Chocolate Plecostomus Catfish 5cm

Chocolate Plecostomus Catfish
 

Whilst the plethora of unique colour strains for plecos was almost exclusive to the bristlenose and fancier L number species, through the years of captive breeding is now present in the common pleco. Whilst the options are still not as vast, the newest entry to the common pleco list of colours is the chocolate pleco. This is a captive-bred strain that is the result of crossing a common and albino pleco together in order to create this simplistic but elegant fish. Unfortunately, common plecos are often sold at a small size as a ‘cleaner’ fish to beginners who are unaware of their maximum growing size and poor aquarium cleaning behaviour but will actually make for a great species for the aquarists looking to enter the monster fish world. 

The chocolate pleco will reach around 40 cm long however there are multiple reports of them reaching almost 60 cm which makes them a true monster amongst plecos and even commonly available cichlids. Chocolate plecos as their name suggests are a light milk chocolate colour, they actually lack the patterning of common plecos but maintain the red eye of an albino fish. This makes them a great in-between of both fish and just adds further variation to a relatively limited fish. Just like other plecos, they have a totally flat underside with a large sucker-like mouth that they use to attach themselves to wood or even your aquarium glass. Chocolate plecos also have a tall dorsal fin and heavy armour plating with tight skin that wraps them which gives this species a really alien look.

Breeding the chocolate pleco in the home aquarium is a very difficult task due to the fact that they are not sexually dimorphic and also have very specific breeding requirements which can often only be achieved in a pond-like environment. The wild habitat of the wild common pleco is South America.

Tank Recommendations for your Chocolate Pleco

Being a large growing pleco species the chocolate does need a fairly large aquarium but is an easy to care for species of fish. Because of their large size, it is best to keep them in a tank that is a minimum of around 400 liters. They also appreciate aquariums with lots of wood and cave-like structures as chocolate plecos tend to be more nocturnal in nature. They also are not fussy about substrate types and can be kept in a sand or gravel substrate but also thrive in a bare bottom environment as well. being a South American fish, they do prefer softer water conditions ranging from the 6.0 - 7.0 ph mark. 

Suitable Tank Buddies

The chocolate pleco is fairly peaceful in nature and does not actively hunt fish however to stick to the safer side, nano aquarium fish should be avoided along with slow-moving or flat-bodied fish such as discus or stingrays. This is because there have been instances where plecos can rasp on the slime coat and skin of these fish causing extreme damage and even death. They are however suitable with a wide range of larger growing fish species. 

Usually Compatible

Large growing South American fish such as oscars, peacock bass, dovii, jaguar cichlids, and similar species

Sometimes Compatible

Medium-growing and top-dwelling community fish such as giant danios, silver dollars, keyhole cichlids, acaras, and kissing gouramis

Rarely Compatible

Small and slow-swimming species such as neon tetras, discus, freshwater stingrays, lungfish, and freshwater sole

Feeding your Chocolate Pleco

The chocolate pleco is very easy to feed and will accept a wide range of foods. due to their bottom-dwelling nature, they prefer to eat sinking foods and can be fed things like sinking pleco wafers. But they can also eat an all-around carnivore's cichlid pellet as well as fresh foods such as thawed fish pieces, prawns, and similar foods. Feeding should happen once during the day preferably when the lights are off.