pleco for a planted tank?

[nycfatcow]

any of you guys have plecos in your planted tank? do they actually eat the plants? think a 12G is too small to house one of these guys?

 

[BillD]

You would have to stick with one of the smaller varieties, such as the rubberlip, or an Ancistrus sp., although the latter might even get too big. for a tank that size, the best option for algae eaters is Otocinclis sp. cats.

 

[nycfatcow]

yeh thats waht i thought...but i wanted to get a nice crazy looking pleco when my tank was established

 

[jsoong]

Rubberlips only gets to 3-4" & they don't eat plants. However, with one of those in a 12, you won't have much room for anything else.

Otos are definitely better for a small setup.

 

[Jchillin]

The albino ancistrus (aka albino bristlenose pleco) variety is not too bad of a bottom dweller. I currently have both variants (regular brown and albino) and none are over 4" most are 2 to 3 inches. They are hard workers and visible most of the time.

 

[omgfish]

I have a bristlenose pleco in my heavily planted 75g. He doesn't bother anything. He mostly stays around the driftwood during the day, and explores at night. You might run into problems with plecos in small tank like that, they are pooping machines.

 

[gu2high]

I have a common pleco in a heavily planted 58g and I don't see any plant damage caused by it. It has grown from 3" to 6".

 

[nycfatcow]

yeh...i think ima pass on the plecos.. they seem like trouble for my nano

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I have a common pleco in a heavily planted 58g and I don't see any plant damage caused by it. It has grown from 3" to 6".

You realize you just jinxed yourself right? I have a 13+" sailfin crashing through my 120Gal. If it isn't securely rooted, it's floating in the morning. He does bend/damage fine leaved plants (Not needle leaf, just a thinner leaf like Limn. Aromatica and Rotala Rotund. It's not intentional, he's just cleaning the leaves off the stem

 

[kansei]

I also have a common over a foot long in a 125 and he can uproot alot when he digs in around the heavier stalked plants .

 

[severum mama]

I wouldn't keep a pleco in a 12 gallon. IMO it is just too small. Just FYI, the smallest "crazy looking" pleco that I can think of is the Queen Arabesque. Those are awesome.