Plecostomus

[Jarrod]

Well I know I wanted BN Plecos for my tanks...BUT for one thing around here they are about as rare as hens teeth!...and the only ones I could find in a LFS were like 2-4" long and they wanted like 22 bux apiece for them.....sooooo my question I guess is this would I be "halfway" safe getting just a small regular pleco to put in my tanks?....the reason I wanted the BN was to avoid the plecos giving my discus "hickies" so to speak....so you all think I may be able to get away with regular old plecos and save myself some bucks?...all I want them for is to clean up the reddish brown "slime" that appears no matter how little or what I feed.....soooooo you all think I can avoid the pleco Hickeys?
TIA
Jarrod

[White Worm]

Once they get big and get a taste for slime, they will chase the discus and try to attach. I had to remove my chocolate pleco because he had a sweet tooth for discus slime.

[marilyn1998]

See if otos eat that kind of slime. They are a better fit.

[Ramon Anastacio]

Bristlenose plecos are ideal tankmates for Discus and will keep the glass in your tanks clean. They won't grow large and they won't bother your fish. The common pleco you usually find in pet stores get quite large and will suck on your Discus when it can.

You can get them from Aquabid in the Catfish section. Look up Paul Scarborough - he's a good guy and is also a Discus person. He goes by the name "Arnoldziffles" on Aquabid.

Al Johnson from rockymountaindiscus.com also sells bristlenose plecos.

[White Worm]

Nice wilds

[lhforbes12]

George,
I have seldom had a problem with common plecos developing "the taste" that siad, I have to agree with everyone else, the commons just get too darn big. I have a common that was 2" two months ago, it's now about 6" and still growing fast. I agree totally with Marilyn, given a choice get otos. They stay very small, and are great cleaners, especially for diatoms (your brown algae).

Larry

[AmberC]

Nice wilds

:confused:

[wolfbane]

I second the referal to Paul Scarborough, I bought a dozen little BN plecos from him quite a while back, they are great!

[h2oplantscritters]

I had a bunch of otos once that did bother the Discus. Apparently, some varieties are omnivores rather than straight herbivores. At the LFS toss in some food and see if they go for it. If they do steer clear.

I have two dozen in with mine that I got from a plant oriented LFS and they do not bother the Wilds.

Dan

[Dood Lee]

:confused:

Ramon's link in his sig.

[poconogal]

I've got two 2 inch Albino BNs in my 45 gal. tank. My tank is spotless since these little guys are in there. My setup is fairly new, since February, and I was having an outbreak of brown diatom algae. They have munched it all away!

Considering what we spend for Discus, I think its worth it to spend a little extra to get these guys, rather than take a chance with regular Plecos. Besides, they are just so cute!

Connie