# What kind of sucker fish can live with Cichlids?



## cichlidtank87

I have 4 Convicts, 1 Yellow Lab, 2 Kenyi and 1 Crabro and am wondering what kind of sucker fish would be compatible with these Cichlids, if any. I know plecostomus are a popular type, but I don't know how he would do with the aggressive Cichlids I have. Any advice/help is much appreciated.


----------



## xalow

The normal African cichlid suggestion is a bristlenose pleco, but crabro and kenyi (m. lombardoi) are very very aggressive species so I am also curious to see what people will say.


----------



## BRANT13

hit or miss with the plecos really....i have 2 BN and 1 common that have been in my tanks for years....it up to you .....*** heard of people plecos getting killed and even blinded before...so the decision is on you relly


----------



## Floridagirl

Chinese Algae Eaters can work. They are good at getting away from aggressors provided that they are bigger to start with. I have had one in a mbuna tank for 2 years. I'd love to get him out , but I can't catch him. :roll:


----------



## Art_SouthFlorida

Plecos are armor plated... they can survive a cichlid tank just fine. Currently, I got a common pleco and a red devil pleco thriving in the tank. Of course, my common pleco is 9 inches which is a good 4 inches larger than the biggest fish in the tank and my red devil is about 2 1/2 inches and he just blends in and stays out of everyones way.

Plecos are generally active at night... only risk you run is your pleco taking out a sick or injured fish while it sleeps. My common pleco hasn't killed any fish in the 2 years I've owned him.

Oh and as for cichlids they are living with...

1. 5x Frontosa
2. 3x Obliquidens
3. 1x duboisi moori
4. 2x Tropheus Moori
5. 3x Purple (yellow-tail) Ascei
6. 2x Synodontis
7. 3x Altolamprologus Compressorceps
8. 4x Johanni


----------



## jfly

just noticed last night my dwarf albino pleco has been nipped on fins ahhhh darn mbuna.. so id advise a LARGE pleco you can get huge ones for 20-30 bucks at my lfs


----------



## Floridagirl

Many Pleco owners complain that cichlids eat the eyes of their common Plecos. Search on here. There have been previous discussions.


----------



## Raschael

We have a 7" common pleco and a 3" cory catfish. However. . . before everyone disagrees with me. . . all of our cichlids are juvenile and not over 2 1/2" in length, so the catfish may be temporary, we will have to see. Anyway, the cory catfish are pretty hardy and ours fights back if it is picked on, so he is not picked on much. I find him chasing the cichlids more than the other way around, but he's pretty slow compared to them. I agree with the other posts about the pleco mostly being good for algea. We have had ours for a long time, and thats all he does, but does an excellent job!! and only comes out at night. I researched bottom feeders for our cichlid tank and there really aren't many that can "safely" go with them once they get aggressive. I guess you would just have to try and see. . . just keep a good eye on whatever you put in there! Or just prepare for a little more frequent cleaning.


----------

