# Who's keeping Hypostomus plecostomus in their aquarium?



## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

Is it true that if you have it, your aquarium will be free from algae and it grows really big!


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

this is the common pleco. It gets over a foot long. Once it hits about 6 inches it becomes rather useless at algea eating and joins in the frenzy with every other fish at feeding time. Leaves an insanely long strings of poop all over the tank too.


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## eric (Jan 1, 2002)

I think that *ashilli48* may be mistaking Liposarcus pardalis for Hypostomus plecostomus. I have never seen a plecostomus over a foot long. They are a brown fish and they are an omnivore.

Liposarcus pardalis is even more common in the pet shops then plecostomus. They are gray with a very tight stripe pattern. They do grow over a foot. They are omnivores as well. They do leave "insanely long strings of poop all over the tank", more so than plecostomus.

Neither of these fish are great algae eaters when they get larger. Dwarf plecos of the genus Ancistrus make great algae eaters and they are less of a bio-load on your tank.


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## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

Liposarcus pardalis and plecostomus really look the same! :x 
You can take them back to the wild when they get larger :roll:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

CoolCichlid said:


> You can take them back to the wild when they get larger :roll:


 

I'm sure you and everyone else reading your posts knows that it's very harmful to the fish and to the environment to release pet fish in the wild.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

coolcichlid, it is also illegal... I know, there are giant plecos in my backyard as well, and it almost defies logic to say that taking one out of the pond for a bit and adding it back could be illegal, but it most assuredly is.


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## firenzena (Nov 29, 2009)

CoolCichlid said:


> Liposarcus pardalis and plecostomus really look the same!


Not if you look at them together. Mouth shape, number of Dorsal rays, body shape etc.

And depends which one of the 108 different species of Hypostomus genus you are looking at.

Here is my Hypostomus Cochliodon that live in a hap tank










An omnivore and not an algae eater, but a lot of young plecs such as this and pardalis are good algae eaters when juvis.

But I agree the best for prolonged algae eating are species from Genus ancistrus.
Genus Dekyseria does well also but not sure how common they are where you are.

As for releasing any exoctic species into a native wild situatiion- All I can say is "Where have you been?"


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

So much for the Internet, I googles that same Latin name and the first few hits called it the common Pleco


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

[/url]http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Common_Plecos_Hypostomus_Liposarcus.phplooks like some places think it's t...rl]http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Pleco.htm

even planet catfish.... http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=580


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## firenzena (Nov 29, 2009)

Thats why we like the Latin titles eh?

A common name , especially when it has 'common' in title is recipe for disaster when you use google search


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## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

I'm wondering, why is it illegal...?

Anyway, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus is this also different from Hypostomus plecostomus?
In the Philippines they called it Janitor Fish (Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus). One of the communities in the Philippines look at it as a pest problem since year 2000. They conducted an experiment, the use of Janitor Fish for the Fish Amino Acid concoction for Natural Farming Technology System.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Pet fish can multiply in the wild and wipe out natural species and damage the environment. Recently the government tried to make the import of many/most pet fish illegal just so unethical hobbyists could not release them into the wild.


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## eric (Jan 1, 2002)

CoolCichlid said:


> Liposarcus pardalis and plecostomus really look the same! :x


One is gray and the one is brown. They are not difficult to tell apart.


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## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

Oh yes they are different, but on other pictures they really look the same


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