# Cure My Fear of Plecos?



## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

They just get so darn big! I don't want to be afraid of a fish I haven't had experience with but I feel like they will squelch up the glass and crawl up my arm or that it will somehow get out of the aquarium and suck on everything in my room including my feet, like a snakehead! Please help me with my irrational fear of being eaten by a giant catfish!:thankyou:


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

Get the bristlenose albino varieties. They are a lot easier to spot in a well camouflaged tank. 

I got a pleco for free and it was 8-10", I gave it away eventually.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

they die out of water. lol. they dont ALL grow to be huge. they hate feet, and hate sucking on stuff out of water, because they will die. ? lol help any?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

But he's soooooo cute!


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

olympia said:


> but he's soooooo cute!


+10


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

I know they die out of water and thats part of the reason why its completely irrational!


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

Olympia said:


> But he's soooooo cute!


This! ^^^ They are absolutely adorable, and there are some breeds that won't get very big. I just remembered a story about my mom's pleco, but that story probably wouldn't help..


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

LOL... i tried.


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Crowntailed said:


> +10 :smile:





Olympia said:


> But he's soooooo cute!





Crowntailed said:


> +10


+100!
DAAAAAW! I LOVE him!










In my opinion, this is a thing that there is really no real reason to 'get over,' lol! There is no_ need_ to own a pleco, ever. If you have a general disposition to not liking them, or being nervous around them. . . don't get one! Better to leave well enough alone than take a chance bringing home a creature that you might not be okay with handling, then have to re-home him in the future, I think. . . phobias are funny things, and logic rarely has anything to do with them, I've found. I once met a guy who was absolutley stinking TERRIFIED of guppies. Even, like, ONE guppy was enough to make him go all creepy crawly! It's okay - just a random funny thing. :-D Not much I can do if he comes to visit me, but he sure doesn't need to keep them in his own house!


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

lol, im scared of spiders, i kill them in my house.... they are so nasty, they have too many legs and eyes.


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

I am the same way about spiders. O_O''


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Guppies are kind of creepy.. Not gonna lie, I could never have them. xD


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

What's creepy about guppies? I always thought they were cute. :3


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

My fear of catfish isnt as bad as my hatred and disgust for say... ticks???! Guppies are ok though


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

Turtle4353 said:


> My fear of catfish isnt as bad as my hatred and disgust for say... ticks???! Guppies are ok though


Catfish are cute and sweet! I promise they won't attack you.  

Ew.. some bugs really freak me out, and you peeps have managed to name two of them.. spiders and ticks. xD We keep finding brown recluses in our yard and on our porch, it's really starting to scare me. Here, we have those and black widows.


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

Arent brown recluse spiders the spiders that enjoy living in sock drawers and toy chests? Yet another reason I will never go to Australia and apparently East Tennessee! To many creepy crawlies. I also have an intense dislike for crocodiles. Thats why I cant retire in Florida. Honestly, I dislike so many animals I'm considering just living in a huge city when I get older!


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

I heard placos are pretty friendly.....unless you get them around a baby! I hear they will eat a human baby in a heart beat! And they also dislike mayonnaise? I read all this on the interwebz..so its gotta be true!


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

Relic said:


> I heard placos are pretty friendly.....unless you get them around a baby! I hear they will eat a human baby in a heart beat! And they also dislike mayonnaise? I read all this on the interwebz..so its gotta be true!


Lol


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

The only fish that creeps me out are silver carp/bighead carp. I had one jump out of the water last year and it hit me right in the chest..knocked the wind rite out of me!


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

Turtle4353 said:


> Arent brown recluse spiders the spiders that enjoy living in sock drawers and toy chests? Yet another reason I will never go to Australia and apparently East Tennessee! To many creepy crawlies. I also have an intense dislike for crocodiles. Thats why I cant retire in Florida. Honestly, I dislike so many animals I'm considering just living in a huge city when I get older!


