Common Pleco

The common pleco is a large armored suckermouth catfish of the family Loricariidae, native to northern South America. It has a mottled brown body clad in bony plates, a broad sucker mouth, and a tall sail-like dorsal fin. Often sold as a small algae-eater, it grows quickly into a bulky fish and can become territorial toward its own kind and bottom dwellers. It is generally peaceful with larger tankmates but is not suited to small community tanks long-term. It needs a spacious aquarium with driftwood, which it rasps for fiber, and strong filtration to handle its heavy waste output. An omnivore that leans herbivorous, it eats algae, sinking wafers, and vegetables when young but takes less algae as it matures. It rarely breeds in home tanks. Its eventual size is frequently underestimated by buyers.