Housing 2 large plecos together

[Jon Endres]

Spring 2003, a guy at work gave me his 12" hypostomus plecostomus for
our backyard pond, which currently houses bass and bluegill.

We were simply going to use him or her for fertilizer after the frost,
but got soft-hearted and set up a 40 gallon pond indoors (with
lava-rock-filled garbage can "waterfall" ). Spouse's 3" pleco was
outgrowing its aquarium at work, so tossed that one in too, along with
a few mean little tetras.

Everybody overwintered fine and this spring, we put both plecos back
into the backyard pond. At summer's end, it seems that the 3" pleco has
grown to 12" long! So, it looks like we've got 2 large plecos to overwinter.

I've read adults don't tend to get along well. Is it worth even
trying them out, or will bloodshed inevitably result? Should I just
start calling petshops and begging (they weren't enthused by the idea
of a free pleco last year)? Perhaps fill the skillet with oil and get
out the cornmeal?

Thanks,
Jon Endres

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Jon Endres wrote:
> I've read adults don't tend to get along well. Is it worth even
> trying them out, or will bloodshed inevitably result? Should I just
> start calling petshops and begging (they weren't enthused by the idea
> of a free pleco last year)? Perhaps fill the skillet with oil and get
> out the cornmeal?
>
> Thanks,
> Jon Endres

I'm assuming thats a joke, if not I expect you've used some chemicals (dechlor)
on these, so you wouldn't want to be eating them thats for sure!

[Dick]

On 8 Sep 2004 07:26:01 -0700, (Jon Endres) wrote:

>Spring 2003, a guy at work gave me his 12" hypostomus plecostomus for
>our backyard pond, which currently houses bass and bluegill.
>
>We were simply going to use him or her for fertilizer after the frost,
>but got soft-hearted and set up a 40 gallon pond indoors (with
>lava-rock-filled garbage can "waterfall" ). Spouse's 3" pleco was
>outgrowing its aquarium at work, so tossed that one in too, along with
>a few mean little tetras.
>
>Everybody overwintered fine and this spring, we put both plecos back
>into the backyard pond. At summer's end, it seems that the 3" pleco has
>grown to 12" long! So, it looks like we've got 2 large plecos to overwinter.
>
>I've read adults don't tend to get along well. Is it worth even
>trying them out, or will bloodshed inevitably result? Should I just
>start calling petshops and begging (they weren't enthused by the idea
>of a free pleco last year)? Perhaps fill the skillet with oil and get
>out the cornmeal?
>
>Thanks,
>Jon Endres

Your Plecos are much larger than mine which are 4 inches in length. I
have 3 in a 75 gallon tank and they get along just fine. I only see
them when I feed the community or if they spend some time on the glass
or on top of the plants, the rest of the time they just stay in the
heavy plant growth, out of sight.

dick

[RedForeman ©®]

|| I've read adults don't tend to get along well. Is it worth even
|| trying them out, or will bloodshed inevitably result? Should I just
|| start calling petshops and begging (they weren't enthused by the idea
|| of a free pleco last year)? Perhaps fill the skillet with oil and
|| get
|| out the cornmeal?
||
|| Thanks,
|| Jon Endres

I don't think it's a real problem... what IS a problem is competition for
food... if you don't feed it, it'll die.. simple

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[Jon Endres]

Geezer From The Freezer > wrote in message >...
> Jon Endres wrote:
> > I've read adults don't tend to get along well. Is it worth even
> > trying them out, or will bloodshed inevitably result? Should I just
> > start calling petshops and begging (they weren't enthused by the idea
> > of a free pleco last year)? Perhaps fill the skillet with oil and get
> > out the cornmeal?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jon Endres
>
> I'm assuming thats a joke, if not I expect you've used some chemicals (dechlor)
> on these, so you wouldn't want to be eating them thats for sure!

well yeah, it's probably a joke - i'm not sure how i feel about eating
pets, even if they're just fish.

but from a pollution point of view, i'd guess they're safer than the
average tuna sandwich. They've been exposed only to rainwater and
stale tapwater - never use dechlor. i'd bet my life that the pcb,
mercury, and heavy metals content of these babies is much lower than
that of commercial food fish.

what i don't know is how closely related plecos are to the catfish in
the seafood case. wonder if south americans eat 'em?

jon

[McEve]

"Jon Endres" > wrote in message
om...


> what i don't know is how closely related plecos are to the catfish in
> the seafood case. wonder if south americans eat 'em?
>
> jon

They do, it's considered a delicacy.