Sucker Fish: Care Suggestions, Tank Mates & Extra

Generally generally known as the suckermouth catfish and customary pleco, sucker fish are freshwater inhabitants belonging to the armored catfish household. They naturally happen within the Amazon River basin and its tributaries via the international locations of Brazil, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Sucker fish normally desire comparatively fast-flowing streams with superb gravel and sand substrates the place they will sift via and discover meals. They inhabit environments with submerged branches, roots, rocks, and driftwood, the place they will scrape algae off the floor and suck out small invertebrates and worms. Nutritionally, suckermouths are fairly ineffectual however are in demand within the aquarium business for backside cleansing.

We reckon that you simply’ve already obtained a sucker fish or are deciding to get one. This text will assist you to get a very good understanding of its care course of.

Sucker Fish Overview

Newbie aquarists typically intertwine completely different species of plecos and check with them as sucker fish. However, we’ll solely discuss in regards to the frequent pleco and its traits on this article. The nocturnal sucker fish are usually peaceable. They like to maintain their actions to themselves until threatened by the presence of one other bottom-dweller. Nevertheless, they like meaty meals over algae and should hunt smaller fish and invertebrates within the tank.

Listed here are the important thing particulars of sucker fish to check with when required:

Sucker Fish Look

Sucker fish has a considerably elongated and compressed physique. Their our bodies are coated in cycloid scales that supply safety towards predatory assaults and exterior forces. Their head, nonetheless, isn’t as distinctly protected as their physique.

Origin of the title sucker fish, their distinctive mouth is positioned on the underside of their head, outfitted with sucker-like thick lips and bony plates to scrape algae off surfaces. Though sucker fish are recognized to be crawlers, they’ve totally developed dorsal, caudal, pectoral, and pelvic fins, serving to protect their pure agility and skill to gulp air from the floor.

Look-wise, frequent plecos are very polarizing. Some desire their black and grey mundane seems, whereas most maintain them solely to fulfill an aquarium stability requirement.

Forms of Sucker Fish

Though we’ll nonetheless restrict our dialogue to frequent plecos, it might be prison to not point out a number of in style ones associated to them:

Small measurement and peaceable temperament make Bristlenose plecos among the many hottest species for aquariums. They’ve a bushy development on their snouts, resembling bristles, therefore incomes their title.

One of the beautiful pleco varieties, zebra plecos are small and beautiful with zebra-like stripes throughout their physique. They don’t develop over 5-6 inches in size and are fairly difficult to breed in indoor setups.

Embroidered in majestic marbled physique patterns and characteristically peaceable, the royal plecos can develop as much as 18 inches lengthy and depend on a herbivorous weight loss plan of algae and greens.

Aka the polka dot fish, snowball plecos showcase glowing white spots on their black or brown physique. These plecos are comparatively small and are strictly herbivorous.

Clownfish plecos have a particular brown and yellow striped sample and are within the smaller measurement of 5 to six inches. Just like frequent plecos, these are also omnivorous.

Lifespan of Sucker Fish

Within the wild, sucker fish can dwell as much as 20 years of their pure habitat. Nevertheless, as a result of area constraints and elevated stress within the surroundings, captive sucker fish dwell round 10 years in captivity. In a well-maintained aquarium with correct tank measurement, water high quality, and diet, their lifespan may be elevated as much as 15 years.

Water high quality, tank measurement, and diet are the important thing detrimental issue to a lowered sucker fish lifespan. A cramped surroundings, poor water high quality, and an algae-only weight loss plan drastically disrupt their physiological features and scale back their life expectancy.

Sucker Fish Dimension

Plecos by no means cease rising fully. They albeit lose steam throughout maturity, however they will develop incrementally all through their lives and attain as much as 24 inches in size, outgrowing most family tanks. It’s advisable to maintain sucker fish or frequent plecos solely in case you have a tank to help their development.

