General Care Discussion :: Can Keeping a Pleco.....

[Elsa&Tank]

in a rubbermaid tote with my Turtle harm him? I know not a turtle question but I know some of you have Pleco and Turtles living together.
Any help/suggestions/opions would be great
Thanks

[hdaisog]

I don't think it would matter if the tank is glass or rubbermaid. The same pros and cons apply.

I don't have plecos with my turtles because I'm affraid of their barbs harming my turtles.

[jpit008]

I think I'd be more concerned if the turtle is gonna hurt the pleco. In my opinion my tank has never been cleaner since I got my pleco. I know my 2 res will eventually get the pleco and eat it, but until then a 5 dollar investment works for me. Also whenever a turtle goes near the pleco he swims away quickly. Its really your call whether there are more pros or cons.

[Elsa&Tank]

Well i got ripped off, i paid like $18 for my Pleco... thanks for the advise, my turt is only small right now so i dont see him eatin the pleco any time soon, but i guess you never know

[jpit008]

My turts are small too and I got the pleco a little bit bigger than the turts so that they won't eat him for a while. How big is the pleco?

[Elsa&Tank]

umm maybe 2 1/2- 3 inches, Turt shell is about 1 1/2 inches

[imderanged]

I just put a pleco in a few days ago, and so far, Sylar shows no interest in eating him.

[Chrisbarnett]

That's a rip for a plecostamus! I see them all the time, even large ones for $6.

Your turtle will eventually kill it and eat it, it's very rare for the turtle to not eat the pleco.

Also, sometimes the Pleco will make more poo than the turtle does.

[Bumby's Mom]

Some plecos are $18, some are even $50. All depends on the type of Pleco it is.

[Chrisbarnett]

Wow, I didn't know some of them were that costly.

[LadyClovenhoof]

I have a yellow spot butterfly pleco in my one tank and he cost about $40 because he is a specialty pleco. Common plecos are the ones that run about $6, though I find it hard to believe that a turtle could eat a common pleco since they reach 12+ inches long and can be mean beasts. Our last one was about 16 inches when we had to get rid of him. At that point we had to put a large flower pot in the tank for him to use as a cave because we couldn't find anything else big enough and couldn't decorate cause he would rip everything apart. Alot of the specialty plecos stay alot smaller, for example the one I have will only reach about 8 inches and a bristlemouth pleco will only reach 5.

[megcornell]

I would not put a $40 fish in with turtles. That's the most expensive feeder fish I've ever heard of!
Regardless of size and/or speed, eventually ANY fish in a turtle tank can and will become food. If a turtle can't swallow it whole that by no means will stop his from dismantling the fish bite by bite. Not only is it slow and painful to the fish, but it can be quite messy if the fish is larger.
If I were you, I'd remove that pleco if you value him.

[LadyClovenhoof]

Sorry for the confusion, the pleco is in one of my fish tanks, not my turtle tank

[Sgt. Pepper]

Wow that's a lot for a pleco. At the PetSmart I work at the normal plecos are about $3. There are some fancier ones for $5 to $8, spotted ones, chocolate albinos, etc.

They are almost impossible to catch with a net. I'm thinking about getting one now that I've seen how fast they are. Sgt can't even catch her minnows.

[megcornell]

Oh ok. I just would hate to see you lose that much money on a pleco.
I'm glad he's in with fish