Great advise from everyone! I have a garden/hobby pond with koi and goldfish. I placed one pleco in the pond 2.5 years ago, never saw him so got another 1.5 years ago and never saw this guy either - I thought they had died or something got them. On Saturday I was removing some leaves and somehow caught one of these guys and he is beautiful and about 10 inches long. Since Saturday morning I have seen him each time I've gone to the pond and found his partner late yesterday. I built rock caves in the center of my pond and I guess they've been hiding there but I am shocked that so much time went by without a sighting.
My pond is about 12'x12' and 3.5' in the center - cement and slopes. Apparently these guys do well with the cold winters which is great news. How big do you think they will get? They were about 1.5" when I got them.
I have seven various goldfish, two koi, about 16 babies, two pleco's and four frogs that live here. I'm hoping the frogs stay and survive the winter. I made two winter homes for them, one inside the pond and one outside. I'm open to any ideas and suggestions.
Thank you,
Cathy