Here is a juvenile Common Pleco or Hypostomus plecostomus in one of my planted tank. I always introduce couple of juvenile plecos in my mew set ups, as new set ups are prone to be affected easily by brown algae and Plecos are very effective to clean this ugly brown stuff from the leaves of the plants, driftwood or other props that have been used in the tank. But there is only one issue in introducing Plecos in tank. Do remember that these Plecos can grow very large, sometimes 60 cm or more and as they grow up they can become very aggressive, especially to other Plecos. However, this is quite peaceful and hardy fish and ideal for beginners’ and community tanks, provided the tank is large enough to accommodate a grown up pleco.
It does eat algae, but needs other foods like sinking pellets, lettuce, zucchini, sweet potato and green peas. Plecos will eat live plants in the tank, if regular food is not supplied. Do not forget to put driftwood in the tank, as they love to hang around the driftwood and gorge on the algae deposited on it.
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