Are Clown Plecos aggressive?

WilfordandBea

WilfordandBea

AC Members
Jan 24, 2011
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Illinois
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Jenny
Hi, This is my first post here and I really do appreciate any help with this that I can get.

I've been trying to decide on the type of algae eater/ pleco to get for my 30 gal tank. I've never had an algae problem, but would like to have one (a pleco, not an algae problem). I decided today to go with a clown pleco and ordered one from my LFS.

Now, being the overly thorough OCD person I am, I continued my research when I got home and ran into an article calling the Clown Pleco aggressive, territorial and prone to eating Cory Cats and other bottom dwellers.
does anyone know how true this statement is? I love my little cats and don't want to lose any to a bully.
I also read something saying that they don't eat algae!? What?

Should I cancel my order?

Any clarification would be appreciated. I'm totally confused.

thanks
 
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They are not agressive in my experence, however they are obligate wood eaters so you will need to have some drift wood in the tank for them, and they wont eat algae.

hope that helps
 
Otos will munch on algae, snails will too and BN plecos. My clown kinda chills on the wood and ignores any algae, no aggression out of it so far.
 
I have had one for over 3 years now that has never been aggressive. One thing is they are nocturnal,so you may not see it much. I hardly ever see mine.
 
Clown pleco's may be territorial toward other clown pleco's, but certainly not toward other species. They do need wood in their diet or they will die, and eating wood makes them even messier since they poop sawdust.
If you want an algae eater for a 30 gallon tank a BN pleco is probably your best bet. Oto's really do best in groups in larger, well-established planted tanks.
 
I have never had problems of aggression with clown plecos.
 
my husband's clown pleco doesn't even try to hang out with his cories & if they get near it, it ignores them or swims away. No agression at all.
 
I think my clown does eat some algae, I see him on the glass if I'm still up when he's out, no algae in his tank. They are not aggressive but may kick out fish that try to share their cave with side to side tail slapping/pectoral bash. When I first kept a similar sized "scribble" plec with him they had a few slight battles, nothing at all close to serious. I almost never see him or the scribble, BNs are more visible & better algae eaters.
 
hopefully there's time to cancel your order and get a bn pleco instead, since clown plecos don't care for algae all that much.
 
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