The Littlest Pleco

[Madame_X]

We needed a pleco in our 55 gallon tank, and since I knew my clown would soon outgrow the 12 gallon tank he was housed in, we decided to move him and find a small pleco for the Eclipse. I decided on a pitbull pleco, since they get no bigger than 2 inches. Trouble was, nobody had one.

Well, this past weekend, we found our pitbull! He was in a tank of blue phantom plecos who were much larger than he was. An employee at the store remembered that we had asked about one last month, and when he saw us there on Saturday asked if we still wanted one. Turns out they had him all along, but he was so small he had been overlooked. He had seen him a few days prior when doing a water change.

I thought I was simply trading one hiding pleco for another, since the employee had to overturn every piece of driftwood in the tank to find this little guy again. But when we let him out of the bag, he immediately latched on to the glass. He hasn't hidden since!

Here's a picture--he's so tiny!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Nice plec, I've never heard of that before. Perhaps I'll try to find one when I have to set up my 10gal college tank next year.

 

[Allivymar]

Oh he's adorable! And I'm jealous. I picked one up for what used to be the death tank and yep, it was still the death tank at that point. I've yet to see another in this area (they're called bulldog or rubbernose plecs here).

 

[lmw80]

He is sooo cute! I have a rubber-lipped pleco, which gets an inch or two bigger than the rubbernose pleco.

 

[Fruitbat]

The pitbull/bulldog/rubbernose (etc....etc...) pleco is actually of the genus Chaetostoma. The species are not well delineated at this point. They are among the smallest of the 'plecostomus'-type catfish, generally maxing out at about 3 inches. From what I can find, these catfish enjoy fast-moving, cool water but will adapt to tropical conditions without problems. As expected, they generally need some algae in their diets.

 

[Madame_X]

According to PlanetCatfish, the pitbull is different than the bulldog/rubbernose. The pitbull pleco is parotocinclus jumbo (I guess that means Big Oto!). So technically, I guess he's in the same family as the oto, but to me he definitely looks more like a tiny pleco.

Here's the skinny from PlanetCatfish:

Bulldog Pleco

Pitbull Pleco

 

[tkos]

That great. I think all they cxarry around these parts is good ole common plecos and CAE's. Yikes what are they thinking?

 

[Menagerie]

That pleco is adorable!! I have never seen a pitbull and I am having a hard time locating a rubberlip. I was looking for a small pleco for my 10 gal, but impatience got the best of me and I bought a butterfly loach instead.

 

[Enki]

VERY cute fish!

 

[oscarbreeder]

He looks so cool.
Got to get one for my 10.

 

[TankGirl]

I must say I have never seen them, and he is adorable. My bristlenose were that small when I got them, but they are growing pretty rapidly now. I am glad you held out until you could get one!