Whether or not as a result of lack of understanding or ignorance, most newbie aquarists fail to acknowledge the rising potential of sucker fish. Saved in restricted area and finally launched unethically within the wild, these sucker fish destroy the meals chain and wreak havoc on native ecology.

Sucker Fish Care & Tank Set-Up

Sucker fish are comparatively straightforward to take care of and don’t essentially want any unique routine to permit them to thrive. Let’s talk about the tank specification and water parameters for profitable sucker fish protecting:

Sucker Fish Tank Dimension and Specification

As talked about, sucker fish can develop to huge sizes. Owing to their potential measurement, you should be sure that the tank can comfortably maintain its development and huge bioload. Listed here are the important thing specs that you should keep.

Optimum Tank Dimension for Sucker Fish

Most sucker fish begin round 2-3 inches within the commerce. Very tiny. They don’t appear to be they will develop as much as 24 inches in size, and most frequently, they don’t. On account of limitations in assets and tank measurement, their development stuns round 15 inches. You could begin small, however to unlock the complete development potential of your sucker fish, you need to have a minimum of a 150+ gallon tank to accommodate the full-grown sucker fish.

Dimensions for an oblong 150-gallon tank would possibly appear to be this: 60 inches x 24 inches x 25 inches.

Tank Form for Sucker Fish

Rectangular tanks are thought of optimum for sucker fish as they develop longer and have to maintain exploring the surroundings for meals. Semi-circular tanks additionally work fairly superb for sucker fish. Nevertheless, please keep away from vertical cylindrical and round tanks as they limit the pure explorative nature of sucker fish.

Filter Kind

Sucker fish are infamous poopers. They eat rather a lot and subsequently poop rather a lot. Subsequently, operating a strong filter within the tank turns into vital to cut back water change frequency and maintain the useful micro organism colonies working. For small tanks with a small pleco, a sponge filter paired with a strong HOB needs to be adequate. Common water modifications are a should.

Canister filters with a number of filter media and floss are important in the course of the fast development stage of your pleco. It’s advisable to get a filter with a minimum of 4x quantity per hour over the tank quantity. For instance, in case you have a 100-gallon aquarium, get a filter that may generate a minimum of 400 GPH circulation charge.

Nonetheless, if it’s a neighborhood tank, you should alter the circulation charge accordingly.

Substrate

The best substrate selection for a typical pleco is ok gravel or tender sand. Along with producing biofilm that the pleco can scrape, superb gravel gives a easy floor in your sucker to discover and discover meals scraps and natural matter buildup.

Comfortable sand, then again, encourages pleco’s burrowing conduct and gives them consolation and a way of security.

Keep away from massive, sharp, or jagged rocks and gravel. They’ll entice meals and injury the pleco’s delicate lips when making an attempt to burrow.

How Many Sucker Fish in 100 Gallon Tank?

When you can maintain a number of smaller plecos in a 100-gallon tank, maintain solely a single sucker fish within the 100-gallon tank. A bigger habitat, say, an outside pond, can maintain a number of sucker fish collectively.

Water Parameters for Sucker Fish

Whereas sucker fish adapt to most conditions, they’re fairly delicate to water high quality modifications and parameter discrepancies. Listed here are the important thing water parameters that you should keep:

Water Temperature

Being cold-blooded creatures, most fish depend on the environmental temperature to regulate their metabolism. Sucker fish thrive on hotter waters of between 72 to 78°F or 22 to twenty-eight°C. Comply with these tricks to handle water temperature successfully:

To boost the temperature,

• Use a submersible water heater with thermostat adjustment. Guarantee 3-5 watts per gallon of tank capability.
• Place the heater towards good water circulation, ideally close to the filter outflow.
• Scale back evaporation through the use of a well-fitted tank lid and lowering surface-level water circulation.
• Enhance ambient room temperature.

To scale back temperature,

• Convey your tank indoors and keep away from direct solar throughout heat days.
• Enhance evaporation by growing floor agitation. Use a circulation generator.
• Change water regularly. Nevertheless, keep away from fast temperature drops.

