Should I get a Royal Pleco?

F

fishfrenze

Flower Girl @}---'---
Jul 29, 2003
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Hello,
I would like to hear some opinions from people who actually have or have had Royal Plecos. I've read as much as I can find on them, but sometimes info is conflicting and you never know if some of the info is inaccurate. So, I come here :)
I have a 72 gallon planted tank w/malaysian driftwood (pH 7.2). Current inhabitants are: yoyo loaches, Rainbowfish, Pristella tetras, cory cats, lemon tetras. I have been trying to find Bristlenose Plecos, but they're next to impossible to find around here. I ran into some small Royals today though and fell in love w/them. So...

Are they effective algae eaters?
Is 72 gallons large enough?
Will they eat my plants?

Thanks for any info/recommendations you can give me!!

Melanie
 
I have never kept a royal before as i didn't thin any of my tanks were big enough for a 12"+ pleco but i'll try to answer a few questions.

First from all the thread and info i have read about them they dont' seem to eat algae and aren't good algae eaters. One thign i do know is taht they need lots of driftwood and make lots of saw dust taht dirties up a tank quitely. I have a clown pleco in my 15g that eats wood and when i gravel vac all the water turns brown from the saw dust.

Not sure if they will eat your plants but once they get big enough it will do some damage like uprooting them. Big plecos aren't good choices of rplanted tanks as when they need lots of space to move and will knock over stuff and uproot your plants.

I think a 72g is big enough, but since i have never kept such a large pleco i wouldn't know for sure.(what are the dimensions?)

If you want lots of personal experience help go to www.planetcatfish.com forums. Lots of people have royal over there.

ps: Since royal plecos are wild caught make sure you treat it for internal parasites and stuff before adding it to your tank. But the planetcatfish guys can help you with that part.
:)
 
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