out of water pleco's??

[Dangerdoll]

General Question.....

lately, I've noticed a lot of people posting pic's of their pleco's out of the water, sometimes I've even seen this throughout the internet (including Planet Catfish)...... is this really not so frowned upon as it is with other fish? Why is it ok with Pleco's?

(just curious, not looking to go diving in my tanks for the moment )

 

[OrionGirl]

I think a lot of it has to do with necessity--if you want a pic of these fish, pulling them out and either confining them in a small tub, or holding them, is the only way to get a reliable shot at them. Otherwise, they're buried under a rock/wood, etc, until lights out.

Most of these fish are hardy, and can be shipped with very little water. They can gulp air and extract the oxygen, rather than relying on the O2 in the water, and have a thick slime coat that protects them from drying out (given, only works in the short term, eventually they need water). This is the family that gives us walking fish, and many other nearly 'indestructible' groups--they are tough!

Of course, I prefer to leave my fish in the tank. I'm not that worried about getting a picture of them and while they can certainly tolerate the handling and exposure, it does stress them, and I prefer to avoid that when possible.

 

[Leopardess]

Also, many fish farms don't use nets, but rather their hands to pick up and package/transport fish.

 

[RioXingu]

Plecos will come out of hiding and pose for photos if you ask them nicely. (notice my avatar)

Leopardess--your 55 gallon planted tank is the bomb!

Bill in WI

 

[Perky]

The reason being is when a Plec feels threatend it curves into the shape and puts all the fins up and this is the best picture you could possibley want of one. It shows you how many spines in it's fins, what all the colours are, any patters on the fins etc etc. Ofcourse, it is not a really good idea to do it but if you have a plec that never hardly comes out (like most Plecs) then it may be the only way. They also wouldn't do it for long because it is going to cause strees. It would probably be only 30secs on the hand then back in the tank to swim off. After considering all the reasons why they do it and why not I say it is ok aslong as it is only once, for the minimum time possible and for a good reason like for a picture for a site or picture to show identification.

 

[L046]

Generally plecos are able to stay alive out of water for a while, so it's so much easier to capture them by catching them than to shoot them inside the tank.