I'm getting tired vaccuming my Os sh*t everyday. I'm thinking about putting a pleco (common) with them.. A smaller one compared to their current size. But there's that thing that they attack Os at sleep right? How likely is that to happen? And if I would consider the pleco, should it be smaller to the Os or bigger?

Plecs produce more solid waste than Oscars so you would be completely defeating the object getting one of these fish to clean up after any other fish, if indeed they would. I'm afraid nothing beats good old elbow grease when you are keeping Oscars. You can help your situation by having extremely good filtration, a couple of canister filters with outlets at each end of the tank will certainly remove a lot of waste, inadequate filtration will not remove enough waste.

What size is your oscar. if its full grown, 8-12" then a plec around 6" would be ok. much smaller and it has a chance of being food.

Plecs come in many forms, some can and do grow very large. ask the fish store for advice on the size. I would go for something that don't grow any larger than 12" max

yes plecs can suck on the oscars while asleep. i have owned plecs and had no problems myself. i found they both done there own thing and stayed away from each other. you may not be so lucky so consider this too. lastly plecs poo more than oscars. eat bog wood and plants and can damage some surface if its artificially coloured.

If it's really likely that the plecs might attack, I'll forget about them. As for my filtration, I also think it's insufficient. I have an HOB for a 50gal & an overhead filter from my old 10gal tank. I installed it in my current tank for additional filtration.

Plec-idea is scratched but just for my curiosity, which grows faster, Oscars or Plecos (Common)?

oscars grow faster. if you have a 50g tank forget another fish. i would invest in a better filter myself or save for one.

most plecs available in Phils. are common plecs that grows more 12" in a year time.
we have too much plecs...so don't bother to care the pest.

marcus wrote:


I agree, you should not add anything to that tank, and get yourself a much bigger filter!!!

Nickisue wrote:


x2.
Plecos should be kept because you like them,for most of them are lazy and full of s#it, litterally.
They'll def increase you need for maintenance.
Plecos can survive on fish poo but will produce awfull loads of poo themselves.
The Common pleco will grow as fast as Paul said, and will become big.
A common should not be kept in a tank of less than 8 foot.
My plecos don't swim much but if my one foot pleco goes crazy, my 6 foot tank seems small.
Getting your filtration upgraded will be your first concern.
If you got enough tankspace and adequate filtration, I say get a school of Silver dollars.
They will do much better at eating oscar poo then a pleco.

I went without a Pleco for years because I thought they were more harm than good (do to reasons outlined). But I inherited an 9inch Pleco from my brother about 10 months ago. I thought I would give it a shot again, and I thought maybe he could help with the algae on the glass. Well, It is about 10 inches now and basically hides most of the time because of the large JD that he lives with. I find myself manually cleaning algae off the glass anyway, so I am thinking it may be time to find a new home for the guy.

Like Noddy said, "Plecos should be kept because you like them". ...
-And I don't really like them, I just want them to put in work; helping me keep the tank looking clean. And when that isn't really happening, its not worth the bio load on my filtration.

Problem for me right now is, the LFS's can't stay open. the one we had just closed about 3 months ago. So its only Walmart and Petco. and you can't trade fish in there obvously. My town has 45,000 people and we can't keep a LFS open, crazy. So I either have to drive 2 hours to the next larger town, or put it on criagslist. Sounds like Criagslist it is.

Yes, I totally agree. Plecs are probably more messy than Oscars when they get bigger and anyone who thinks they are actually going to help clean the tank are deluded, I mean that with the greatest respect.

Well, mine does seem to help with algae and he is pretty good at cleaning up bits of uneaten pellets/food...I had a lot of gunk (pellet debris/corn kernels/fish bits) under an overhang that I noticed and was irritated about having to clean it up since it would require removing some difficult rocks and an airstone to get at it, but I noticed my pleco working on it diligently and the next day it was clean...so it was a great relief.

I think the main problems is over/under feeding with these guys. People either starve them (the ones who just want them to 'work'), or overfeed so they produce copious amounts of their OWN waste and don't need to forage around very much. Similarly, a lot of people seem to be under the impression they eat fish 'poop.'

I believe Plecs will only attempt to rasp at a fish's slime coat if they are sorely in need of more nutrients/food. Mine is shy and avoids contact whenever possible, and only interacts with the Oscar by chasing him away when the Oscar decides to try and 'bully' him, invade his territory or give him a tail nip every now and again.

I think you really need to find a delicate balance, and it comes with experience and 'knowing' your plec. I think they are great additions to an oscar tank.