Noobie, looking for small pleco that like sand...

[sandman76]

I am inheriting a 38 gallon tank, which I am going to house some cummunity fish and 3 Albino Cory's in along with 3 fancy plecos around 3.5-5.5 inches a peice. I have done some research on this site, and have come up with 2 so far that like sand substrate and slate rocks (my style of a tank)
L 169-Gold Stripe Panaque
L271 Panaque
If anyone has any suggestions about these two or other ones I might be interested in please tell me. I am very excited to have the fancy plecos be the centerpiece of the tank, and they will be my first plecos ever owned. I am back to do some more research..thanks
Josh

[Suckermouth]

If I'm not mistaken, most loricariids are okay with sand.

Plecs make pretty poor centerpieces, IMO, because they are quite light-shy and will often hide. For most plecs, my default expectation is to not see too much of it.

[Linus_Cello]

My L204s are quite active and not as shy. You may want to consider these, and they are regularly available. I think part of the reason why my L204s are active is that I have 4 of them in my 29 gallon tank, so they interact with each other a little more, defending territories, etc. Also, I have lots of hiding places for them, so they may feel more secure in coming out.

So you may want to consider several individuals, rather than just one, and lots of hiding place; hopefully someone who's had L169 or
L271 can corroborate my advice.

Though many plecos don't have the flamboyant presence of some other types of fish, I think they are some of the most handsome fish with their own great charm.

[Birger]

You have made some good choices there for this size of tank...before you get too set on a specific species you may want to check out what is available from your suppliers.

Make a list, research them before buying as you seem to be doing now.
It is dissapointing to have something in mind that you cannot get. Once you know what is available come back a with short list we can help you with.

Birger

[MatsP]

If I'm not mistaken, most loricariids are okay with sand.

I'm pretty sure that there are no plecos that require other substrate than sand. Most don't really care, and some REQUIRE sand.

Plecs make pretty poor centerpieces, IMO, because they are quite light-shy and will often hide. For most plecs, my default expectation is to not see too much of it.

I agree with this. Unless you have nearly no light on the tank, it's unlikely you will see much of the plecos. Some exceptions would be captive bred bristlenoses in a tank with lots of hiding spaces - the albino variety is really quite visible, and will certainly see those at feeding time.

Edit: I also agree with Birger about figuring out what is available - out of the 700+ plecos that are known to us, a few dozen are generally traded, and out of those a dozen or so are generally available in local shops - a few more if you can get to a shop that cater for the pleco specialist - I can get to a few well stocked shops if I travel some 50-100 miles, but in some places, it's much further.

--
Mats

[sandman76]

This is all great advice, thank you. I agree they are some of the best looking freshwater species out there. I have to wait for some things before I aquire the 38 gallon tank, so I have some time to do some more research. I will definately see what my somewhat local supplier has, will make a list, and come back here and post it and get some more advice. Thank you. What do you guys/gals think of aquabid.com for buying them?
Josh

[MatsP]

Aquabid, like any other source of "anyone can sell stuff" [like the local "freeads" paper or similar] is a place where you can get anything from a right bargain to ripped off. Obviously, seller rating is an important factor, but it's not a guarantee. All shopping online for fish has the drawback that you don't actually see the fish before you have bought it and paid for shipping.

Having said that, it is also a great source of fish if you want to get something quite unusual.

I would say that if you are new to plecos, don't go TOO fancy. Some of them can be hard to settle into a new home, and it's probably best to practice on something "not too exotic".

Panaque

and

Peckoltia

are good candidates.

Oh, and the Panaque species, from which you have selected a few "possible candidates", are wood-eaters - you will definitely need to add some wood to the contents of the tank, besides the slate and sand.

--
Mats

[racoll]

Oh, and the Panaque species, from which you have selected a few "possible candidates", are wood-eaters - you will definitely need to add some wood to the contents of the tank, besides the slate and sand.

Indeed, and you go for a

Panaque

, they will chew that wood very quickly, and create a big mess. Therefore they need pretty heavy duty external filtration and regular partial water changes to keep water quality high.

Perhaps a

Peckoltia

would be a better bet a for someone new to loricariids?

Most fancy plecs, also do best in warmer water (>27C), so bear that in mind when choosing tankmates.

[2wheelsx2]

I'm fairly new to this pleco game, but have been gathering a lot of knowledge and experience with the help of the people here. I have 3 tanks, all of which have plecos: 125, 20 and 15 gallon.

IMO, for someone who hasn't had plecos before, if you don't want to start with BNP's, I would look at the

Peckoltia

or

Hypancistrus

species, as they seem to handle most fish foods fed to other fishes well, and have the colour and variety beginners like. For a 38 gallon, I would personally stay away from

Panaque

because of the mess they make with wood.

What I have found is that you can have your cake and eat it too in terms of having the shady environment plecos need and still have adequate lighting (even for planted tanks, if you design the scape properly by using plants/wood/rocks to create overhangs which shade the bottom of the tank in the center. I have this in my 125 gallon and I see my plecos all the time at feeding time, and even during non-feeding times (of course, some of mine are good sized panaque, so it's a bit easier).

Some of the ones that would be interesting and stay fairly small are (Hypans):

L201

,

L129

, and

L340

. For Peckoltia, a small group (like 2 or 3)

L134

would be very nice. I would really suggest you get more than one, as they seem to fare better and also hide less when there is more than one.