Pleco

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Do any of you guys in colder climates have plecos? I had one in my goldfish pond last year and one fall morning I came out to find him upside down floating on the surface. I put him in a bucket of cold water and slowly warmed it up, he snapped right out of it. He was in an aquarium all winter and now back in the goldfish pond, but my question is will having a 4' deep pond allow him to winter outside? I'd love to have a couple of plecos in my main pond, but I really don't want to go buy more and then hope I can catch them fast enough on the first day of winter to bring inside. If they can survive in the 39 degree water at the bottom I might try it, if not I'll just cross my fingers with the one I have and try to keep him alive one more year.
 

ididntdoit99

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Plecostomus are a tropical fish native to central and south america, the cannot survive the winter temps, I pull mine out and put him in my aquarium for the winter... but yeah he's not easy to catch.
 
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Lol, no kidding, I haven't seen my pleco more than twice in 3 months. If he hadn't gone unconsious last year I never would have caught him. Ok, I won't buy any more, no sense killing them for no good reason.
 

ididntdoit99

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I ended up catching mine bare handed, at about 2 am. He would always come out close to the surface more when its dark, but always fled as soon as he saw that net anywhere near him, one drunken night I was bound and determined to catch him or fall in the pond trying.
 

j.w

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ha ha 99 I'm trying to picture it all..........wish there was video!
 

ididntdoit99

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If I had another hand... I probably would have taken video, but I was already trying to grab a fish with one hand, hold myself up with the other, and hold a flashlight in my mouth, lol.

Needless to say, my fiance was a little surprised when she woke up the next morning and saw it in the aquarium, "uh at 1 am i went o bed, and you were sitting on the couch, three sheets to the wind, and you decided that was a good time to go play in the pond?" "well of course it was, I was ninja drunk"
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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laughing! good thing you stayed upright, might have ended up being a floater...............
 

koiguy1969

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yes buckry....my kids are spoiled... they have a winter home. they eat year round, they've never seen water under 56* f....
 

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