Suckered
Several weeks ago, the Plecostomus fish in our tank at work died (it seems to be a difficult time for fish), and the tank has been getting progressively more obscured by algae growing on the glass. Plecostomuses (or perhaps Plecostomi?) feed on algae by scraping it off with their sucker-like mouths, and are ruthlessly efficient at keeping the tank clean. David has a nice picture of his pleco, George, doing just that here.
When I came in this morning, I was surprised to see a huge (well, 15 cm long) new pleco in the tank, busily suckering its way around the glass. Itâs a mesmerising sight from the other side, watching the mouthparts working away at a frantic pace. I once had to catch our former pleco when we had to drain the tank temporarily. I donât recommend it as an experience; it suckered itself on to my palm and started rasping away, making me go âYeurghh!”. It didnât hurt, exactly, but it was a mildly unpleasant surprise.
Now we have to think of a name for New Pleco.
1
Go on, call him Gregory Plec. You've got to.
Your plecs are obviously hungrier than mine ever is--he barely makes a dent in the algae.----- We have two plecos, a common and a Royal - but never see either until we're cleaning the tank, whereupon they both 'go to work'.
It's called a sinecure.
by Mr.D. @ 06/04/2004 7:04 am • Permalink •
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Yes ... I giggled when I saw the "Gregory Plec" on David's blog ... luv it!
Every time I have dared have fish in a tank they have died from black stuff (or sometimes white stuff) that slimes them. However, the goldfish I have in an outside pond have survived for over two years.
by Julie @ 06/04/2004 11:05 am • Permalink •
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David: Oh, well--you persuaded me! I love that name.
Mr. D.: Our last pleco was pretty lazy (except when suckering your hand), so I'm a bit amazed by the zeal of this one. Maybe the pet shop had really clean tanks, and it was really hungry?
Julie: We seem to have been generally lucky with ours, though we've had a few un-explained deaths recently.
by bsag @ 06/04/2004 6:05 pm • Permalink •
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And if you get another one to add to the current one, he can be Plec Implant
by Saltation @ 07/04/2004 10:04 pm • Permalink •
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Hipposaurus? As in Hippoplectosamusaurus
say it quickly, weight on syllables 1 & 4. HIPpoplecTOSamusaurus it works!
OK, i probably saw this post a bit late...
by Saltation @ 07/04/2004 10:05 pm • Permalink •
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