Rubber Pleco

The rubber pleco, sometimes sold as the rubbernose or bulldog pleco, is a Chaetostoma species from the fast, cool, clear streams that run off the Andes. It is easy to tell apart from other small plecos by its build: a broad, blunt, rounded head, a smooth rubbery-looking skin without the usual armour plating on the belly, and a stocky body that tapers quickly to the tail. The colour is a mottled grey-brown, often with a paler band at the tail.

Aquarium care

• Stays small, at roughly 10 to 12 cm.
• A river fish. It needs strong flow and high dissolved oxygen.
• Prefers the cooler end of the tropical range rather than a warm tank.
• Grazes algae and biofilm; supplement with algae wafers and blanched vegetables.
• Peaceful with other species.
• Bottom-dweller that clings to smooth rock, wood and glass.

It is a genuinely good algae grazer at a manageable size, and it works well in a hillstream-style tank alongside hillstream loaches, white cloud mountain minnows and danios, which want the same cool, fast, oxygen-rich water. It is a poor fit for a still, warm, heavily planted tank.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See what is in on our pleco page.