Water Stream Fee

Most plecos, together with sucker fish, desire a reasonable water circulation. A superb HOB or an adjustable canister filter ought to be capable to present adequate present. Suckers additionally want a number of oxygen and stimulation to carry out their common actions. If you happen to’re seeing your sucker fish gulping oxygen from the floor regularly, it is likely to be mitigated by growing water circulation.

Or, if the sucker fish is torpid and hiding excessively, a lowered stimulation as a result of lack of adequate water circulation could possibly be the rationale. Nevertheless, underlying illnesses may trigger lethargy and shyness.

pH Stage

Widespread plecos dwell within the barely alkaline freshwaters of the Amazon River basin, the place a pH of seven to eight is usually noticed. You must keep an analogous pH stage in your tank to take care of your sucker fish’s physiological features.

To boost pH,

• Use business pH buffers designed to lift pH in aquariums.
• Utilizing crushed corals or limestone can naturally elevate the water pH.
• Growing aeration within the aquarium can elevate the pH by outgassing carbon dioxide.

To scale back the pH in your aquarium,

• Partially change water with RO/DI water. Regularly scale back the pH
• Introduce driftwood that releases tannins into the water to cut back pH progressively.
• Peat moss in a filter mesh bag may be one other tannin-releasing various.

Water Hardness

Owing to them residing in a tender water surroundings with a really tiny trace of brackishness, sucker fish thrive in a water hardness of 4 to 17 dKH. They’ll even adapt to hardness ranges within the 20s. Commercially obtainable calcium and magnesium sulfate merchandise can elevate water hardness. Use them fastidiously. However, partial water modifications with RO/DI water scale back water hardness.

Sucker Fish Tank Panorama

A number of aquarists desire to maintain sucker fish in bare-bottom tanks, that means with none substrates and minimal decorations. This could show to be detrimental to the general well being and development of your sucker fish. Listed here are the panorama parts that you should take into account:

Greatest Crops for Sucker Fish Tanks

Sucker fish are significantly drawn in direction of tender and soft-leaved vegetation, typically to meet their urge for food. Avoiding these, the very best vegetation in your sucker tank might embrace:

• Anubias: Simply obtainable. Simple to take care of. Attaches to rocks and driftwood.
• Java Fern: Is available in a wide range of styles and sizes. Gives shelter to plecos. Attaches to driftwood.
• Water Sprite: Quick-growing. Permits plecos to nibble on the leaves with out hampering the expansion. Absorbs extra vitamins.
• Hornwort: Quick-growing. Applicable for plecos to suck biofilm from. Gives hiding area.
• Amazon Sword: Traditional aquarium plant. More durable leaves. Is available in varied sizes and colours.
• Water Wisteria: Quick-growing. Absorbs extra vitamins. Permits plecos to nibble on the leaves.

Worst Crops for Sucker Fish Tanks

Any vegetation that may’t face up to the sucker fish’s abuse are unsuitable for his or her tank. This will embrace:

• Water Lettuce
• Cabomba
• Dwarf Child Tears

Moreover, vegetation with a gradual development charge can’t sustain with the nibbling conduct of sucker fish. This consists of:

• Cryptocoryne
• Crimson Tiger Lotus

It’s additionally finest to keep away from costly or uncommon vegetation in case you have plecos in your tank. Their grazing habits typically injury or destroy delicate vegetation.

Decorations for Sucker Fish Tanks

Hiding, grazing, and explorative spots are vital for sucker fish to thrive. Listed here are a number of the finest decorations in your frequent pleco:

• Driftwood: A must have for sucker fish. They disguise within the crevices and caves fashioned by the driftwood items and scrape algae off the driftwood surfaces.
• PVC pipes: PVC pipes, minimize into varied lengths, create budget-friendly caves and tunnels for the sucker fish to discover and conceal. Make sure that the perimeters are sanded easy to keep away from accidents to your pleco.
• Clean rocks and stones: bigger ornamental stones and rocks present further surfaces to develop biofilm and permit the sucker fish to graze and ingest algae.
• Slate tiles: Slate tiles additionally present further easy grazing surfaces to sucker fish.

