Pleco Aquaponics - Living Filters

hi There,
I'm thinking about getting one Pleco for my 1100 Liter Aquaponics tank i have 14 barramundi what are 20 cm long.
im worried will the barra wont to eat the Pleco. The Pleco will be 5cm long when i buy it?

Hi. Can I put a Pleco in my Tilapia pond? The 80 tilapias are about 10 weeks old but the pond is getting smelly because of leftover food and waste. Is it safe to put the Pleco in the pond?

I used plecos in my sump tank, they cleaned it up well.
We had plecos in the fish tank but they got about 1/2 the size of my cat fish and sucked a hole in the side of one of them. Not sure what "type" of pleco it was.

Hello Mr. Murray,

Thanks for this input. I am in the first stages of operating an Aquaponic system in the Philippines. I was actually getting tired of cleaning the grow tanks every other week. This suggestion seems to be the "hidden treasure" I was looking for.

Incidentally, I am having some problems with mosquito larvae in my DWC grow beds. I was thinking of putting some small fish like a swordtail so they can eat the larvae. Any thoughts about their co-habitating with a pleco? Also any other fish suggestion that will eat mosquito larvae and not harm my roots would be useful.

Pleco, will they survive in cooler waters as I have heard they are tropical fish. Or is their a cool water pleco?

hi we have plecos in with goldfish and with small fish even discus , they are algae eaters, when a fish dies in the tank they will suck all the slime off the dead fish and clean it up they will also eat frozen meat if it is on the bottom of the tank, Blanched lettuce, silver beet, continental and lebonese cuccumbers cut in stripps, broccoli, carrot and even pumpkin is consumed by these catfish. common plecos can reach 2 foot in the wild and around 18'' in a tank there are smaller plecos like the chocolate pleco and some of the L number catfish, the bristle nose catfish is from the same family it was called hairy nosed pleco however everyone knows it as a bristle nose cat. we move two of our shop plecos from tank to tank just to clean the algae off the glass, they do a whole tank overnight best algae cleaners.

Hi, i have a Pleco in my tropical fishtank. He doesn't hurt any other fish while they are moving. Once dead, they are eaten soon. He eats up everything except a long-leaved plant, i don't know the name of it. I have baby guppies, they are cleaning his back and he doesn't hurt them.

I have been thinking of adding plecos to the troughs of my DWC, but was reluctant because I was scared they would eat my roots. I have two in my Tropical Fishtank and I give them greens for a treat, and boy do they tear em up. I was wondering if you have had any problems with this? If not, I will be adding them to my system soon. I had other thoughts of adding Oto Catfish if the Plecos were a problem. I also want to add some Guppies and/or Mosquito Fish to keep down on the pest. Do you have any experience with this?? If so, Do you have any suggestions for me?

Another possible piece of the puzzle! What a fun addition - my mom has had a pleco in her hobby fish tanks for as long as I can remember to save her the trouble of cleaning the algae off the sides of the aquarium. I used to sneak in very slowly to the room with aquarium to try and catch a glimpse of the pleco at work against the glass, usually only getting a moment before the fish darted off to hide under its favorite sunken ship ornament.
According to Wikipedia they also appreciate snacks of cucumbers and lettuce - wonder what other aquaponic produce scraps they might like?

So that's what they are called...in my whole life I've never met anybody here who ever knows what those fish are called...we just mention them as "ikan DBKL"~the cleaner fish...but there have been claims that large Pleco fish would harm smaller fish/fingerlings, not sure if this is true, just a rumour I heard but it'll be wise to find out....

Sir, what are your thoughts about using Red Claws in your raft tanks?

Hi Peng, no they won't.
I have kept Ell-tailed catfish in all my tanks for the last couple of years. They do not do much of job compared to Plecos'
As I can catch them, I am moving my Ell-Tailed catfish to tanks that I will not heat over winter. They handle the cold really well and are as tough as old boots.... Hard to kill but good to eat ....so I am told.

will eel-tailed catfish do the same job?