# Rhino Plecos



## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

Anyone here keep one of these? I have read they can live in a community, and won't necessarily destroy plants. But then I also hear the opposite. I haven't found a ton of into on this fish. Usually I find half a dozen profiles to compare but I haven't found that much on this guy.

I already keep bristlenose plecos and I want something different for the big tank.

They have a big Rhino Pleco at my LFS right now.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I've never had one, so I will give you a link to reliable data:
Pterygoplichthys scrophus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog

They eat and tear up plants it says.:shock: Thinking of your beautiful 6-foot tank that will be beautiful no longer.:-(


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

Byron said:


> I've never had one, so I will give you a link to reliable data:
> Pterygoplichthys scrophus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog
> 
> They eat and tear up plants it says.:shock: Thinking of your beautiful 6-foot tank that will be beautiful no longer.:-(


LAME! I was worried about that, lol. My planted tank is coming along nicely so I can't risk something eating and tearing up my plants. That's why I went with tetras instead of barbs. 

I need an algae eater though. Any plecos besides bristlenose that won't destroy my plants, that you are familiar with? 

I think I'll get some Siamese Algae Eaters (not Flying Foxes) but I would really like a pleco. Maybe I'll just have to get a handful of Bristlenoses. I will never see them in all that dark driftwood. 

The girl at the LFS said the Rhino has been living with plants and discus and hadn't disturbed either. The last time we were there the wife saw it move for the first time. It usually doesn't do much. 
This is probably one of those instances where I want to believe my LFS simply because what they're telling me fits with what I want. :-(


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## Freshcatch (Aug 8, 2012)

Canadian Fish said:


> This is probably one of those instances where I want to believe my LFS simply because what they're telling me fits with what I want. :-(


This is usually the time to go with the gut feeling as well.


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## JDM (Dec 9, 2012)

"This is probably one of those instances where I want to believe my LFS simply because what they're telling me fits with what I want."

I call that "curve fitting". 

If the LFS will take the fish back if it doesn't perform as advertised and you really want it, it can't be that bad to see if it will be OK in your tank. The LFS I am now starting to frequent take fish back for a credit exchange (about 1/3rd depending upon a few factors) even if they just get too large for the tank. I was there the other day and some guy came in with a huge goldfish in a pail that he was just going to flush and they took it without any problem... I don't think that he was even a previous customer let alone bought that fish there.

Personally I think that it is poor planning to own a fish that could outgrow a tank. Even though I briefly considered it for some small angels that I saw the other day... I came to my senses though.

Jeff.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

Well, I don't think he'll outgrow the tank, but my store does buy back for a certain percentage of credit. I don't buy fish I don't have space to house (or try not to) so I haven't had to return a fish yet. I guess I could try him, but I do worry I'll go to bed one night and the next morning all my plants will all be uprooted or destroyed. I also wonder if I'm up to catching such a big fish and bringing him back to the store. 

I read a bunch of pleco profiles last night and it's hard to find one bigger than a bristlenose that won't eat or uproot plants, or potentially become aggressive. 

Though the LFS did say this one was in with plants and discus and not disturbing either.... lol. If I do try him, and my plants get destroyed, I will have no one to blame but myself. 

He's more expensive than I'm used to paying for a fish. I have never paid for than $20 for any single fish. He's closer to $50, but he is big. 




JDM said:


> "This is probably one of those instances where I want to believe my LFS simply because what they're telling me fits with what I want."
> 
> I call that "curve fitting".
> 
> ...


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

I also worry about him becoming aggressive with my Ropefish. One profile I read this morning said they can become aggressive with bottom feeders. My tank has a fairly large footprint, 72"x24", and lots of hiding spots in caves and driftwood. Still, it could be an issue. The same profile also mentioned them destroying plants, and only robust and fast growing plants are recommended. Looks like it is back to the drawing board.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

This is not sounding good.

First, fish in store tanks rarely if ever behave "normally." They are likely under stress from inappropriate water conditions, overcrowding, whatever. Bring a fish home and put it in a more suitable environment and it will behave as nature programmed it; sometimes quickly, sometimes over time. But thousands of years of selective evolution are part of the fish's physiology and it is not going to change.

Algae and algae eating fish. First, do you have algae? If yes, what type? Most of the problem algae in tanks will not be eaten by fish with a very few exceptions.

One should never buy any fish to solve a problem. Fix the problem. The possible detriment to the fish, or the other fish, or the aquarium is not worth the risk. I have fish that eat common green algae in three of my tanks, because I like them as fish. Rineloricaria parva, Farlowella vitatta and Otocinclus macrospilus. Considering how they all appear when the meal gong is sounded, there can't be much "algae" in the tanks or they wouldn't be hungry for sinking foods.

Byron.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

I do have some brown algae on my glass and rocks, but the only reason I haven't scrubbed it is because I want some algae eaters (not because the algae is a problem, but because I think they are cool).

But everything I have heard and been told tells me not to get this guy.

So are their any plecos bigger than a bristlenose that might be a better fit?

I'm thinking of getting some siamese algae eaters too, but I'd still like a pleco. 

