# quick question on clown pleco



## rpc07 (Feb 6, 2009)

So i just got one home maybe around 2.5 inches for a little tank cleaning the guy at the store told me 2 things that i would like to ask here first is how to acclimate him which is put him in a 5g bucket and slowly drip tank water over the course of 2 2.5 hours and secondly he said that they strongly recommend a small piece of drift wood on the tank maybe 2 inches square because it aids in there digestion. what do you guys recommend? Right now i have him in the 5g bucket dripping from the tank for about 15 minutes or so and i did not buy any drift wood but if you think i should i will get some tomorrow.

Thanks, Ryan


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## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

I have one of the little guys and I LOVE HIM!!! one of my favorite fish! 
I didn't acclimate mine, but that's because the pH and temp. of my tank and the one at the store were about the same. 
By now you probably have him in the tank, so you probably want to know about the drift wood. 
Yes, you want to put some sort of wood in the tank, not necessarily because it helps with digestion, though i think it might, but because it'll make him happy, and more likely to come out so that you can see him, and so he will want to "clean". :wink: 
Also if you want some real janitors, get some otto's, these are the little gray sucker mouth catfish that you see at all the pet stores. They are REALLY effective. 
Good luck, and hope you enjoy yours as much as i enjoy mine.


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## toddnbecka (Oct 23, 2004)

Clown pleco's are pretty useless for tank cleaning in general. They do need to eat driftwood, they'll die w/out it in their diet. They also tend to stay out of sight most of the time, mainly move around at night like most catfish.


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## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

Wow! i didn't know that! 
Mine got REALLY tame when I put a big firkin piece of wood in my tank! 
It gets him out of hiding and makes the tank look awesome! :thumb: 
BTW: What type of tank do you have? and what about BN-Pecos?!


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *rpc07*,

I don't think the guy at the LFS told you everything you need to know about Clown plecos.

First off, the scientific name is Panaque maccus. This is a good species profile, and will tell you everything you need to know.

The most important part would be:


> A wood-eating fish, the tank should be decorated with several different types of driftwood. These fish really like to have something to chew on and squash, cucumber, and other vegetables should be readily available to them (yams are a favourite). Supplement two to three times weekly with frozen foods.


As has been mentioned, they are useless as an algea eating catfish. Nor are they that good at cleaning up uneaten cichlid foods. Secondly too much protien in thier diet can be detrimental to thier health. Becuase the bulk of thier diet consist of wood, they eat alot and as a result shi!t alot. I mean wayyyy more than cichlids. You may have to up your water change schedule to cope with the waste a panaque can produce.

What type of tankmates have you added him to?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

It will depend on which clown pleco you bought, the two common ones that are sold here are the _Panaque maccus_ *DFF* mentioned and a _Peckolita_ species, which are decent algae eaters. On the larger _Panaque_ species, the spoon shaped teeth are obvious when it's sitting on the glass, not so sure about the _P. maccus_ though.


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