Considering Zebra Plecos

I am still in the planning stages of a 55 gallon community based around angelfish and my lfs has these plecos regularly. On top of being very beautiful, from what I've read they seem very interesting. I read that they are very territorial towards members of their own species, which I wasn't expecting. I also read that essentially they are carnivores and I shouldn't expect any algae cleaning from them?

So basically, I'm just looking for personal experiences with them, things to consider before including them in my plans, possible pitfalls, that kinda stuff. Tia.

 

What species of Pleco?

The ancistrus (which are smaller) typically start life as algae eaters. As they grow up, their taste for algae subsides, and items like zucchini, cucumber become the choice food. In the absence of anything else, they may eat algae, but not all algaes.

I have two ancistrus in my 20H and, yes, the territory thing is real. No fighting, just a quick "keep to your side of the tank"

 

The ones I'm considering at my lfs are labeled Zebra Pleco and they look just like this

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/jan08/zebra-pleco.htm

Thanks for the response.

 

Here is a link to our club publication with an article on zebras, by one of our members. . Doug has bed quite a few of them now, so the experience is first hand.

 

Here is a link to our club publication with an article on zebras, by one of our members. . Doug has bed quite a few of them now, so the experience is first hand.

Thank you for the link but I guess you have to be a member of that forum to see it.

 

Good afternoon,

I hope you can find them at a good price. It's my understanding they can be fairly costly.

Ken

 

Good afternoon,

I hope you can find them at a good price. It's my understanding they can be fairly costly.

Ken

You are correct, I thought it was too good to be true, after poking around a little more turns out they are not true zebras but rather "orinoco" zebra pleco for $20 each. Still beautiful though

 

Hi,

L-199 is a great little fish. They hide somewhat like most other plecos but when you see them it is a lot of fun to watch their behavior. They are somewhat aggressive but will be fine if you have a lot of driftwood or caves for each to hide in. They don't clean very much algae and really shouldn't be kept as algae cleaners. Otos are much better at that than most plecos.

 

Thanks for the info Rogue. I do plan to add ottos later when the tank is more mature and has some algae for them. In your experience is their aggresion pretty much limited to their own species and the fish defending his particular hidey hole? I ask because I will may have some other bottom dwellers sharing space with them like corys and don't want a bloodbath.

 

Yes, the aggression is basically bullying for their own space. I have never seen them go after any other fish unless they go straight into their hidey hole. Often their disputes don't cause any damage they just look rough haha.