If albino bristlenoses weren't so expensive here, I would get a few of those. They would stand out like crazy on my dark driftwood and black substrate. But the normal ones will be darn near invisible.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I have an Adult Rhino pleco in 55 gal with Adult Mustard spot pleco,Adult Bristlenose Pleco,and one Clown Pleco. 
I toss clipping's from my planted tank into this tank, and also have some Water sprite growing from substrate along with lot's of driftwood with anubias attached to same.(oh,and some leopard val's planted).
None of these fishes attack the plant's, but I keep them well fed with algae wafer's,New life Spectrum pellet's large size (rich in vegetable matter).
Have had the Rhino pleco for over a year now and it is quite active at night,along with the other's.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

1077 said:


> I have an Adult Rhino pleco in 55 gal with Adult Mustard spot pleco,Adult Bristlenose Pleco,and one Clown Pleco.
> I toss clipping's from my planted tank into this tank, and also have some Water sprite growing from substrate along with lot's of driftwood with anubias attached to same.(oh,and some leopard val's planted).
> None of these fishes attack the plant's, but I keep them well fed with algae wafer's,New life Spectrum pellet's large size (rich in vegetable matter).
> Have had the Rhino pleco for over a year now and it is quite active at night,along with the other's.


Bah. Now I want one again. 

So he doesn't bulldoze over your plants and destroy them just by knocking them around? 

How big is your rhino? 

Curse you, 1077, now I'm back on the fence. :lol:

This is where I want to put him: 










The only other bottom swimmers are my rope fish, which swim all over the place, but default to the bottom. There are lots of caves and driftwood.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

If you want something guaranteed safe, but that you'll be able to see on the driftwood, ask who their fish supplier is and get (or google) their stock list the lfs orders from. May I reccomend a albino longfin bristlenose?

I know nothing about rhino plecos, but maybe they don't destroy plants, they just destroy "aquascapes" (uprooting stems, breaking the occassional leaf and ruining the symettry, etc)

That being said, I wouldn't risk it when there are literally thousands of pleco species to choose from, and hundreds that are great in planted tanks.

I've heard of horror stories around plecos where everything was fine for months, the fishkeeper went to sleep one night and heard the plec moving around. The next morning all the plants were shredded and floating.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Canadian Fish said:


> Bah. Now I want one again.
> 
> So he doesn't bulldoze over your plants and destroy them just by knocking them around?
> 
> ...


He/She is big around ten inches and plant's are rooted firmly in about three to four inches of black diamond blasting media.
I suspect that in shallow substrate, where smaller plant's don't have the root system that the val's and water sprite have that He/She could indeed do some harm while lumbering about.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

I think the guy at the store is 10" (If memory serves. We have never looked at him in the store with thought to buying him so I haven't scrutinized him as much as we would have)

I was just downstairs looking at it and I was saying to the wife I need to add more substrate. I've been saying that since I started with the real plants but I was saying it today in the context of "We need to do it right now if we want that fish" because we are on the fence again. ;-)

Tomorrow is payday and we have to be in the same area as the LFS to pick up a Christmas present we found on a craigslist type site, kijiji. So if I was going to buy a plecco and substrate, it would be a great time to do it.

My fish store sucks at bringing in specialty orders. I've had yoyo loaches on their wish list since I finished cycling one of my 55s in May, and they still haven't had any in. And they're frigging yoyos.

I'm certainly not worried about the symmetry, as there is none. I suck at planting fish with a claw and glass scrubber and 20" arms in a 30" tank. The plants, gravity and current dictate where I end up putting them a lot of the time. And something is already breaking the ends of my vals. Though never when I am watching. But there are still lots of val left. 

5 of those plants, 4 that you can see, are fake. 

I wouldn't mind having to replant the plants from time to time, but I would be unhappy if all my plants got shredded or died from the uprooting.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

redchigh said:


> That being said, I wouldn't risk it when there are literally thousands of pleco species to choose from, and hundreds that are great in planted tanks.


It's the hundreds that are great with plants that I am interested in, but I haven't really found any. My LFS girl told me they had some other plecos in when I called yesterday. I should see if she found out what they were so I can research them all, and maybe one will be better with plants.

One good thing is if it doesn't work out I wouldn't be putting the health of this or the other fish's lives in jeopardy, just the plants. 

No offense to the plants.


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## Canadian Fish (Feb 12, 2012)

So I succumbed to peer pressure and did not get the magnificent Rhino Pleco. I also did not get a gorgeous Tiger Pleco, which was a great size, but had a weird bump on his fin. (They pointed it out to me) They said when he came in they quarantined and medicated him for a few weeks and it didn't come off, so they think it is a scar (he used to live with cichlids) as opposed to a bacterial or fungal infection. He has been there over a month.

Who knows? I'm paranoid after the clown fish incident so I passed. If he is still there in a couple of weeks, I might get him. I wish I had a camera phone, so I could show you guys and get your opinions.

So I got a full size bristlenose pleco, which is way bigger than our current tiny bristlenose. I am very pleased with him. But they sold out of Siamese Algae Eaters yesterday, and I bought some very light colored Chinese Algae Eaters, as their color pops against my dark substrate and driftwood.

I knew they get aggressive, but the LFS said it wouldn't be an issue in my big tank. But then I came home and read they can get REALLY aggressive as they age. Though some sources do say this might not be bad if they have enough territory in a large tank. Anyway, I tried to do the right thing and avoided a pleco that might destroy my plants, only to end up with fish that might hurt my other fish instead. The road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

At the first sign of aggression all five are going back to the LFS. I've never had to do that before.


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