seen from Belgium
seen from China
seen from Israel
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from Israel
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Switzerland
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Belgium
seen from United States
seen from Israel
seen from United Kingdom
It’s an accurate list of plecos that stay small!
I read it like 10 times to make sure it was accurate regarding tank sizes, diet, etc.
I’m still surprised. There were a few things that could have been talked about more, but it’s a great starting point for deciding your new pleco.
As always, do your own research and don’t take one article as the best information you can find.
I’m so excited I got a pleco book for Christmas! The back to nature guide to l-catfishes! (The pleco plushie I’ve had for a few years.)
It’s full of info on keeping plecos and the various pleco families. It was published in 2008 so there’s not all the plecos but quite a lot of them!
I thought it was really neat to see how taxonomy has changed over the last ~12 years, in addition to all the pleco pics.
10/10 solid info for all pleco keepers.
Btw I never realized that Panaque was kind of like Pterygoplicthys (several species that look almost alike or similar enough for confusion). Having pictures of Panaque nigrolineatus, the varieties of Panaque armbrusteri, L190 and L191 over two or three pages really gave me Pterygoplicthys identification deja vu.
This vid discusses something I’m not sure that people think about when buying a pleco.
Their teeth.
Another great quick care guide, this time it’s a pleco one!
An absolutely amazing guide to the variations of Panaque armbrusteri (L027) by river. One of the few plecos that has so many variations to keep up with!
With thanks to sgtropicalfish and dplecosg and their beautiful pleco-filled Instagrams for this guide! Thank you!
Here is a list of pleco safe fruits and veggies!
Your pleco might not eat all of them but it’s good to try for variety. The two plecos that I knew got wafers at least once a day and a cucumber/cucumber slice a few times a week (that I remember, I didn’t see them every day). Cucumber isn’t the most nutritious veg, but they loved it. (Zucchini/courgette is more healthy.)
Please research your plecos.... not just on size, but also their diet! Some plecos are strictly vegetarian, some are omnivores, some are carnivores, some are literally algae eating machines (no pleco survives on algae/scavenging on the bottom of the tank alone). All plecos like a good algae wafer. All benefit from driftwood (and wood is required if you have a Panaque, Panaqolus and a few specific Hypostomus).
I’ve never tried any of this: Some seafood is also pleco safe (I’ve seen plecos eating shrimp a few times on youtube, not sure completely how safe it is), and there’s gel food you have to prepare like Repashy (they have some amusing names for their fish food).
Planet Catfish has a great article on this as well: part 1 and part 2
(No endorsement of anything in this post, just feed your pleco the right food!)
Quick picture ID guide for “common” plecos for beginning pleco hobbyists to take to the aquarium store. (Buy a bristlenose, or any of the tons of small plecos out there.) (pics from google/bing)
Previous post, with info sources
Identifying plecos
Another great pleco science video. It’s also English subtitled!
