is very good for pleco profiles.

PlecoFanatics has very good forums and Buy & Sell forum.

I'd certainly recommend a couple of bristlenose catfish, they belong to the Ancistrus genus. They are a great algea eating catfish.

Many plecos species are becoming very expensive as Brazil has now banned the export of almost all species. Another factor that contributes to price is whether your country allows the importation of all pleco species, or only a small number of species.

Here in Australia it's illegall to import all but two species, so the rest are smuggled in and therefore prices are very high as demand far outways supply. Plus there are huge fines if caught smuggling them into the country.

Depending on what is available to you in South Africa, and what cichlids you plan on keeping, you could look at keeping a couple of fancy plecos as well. I would suggest you look at some of the Omnivorous Peckoltia species or Carnivorous Hypancistrus species.

Most pleco species produce a lot of waste for thier size, so I wouldn't be looking at anymore than six total in a 500 liter tank.

As per my sig. I keep four L397 in one tank and two Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus in the other.


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

i have a royal and a clown pleco in my cichlid tank. the royal is a poop machine. neither get very large. just see whats common at your LFS and research them.


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Are there discus in your tank? If so you have to be very cautious! Most species attach them to the discus and feed on their slime coat,...or worse. Besides that the fish should handle the high temps. Pitbull Pleco is definitely not one of them! They do best at low temps from 18C to 24C and prefer very oxygen rich water and lots of current.

I keep 1 BN pleco (A. dolichopterus) in my discus tank (6 discus 75 gallon) for cleaning algea and overall cleaning of uneaten food and 1 Peckoltia specie to feed on the food leftovers. This works great! One Peckoltia cleans abouth just as much as 4 cories would do. BN pleco's shouldn't be that expensive but most peckoltia's are.


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## Slummies (Sep 1, 2008)

thanks for all the replies. there will be a few discus in there and i do know that some attach themselves to the discus. so maybe the BN is the way to go. thanks so much for all the replies!

:thumb:


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

Dutch Dude said:


> Are there discus in your tank? If so you have to be very cautious! Most species attach them to the discus and feed on their slime coat,...or worse. Besides that the fish should handle the high temps. Pitbull Pleco is definitely not one of them! They do best at low temps from 18C to 24C and prefer very oxygen rich water and lots of current.
> 
> I keep 1 BN pleco (A. dolichopterus) in my discus tank (6 discus 75 gallon) for cleaning algea and overall cleaning of uneaten food and 1 Peckoltia specie to feed on the food leftovers. This works great! One Peckoltia cleans abouth just as much as 4 cories would do. BN pleco's shouldn't be that expensive but most peckoltia's are.


pitbull is another name for rubbernose, correct? i didnt know they had different temp requirements than other pleco species


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

I have to make a correction on the pitbull pleco. I messed things up a bit. A pitbull pleco is a Parotocinclus jumbo. The fish I was talking abouth ia a bulldog pleco or rubberlip pleco witch is a Chaetastoma. Cheatastoma live in mountain aria's in fast flowing rocky and coolwater streams (Colombia for example). For that they do prefer cooler temps from 18C to 24C. They will handle temps up to 26C but you can expect them not to reach there normal live span. They do prefer oxygen rich water and lots of curent. They are definitely a bad choice for a discus tank. If parotocinclus have the same behavior as Oto's they are a bad choice to becouse Oto's prefer soft algea and would also feed on the discus slime coat.

For cleaning crew BN pleco's are great fish. They clean the wood, feed on algea and pick up spoiled foods.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

interesting. thank you


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