Rubber lipped Pleco/Bulldog pleco

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tks4d2

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Aug 10, 2006
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I saw these at petsmart and they are active and swimming around, but after doing some research online they sound like a very sensitive sp. Can anyone share their experience? Will they rasp onto other fish? Am I better off with an Oto? Those seem rather weak as well.
 

justahannah

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Jul 29, 2008
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Tacoma, WA
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Hannah
I work at a PetSmart...and own both species in my tank. Both species are wild caught and die off pretty quickly in our store tanks, and I think the problem is a combination of shipping stress, not being acclimated correctly, and starvation...to keep up appearances, we keep the algae scrubbed off the tanks, and though we put zucchini slices in the tanks, it's not a daily thing as well as a lot of tank mates go for the veggies. Also otos are notorious for not switching over to other foods and really do best in a mature aquarium with a good biofilm. That being said, once you have them at home if you can get through the first month or so and back to top health, they are both very hardy fish and I love having both in my tank. The otos feed off the algae on my plants, the rubberlip takes care of the glass, and I suppliment with various squashes, sweet potatos, carrots, cucumbers, algae wafers, and shrimp pellets. Although I only see them go after the veggies, and my other fish tend to polish off the wafers/pellets. Personality-wise, the otos are out in the open a lot more, schooling and chasing around while the rubberlip spends all day hiding in the back. I haven't had any issues with aggression with the rubberlip and have read they're one of the better algae eating species because they continue to eat algae their whole lives unlike some other species that become more carniverous over time. I do keep him well fed on a variety of veggies...I think any sucker fish that's absolutely starving will latch onto other fish if there's no other food/protien source around.
 
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chazsgirl

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Jul 14, 2008
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I have 1 it's name is cockoo and I have had it for several months now and it's so so cute and small and absolutly no trouble at all! very shy never comes out much. I bought it with another one and the other one died before I got it home, (petsmarts water was terrible when I tested it) I just barely saved cockoo but he has adapted quite well!
 
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