# Anyone had a THROUGH experience with Royal Plecostomus?



## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

First off I image they get around the same size as regular ones is this so?
Are they bad with plants; like will they put holes in them and rip them?
Do they actually eat a good amount of algae? Off the glass? Are they picky?
Do they get along with Otocinclus catfish or something of that nature? Im guessing so but if you have experience on this please shed some light for me. Thanks.


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## stuby (Jun 14, 2010)

Royal's seem to get alone with other fish just fine.....mine has anyways and I have her with common BN's and fry. They do get big tho, so a big tank is a must...slow growers and will take years to get to a good size. I got my L191 about 5 years ago at 1.5" and is now 8" or so...and still not full grown. You will want to have wood in the tank for them...that is a must!! Softer hard wood is the best thing....I have oak in all my tanks not just for the royal plecs. As far as algae eating...I have no idea as I don't have any in my tanks. But no plec can live off alae alone....If you want a plecs to eat some algae...maybe a common BN is what you want to get instead...I can say they eat the algae well.

HTH
Chuck


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## Cam (Nov 9, 2009)

They can get up to around 18 inches or so, so not massive.

They do tank a longer time to grow then your average species, but they are worth it, they are awesome 

They are a great community fish, just make sure to provide some type of driftwood, good amounts of food, and plenty of hiding places.

I only had a Royal for about a year, and sold him off when he was able to be bred. I have not had long-term experience with them as far as plants go.

Best of luck


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

Yea I know they can and need to digest wood and all that other stuff, I just wanted to make sure they get around the same size as a common, and wouldnt hurt my plant caring Otos or loaches (depending what tank I put him in) over possibly competition. I was also interested in their algae eating potential, as a supplement cleaner to my Otos. The tank I want to put him is quite planted and for that reason also heavily lighted, causing some algae growth and I know different kinds of algae eaters eat different kinds of algae and from my experience, Plecos have never really been picky about their algae yet some species dont actually eat so much algae. Of course I know supplement is a must so im not worried about special needs or foods. So I was wanting to know does this species have good algae eating potential? Cant find much about royals on the interwebs, their like one of the few plecostomus Ive never kept and rarely seen.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

royal plecos are like all other plecos..primarily herbivores ; but also meat eaters...yes..bristlenose will feed on a carcass..
for the most part ; royals do not usually exceed 15 inches..they are very slow growing.. are not ready to breed until they are 12 inches or so..i have kept several of the royals , including a royal shampupa which is fairly rare.i sold her a couple of years ago for $350.
my shampupa normally ate about 10-15 algae wafers a day.plus plecocaine ; frozen krill and other foods.they eat wood to aid in digestion..


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## AquariumTech (Oct 12, 2010)

O wow, thats a lot, that is what I wanted to know but some plecos are different. Like for instance (its in another thread around here) a common compared to a bushy nose. Bushy nose will eat more and different kinds of algae than commons. So really interested in their eating potential. Also like I was wondering before, would they attack say something like Otocinclus or loaches? due to competition?


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