pleco's.....whats the appeal!

hi all

im not looking for a flaming here
its a genuine question

I dont really get the pleco thing
(apart from their cleaning duties and breeding interest)

please stop me if im wrong but....
1: they are mostly fairly ugly (imo) unless you pay big
2: they hide all the time
3: you cant keep plants with them
4: they grow too big
5: they do little or nothing

whats the appeal?

i am always half thinking about plecs
but the points above keep springing to mind
(bear in mind i have two small tanks, thats it)


rgds

4

I used to think like that too - especially when it comes to something that grows a foot long, is brown and reminds me of un-cared for aquaria in crappy pubs and restaurants.

But, they've grown on me.

You can get plenty of small ones, colourful ones and they dont have to cost hundreds. I bought a bunch of Flash plecs (L204) a while ago, they're great looking, stay small, grow slow, don't overwhelm your filter and they just have character . . .

The only way to "get it", is to pick a species or two and keep them. You'll either be bitten by the bug or you won't.

Theres alot of species of plec that dont grow that big and have nice pattern or colouring in them.Check out the hypancistrus they all stay quite small and they wouldnt require a whole lot of cleaning up after.

I agree some plecos can be pretty boring as they just hide all day... I have two small species of pleco and i rarely see them. There are tons of small species for you to choose from..

I think sailfin pleco's look great... Mine never really hides and I keep lots of plants with him.
Your right though.. they do just get too big:laugh: ! I think mines around 14-16".

How can you not love this face???

i suppose everyone to there own, but i love em!!
any size, shape , colour or breed,
i think that they have great personalities i love the way thy just go around and do there own thing
they dont really bother other fish yet can hold there own against the best of them,
they are a lovely shape and have lovely fins,
and i think the fact that you dont see them all the time just makes it more exciting when you do see them out and about,
one of my favourites for sure...
you should give em a go.... you dont know what your missing.....

sorry 4 but i cant agree on any of that, but then that's personal opinion, i have beautiful whiptails, had a sailfin, they are cheap as chips, they don't all get too big, i have plants, one of mine is always out and they do exactly the same as every other fish and have their own personality, i think you should buy one

I like anything that makes her cringe. Big ugly plecs are on that list. So are Oscars, Moray eels, etc etc . As mentioned there are plenty of plecs that stay pretty small. Ive been poking around a few lfs in and around Dublin the past while and have seen some pretty tasty species on offer for a lot less than they used to be. Snowballs and Phantoms (green and blue) come to mind. Slow growers and nice to look at. They dont make nearly as bad a mess as their bigger cousins. Worth giving them a go, even in a planted setup as they arn't as destructive either.

Jay

I agree with Viperbot on this one...you can get smaller ones that will take your eye and arent as ugly as you say. Also smaller ones tend to leave the plants alone if provided with cover and appropriate foods etc..
The one thing that reallly annoys me is when people think Plecos are a clean up crew,it really annoys me,they need their own food. Would you eat others crap!!Doubt it. (Oh and 4 thats not saying that you think they are just for clean up at all,just my opinion on the subject!).
Also they are cool when they breed and produce the most lovely little fry.
Gavin

i like them cause there different..
they put a bit of contrast into a tank in terms of the shape of fish, and the fact that some of them hide a lot does make it better when you get a chance to see them,they're just interesting

i was never into plec s but a mate got a bull dog plec in his tank and he s always out.im thinking of taken the plunge and getting some green spotted plecs maybe 2 amazing looking fish love them now

ps are pleco s easy to breed

With so many truly ugly fish out there, I wonder why anyone would be madly attracted to half-ugly fish such as plecos. !!
It's a bit like urging to own an olde-world really ugly Citroen car but settling for something a little less radical.

There was a time when I felt that there existed some snobbery in fish-keeping, and the plecos et al were one group of fish that had a status symbol associated with.

They were to "the fish to own" at one time, so to speak.

In some respects, it seemed to me that at that time it was a slap-in-the-face for the snobbery of the Tanganykan thing that went around, a rebelion, a rebelion where ugly(ish) fish were ruling the roast in "the fish to have"....a rebelion led by Plecs and other catfish (especially ones with ugly sloppy-style mouths). Well, that was the 80s....Duran Duran, Shoudler Pads, big hair,Yuppies, and some excessivly deep pockets.....and this is now.

Thankfully, it is good to see a general trend towards the love of plecs for what they are, and not what they stand for.

ian

ps. for youngsters here, my apologies....the 80s was a time over 20 years ago! Don't believe time-travellers with mobile phones existed then.

Have to say I love the little buggers. I have Rustys BNs and a panaque all very different in personality and the pair of ancistrus I have are very interesting to watch in the nano with the moonlight led only on at night. The panaque will be out bright or not and bosses the tank.
The rusty pleco are active all day and eat eat eat veggies, great catfish indeed, not as flashy maybe but worth the time and effort by any measure, some species you could maybe put in a tank with 10 plastic other ones and not tell the difference as they do nowt much I have read, but have no idea what species or if it was true. Horses for courses.



Mark

Whoops! I wasn't making a dig at anyone with a Citroen....but one has to admit that there have been some pretty ugly cars from France.
I now drive a French car....but maybe one of the nicest french cars (a peugeot 406....but mine is well driven and never gets a car-wash).

I do like some of the plecs. But, for me, they do have an association with a horribly snobbish era in fish-keeping back in the 80s.
I moved away from Killies originally because of the snobbery there, and moved away from all fish societies that I was involved with (especially the cichlids) simply because of too many people looking down on other people.
There had been a great time of pioneering that I was really happy with during the 70s, but the 80s did bring something that I didn't like.
No longer were people 'showing fish', they were 'showing off with their fish (or money?)' at fish shows....Plecos, big catfish and the latest most expensive fish were at the head of that.
Plecos and big catfish suddenly brought in a new type of 'expert' back then.

As for Discus....I've been a Discus keeper & breeder for nearly 40 years, and I had absolutely no time for the "I keep Discus, I'm better than youghwe" attitude that seemed to exist in those corners that I never stepped into.
(I was involved in setting up an elitist society....but that was a scientific society dedicated to the study of aquatics, and not dedicated to snobbery....but even it got infiltrated)

Yep. I think that it is some of people who raved about Plecos etc in the 80s that gave me a bad taste....the fish are superb (but, still....I maintain, they are not ugly enough to rave about )

ps....does that sound like me giving out a rant?

ian