Plecos + Cichlids??

GrueBlock

AC Members
May 27, 2008
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Hey guys -

My tank is small (but won't be for much logner). 20G Long with 4 cichlids (all different; 1 albino, 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 horizontally-stripedyellow/blue (forgot the names)). I've had them for a few months now and two are about 2-2.25" long and two are 1.5-1.75" or so long.


I had a Pleco (sailfin pleco, I believe) and he was about 2.5-2.75" long. I put him in the tank and he seemed fine for a while (about a month or so). I saw the cichlids very close to him on occasion but I never witnessed them actually nipping at him. It's possible they were but I'm not sure.

Soon enough, his fins were all tattered and bare, which I treated, but ended up taking him back to the fish store.

So I eventually get to my question - What kind of pleco should I get that could fend for himself vs the cichlids and how long should he be?
 
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how big will the tank end up being?
if it will be large you could try to get a sailfin pleco
 
I'll be moving up to a 55-90G tank. (Trying to figure out how to get the 90G corner tank I have going with a sump but I think I'll have to settle for a canister filter instead).

Thanks for the quick reply!
 
what kind of cichlids are they? iam guessing by your description African cichlids? i'd go with a sailfin as wildman stated.
 
Yeah, they're African.

The Pleco I had before was a sailfin. Should I just get a bigger one? I heard BN Plecos are decently aggressive (but they don't get very big).
 
yeah after the pleco gets bigger than the cichlids it should be okay and i heard plecos get more aggressive as they get older
never noticed it with mine though
 
Would SA cichlids be a better match for plecos?

if the pleco is wider than their mouths yea.

yeah after the pleco gets bigger than the cichlids it should be okay and i heard plecos get more aggressive as they get older
never noticed it with mine though

:iagree:
 
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