do plecos do well in koi ponds?

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dereks

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Mar 7, 2006
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My friend keeps trying to pawn off this pleco on me and I don't want him. Will it help water quality in my dad's koi pond? There's plenty of space in there but I don't want to add him unless he'll be happy, Ohio winters can get kinda cold. Plus I wanna be sure he'll help the pond water rather than hurt it. Is this a good addition?
 

Fishfiles1

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plecos dont tend to clean water more like dirty it up. i have keep them in water around 60 degrees but i dont think they could handle over wintering, they are still a tropical fish
 

Somervell

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Feb 8, 2009
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I would have to go with "no." Plecos often will suck the slimecoat of unsuspecting goldfish-- I have no reason to believe that resting koi would be any different.
 

JasonO

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Mar 28, 2010
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You could keep it over the summer in the an Ohio pond (I am from Ohio also) however, as the other people responding have said, I would not recommend it. It also depends on what you mean by "pleco" though because their are so many species marketed as common plecos now it is hard to know how big they get and if you have one that will eat algae, or has a preference for fish's slime coats. However, they will not eat greenwater and floating algae.

As with other users I would not recommend it.

In Ohio we are lucky as having a numerous number of aquarium club's Including city's such as Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Youngstown, and Cleveland. Chances are you live somewhat close to one of these clubs, and you could see if anyone in one of them wants a pleco. I know at least in the club near me their are many catfish enthusiasts, so you may have some luck.
 

nc0gnet0

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Oct 31, 2009
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Well,

As the only one that has responded to this that actually has a pleco, koi, and a pond, I can say that the pleco will be happier than a pig in you know what in your dads pond, providing the water is above 65 degrees. But you will have to over-winter him indoors for sure.

Pleco sucking the slime coat off of a koi? I kinda doubt it, never been an issue with my koi, it is usually the koi that can out-compete the pleco for food.

Will it produce more poo than it consumes? Well, I am not a biologist, but I did stay at a holiday inn last night and this seems like a physical impossibility. Besides, ahem, Koi are monster poopers themselves, and I would suspect the pleco would give you the same addition to your bio-load as a simular sized koi.
 

hankn

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Feb 15, 2007
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I have 3 large plecos in with my koi. They eat algae off the walls but they won't make it thru the winter and have to be caught and wintered indoors every year. That is why I now only add in albino plecos since they are easier to find in the muck.
 

LelandC

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May 8, 2010
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I wouldn't. pleco's make the ugliest poop strings ever haha. they're long and cling to everything. they might help with the algae, but if the koi pond's already in balance, there shouldn't be a algae problem.

When I had my suckerfish with my koi in a aquarium it would always try to suck the slime coat of the koi and harrass them. I ended up putting the pleco somewhere else.
Another note is that they're pretty hard to catch, esp if theyre in a pond.
 

pbeemer

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Apr 27, 2010
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for what it's worth, my father has never succeeded in keeping plecos in his koi pond. he lives near San Diego, so i don't think there is a real overwintering problem. i suspect that he still doses the pond with copper to keep the algae down, and the plecos can't stand that.
 
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