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Pleco Agression
Posted: 14 Aug 2006, 19:01
by redzebra24
ok i am sick of the agrression with my cichlid tanks so i was wondering if plecos have agression and kill each other? i knopw they fight but can they kill each other like cichlids. For example l177, l114, and other l number in 1 tank. Thanks
Posted: 14 Aug 2006, 20:08
by CoryCatLover
How many in 1 tank? If you want that many in 1 tank you are going to need a very large tank, remeber, common plecs get to be 20 inches long
Posted: 14 Aug 2006, 20:39
by redzebra24
no commom plecos just l number and longfin bn plecos so 3 pairs of those and maybe 3-5 l numbers
Posted: 14 Aug 2006, 20:53
by Barbie
Yep, they'll kill each other, unless it's a terribly large tank with more floor space. They don't inhabit the water column as a rule so it takes a much larger tank for them to spread out on the bottom of and all find their own space.
Barbie
Posted: 14 Aug 2006, 21:14
by redzebra24
so how many plecos do u think in a 55 and how do plecos kill?
Posted: 15 Aug 2006, 10:41
by MatsP
Look, there's almost 400 L-numbers, and another few hundred scientifically described fish in the group of Loricariidae. They range in size from just over an inch to three feet.
If you put too many, too large ones in the same tank, they will fight... Eventually they will kill each other, if there isn't sufficient space to hide and get away from each other - the bigger the fish, the bigger the territory. They can and will kill each other with the bristles that grow on the body (for example on the pectoral fins and gill covers) and by scraping with the mouth, causing the other fish to bleed to death - that would be the most common direct cause of death. Another variation is that the more dominant one starves the less dominant one(s) by not allowing them near any food.
Obviously, smaller species can be kept together in a large enough tank. Keeping a few dozen Otocinclus or other Hypoptopomatinae (try pronouncing that after a few beers! Or even sober!) in a 40g tank is no problem - but keeping two large-growing Commons would obviously not work out...
Give us the exact fish you're planning to keep in a 55g tank and bear in mind that ANY fish that grows beyond about 6 inches will outgrow a 55g tank eventually - unless you don't keep the tank clean and it's not growing properly - but I guess you don't really want that...
If you plan on keeping L114, I would advice that you get a bigger tank FIRST, then get the fish... One fish would need something like a 75g tank on it's own [you can keep other fish in there, but no plecos if you don't want them shredded].
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Mats