PlanetCatfish.com

Hi I have been surveying common plecos (hypostomus plecostomus) at my LFS's, and while I thought at first that they were ugly and boring I am now starting to feel otherwise! I think some of them are very beautiful and this is why I have a question.

About half of them I see are boring looking and mostly black or almost grayish it looks like, and just seem totally unappealing to me. But the other half, it seems on bigger specimens, seem to have beautiful orange'ish specks/lines/designs all over them. I am wondering, if I get a plecostomus with coloring I find very beautiful - will it retain this? Or does this change with the age?


Secondly, I understand a plecostomus gets up to 18-24". I am planning a 120/125 gal tank, so if I have one of them it is no big deal I think. However, I think it would be even more ideal if I had several smaller (and maybe even more attractive) plecos. Can anybody recommend reasonably priced ones that like to eat algae like Hypostomus Plectostomus does? I see some like clown pleco that look pretty and don't grow large but I don't think I am interested in keeping driftwood in my tank (it seems like it would make the tank dirty)


Thanks for any help,
Robert

The color in the pleco will change with mood and substrate color. See this post.
Of course, if there is some orange involved, your fish may be instead.

As for smaller algae-eating plecos, try bristlenoses or otos.