Mike’s Fish Tank – Sucker Fish
Posted by Dustin Horton // December 21, 2012 // Articles, Mike's Fish Tank
Hypostomus plecostomus, know as a sucker fish, is the scientific name for a type of freshwater tropical Central and South American fish belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are large algae eaters, and to differentiate them from small algae eaters, they are often referred to as Plecostomus, often abbreviated as plecos or plecs. They are extremely popular in aquariums for their ability to clean tanks by eating algae growth and even dead fish. These friendly natured fish can typically be purchased when about 2 to 3 inches and may grow up to 24 inches if space is adequate. Plecos are omniverous, but in the wild feed nocturnally mostly on plant material. During the day, their unusual eyelids block a lot of light out of their eyes, but they are most active at night. Quite often in the home aquarium, they hide during the day, behind the filters or heaters and do all of their algae eating at night. Plecos can roll their eyes within their sockets, given the appearance of winking. Plecos are usually skittish and quickly hide whenever they sense danger. Plecostomus live in tropical fresh water and have been found in tropical ponds. They exist throughout South America. Although the pleco is a known algae sucker, it may require more than tank algae. It can be fed algae wafers, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce and peas. Some may even eat flake food and shrimp pellets.
Plecos may become more aggressive with age and are best kept individually in tanks. In fact larger plecos may start to eat small fish, and may stop eating algae altogether. There are a huge variety of plecos, some being very rare such as the zebra pleco and blue eyed pleco.
Several species are sold under the name plecostomus with very subtle color differences.
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