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Clown pleco

  • Thread starter Vertigo
  • Start date
Hey guys, anyone here have a clown pleco?

I'm trying to see if there's anything I should know about it before I toss it into a tank with double sword tail guppies, two white clouds, a zebra danio, two oto's and a cory.

Thanks guys.
 
I have one.
got him about 3 years ago, havent seen him in 3 years!
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he is still there, I check once a month or so to make sure he is still alive..
He is TOTALLY nocternal! when the lights are on, he hides in an opening in driftwood, I have to carefully look behind some plants, and if I look in just the right spot I can just make out a small bit of his tail poking out, it twitches slightly and I know he is fine!

I used to try to feed him, but the sinking algae pellets just got attacked and devoured by the angelfish..there was no way to ensure *only* the pleco got the food, so I gave up feeding him! havent delibrately fed him anything in years..he lives off the ample supply of algae and driftwood. does a fine job of clearing off the driftwood, and there are never any dead plant parts in my tank! I assume he eats those too...seems to be doing fine!

they are a very pretty little fish, when you can see them, and they stay small! mine is only 3" long..which is nice compared to the monster giant "normal" plecos.

so..they are a nice peaceful fish! I recommend them..just dont count on seeing them much!
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they must have some *real* driftwood in the tank, they need to munch and scrape real wood for proper digestion..they also use the wood to hide! but that is normal behavior for them..actually, I wouldnt want to keep one *without* a hiding place for it! it would stress it too much..
also, I wouldnt keep one in a non-planted tank, (a tank without lots of REAL plants)
dont get one if you want it to eat algae off the glass, it wont help much there..
I have never once, ever, seen mine on the glass!

actually, im glad mine has its little daytime hiding spot, I consider him quite content. he is living for himself, not for my viewing enjoyment..which is fine with me.

Scot
 
Thanks for the info Scot. I didn't know about the driftwood thing, but it makes sense now. I was reading up a lot on how people have found certain plants, swords and such, had been severly rasped by their clown plecos. I'll have to find a spot to put a piece.
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It won't have to worry about plants in my tank, when I was setting it up I took all the floating pieces off the top of the plant tank at the pet store and laid them under the gravel...my entire tank is filled with plants. Some with flowers and lily pads at the top.

I'll have to find a piece of wood that's not too big, but it can hide in. I know there's a bunch of hiding spots in the plants, but maybe that wouldn't be enough for him. It would still let the light in at any rate.

I've heard that the largest they get to be is five inches maximum, but also read that you should have maybe a twenty-five gallon tank at a minimum so they can stake out their territory.

I can't wait to have something to clean up the plant pieces though, my filter is getting tired of trying to suck them up.
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