Feeding Sucker Fish

Transferring on to diet, listed here are the small print that you’d require to feed your sucker fish.

Greatest Eating regimen for Sucker Fish

Plecos are sometimes mistakenly considered algae cleaners solely. Most newbie aquarists imagine that an algae weight loss plan is sufficient for sucker fish, however they’re truly omnivorous and in addition want protein and fats for applicable development.

Your sucker fish will constantly graze on algae on rocks, decorations, and tank partitions. Nevertheless, a well-maintained aquarium might not have sufficient algae to compensate for his or her demand. Commercially obtainable algae wafers are a very good supply of supplementary diet.

Blanched greens, that means steamed for a short while, like zucchini, cucumber, spinach, and carrots, may be thought of as occasional treats in your pleco.

If frozen proteins, equivalent to shrimp and bloodworms, are unavailable, you could take into account pellet meals designed particularly for backside feeders.

How typically do you have to feed Sucker FIsh?

In case your tank has a very good quantity of algae, let your sucker fish feed by itself via algae and natural matter. If required, complement their weight loss plan often each 1-2 days, relying on how hungry your pleco is.

Sucker Fish Tank Mates

The commonly peaceable suckers are fairly appropriate for bigger neighborhood tanks. Listed here are the lists of excellent and dangerous tank mates that you may maintain together with your sucker fish:

Very best Tank Mates for Sucker Fish

The best tank mates for sucker fish are:

Dangerous Tank Mates for Sucker Fish

The worst tank mates for sucker fish embrace:

Sucker Fish Widespread Ailments and Therapy

Listed here are a number of frequent sucker fish illnesses that you should maintain a watch out for:

Ich

Small white spots seem on the physique, fins, and gills of the pleco. They might even be flashing towards objects or rubbing their physique on decorations. Enhance tank temperature barely (a number of levels) and use commercially obtainable Ich treatment following the product directions. Keep good water high quality throughout remedy.

Fin Rot

Frayed, discolored, or torn fins. The fins might seem clamped or shrunken. Keep good water high quality via frequent water modifications and cleansing. Aquarium salt baths may be useful in delicate instances. In extreme instances, treatment particular to bacterial or fungal infections could also be vital.

Swim Bladder Illness

The pleco could have issue swimming and sustaining stability. They might float the other way up or battle to remain at a selected stage within the tank. Quick the pleco for a number of days and provide shelled peas as a laxative. Guarantee good water high quality and deal with any underlying causes like inner infections if vital.

Info About Sucker Fish

• Sucker fish have distinctive sucking disk mouth that helps them cling to rocks, driftwood, and aquarium partitions.
• Sucker fish are literally omnivorous. Whereas algae is a vital a part of their weight loss plan, it’s not the one half.
• Sucker fish are nocturnal creatures. They keep energetic in the course of the night time, looking for meals and exploring their surroundings.
• Plecos have powerful, bony plates masking their entire physique.
• With correct care, sucker fish can dwell a very long time, even over a decade.
• Sucker fish produce a number of bioloads. Means they poop rather a lot.
• Sucker fish are discovered everywhere in the globe.

Are Sucker Fish best for you?

Sucker fish is likely one of the commonest fish that newbie aquarists get. However, they aren’t beginner-friendly and wish huge tank capability to develop optimally, which is commonly absent within the case of novices. Sucker fish are best for you if you understand how to take care of water high quality in bigger tanks and may accommodate their temperature, pH, and hardness necessities effectively.

FAQs

The Backside Line

We’ve mentioned the sucker fish care particulars on this article. Hopefully, you’ll now be capable to correctly attend to your sucker fish or frequent pleco with none points. All the very best!