Yep. We used to hang our clothes up on a clothes line, until one was nesting in a shirt. Now we just pay the extra money to have clothes dried. I have to research methods of abolishing these evil monsters. There are black bears here, too, but those are less scary, because at least I could see one of those attempting to hide in my sock drawer!
Edit: Brown recluse bites are also the ones that cause necrosis..


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## Spiderling00 (Jul 14, 2012)

Turtle4353 said:


> My fear of catfish isnt as bad as my hatred and disgust for say... ticks???! Guppies are ok though


Nothing sends me running away screaming like ticks. I usually catch and release spiders, even black widows. But ticks, no thanks. All four of my rabbits were rescued after being abandoned in parks and I knew I loved them when I spent 20 min. a day picking ticks off of them for a week.


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

Personaly i love all animals big, small, slimy, etc. There realy no animals that freak me out. But i wouldn't like being bit by something like a brown recluses. xD


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

Crowntailed said:


> Personaly i love all animals big, small, slimy, etc. There realy no animals that freak me out. But i wouldn't like being bit by something like a brown recluses. xD


Have you ever seen a duck billed platypus? I mean really! WTH is up with that! That's just not natural! They creep me out!


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## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

Relic said:


> Have you ever seen a duck billed platypus? I mean really! WTH is up with that! That's just not natural! They creep me out!


Haha, those are my favorite animal. xD


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## Htennek (Jul 31, 2012)

Plecos are cute and all, but the one thing that creeps me out the most are CICADAS. I just moved here from the Philippines, so I'm really not used to them, especially when they are flying and making the clicking sound.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Htennek said:


> Plecos are cute and all, but the one thing that creeps me out the most are CICADAS. I just moved here from the Philippines, so I'm really not used to them, especially when they are flying and making the clicking sound.


One flew on my bed when I was 16, scared me so much that I cried


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## Htennek (Jul 31, 2012)

xShainax said:


> One flew on my bed when I was 16, scared me so much that I cried


lol. I'd probably shout and run as far as I can.

Thread is getting too off-topic?


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

Relic said:


> Have you ever seen a duck billed platypus? I mean really! WTH is up with that! That's just not natural! They creep me out!


xD i love them, half beaver, half duck, I know there venomous but i would still like to give one a hug


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Crowntailed said:


> xD i love them, half beaver, half duck, I know there venomous but i would still like to give one a hug


You can give a female a hug, they aren't poisonous


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## Htennek (Jul 31, 2012)

Turtle4353 said:


> They just get so darn big! I don't want to be afraid of a fish I haven't had experience with but I feel like they will squelch up the glass and crawl up my arm or that it will somehow get out of the aquarium and suck on everything in my room including my feet, like a snakehead! Please help me with my irrational fear of being eaten by a giant catfish!:thankyou:


All I can say is to get rid of your fear try hanging out with a pleco in a friend's house or a Pet store near you. The sooner you appreciate it's cleaning and sucking, the more you can get rid of your fear.


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## Turtle4353 (Jul 27, 2012)

Cleaning so I don't have to- I am all for it! But the sucking and slurping and squishing! I like platypi though. Bettas are my fav and I want to try having rainbowfish


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Turtle4353 said:


> Cleaning so I don't have to- I am all for it! But the sucking and slurping and squishing! I like platypi though. Bettas are my fav and I want to try having rainbowfish


Get a clown pleco, they stay small and eat strictly driftwood, well sometimes the munch on brocolli and algae wafers


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

I used to have a fear of fish in general but it got away after i spend time near the aquarium. I used to have even nightmares but if you spend time and observe them you understand there is nothing to fear.

The only thing i cant stand is dead fish. I just cant stand seeing them. I cant handle removing a dead fish from the tank and i cant handle seeing its body. Even the thought as i type this unsettles me. Talking about a tough situation. Thats one of the factors i will think twice,maybe thrice before building a new aquarium in the future.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Platypodes are cool.. They have poison barbs though. :O


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Platypodes are cool.. They have poison barbs though. :O


Isn't the term for a group, platypi?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

It's technically an improper term grammatically.. Platypodes would be the correct way to say it grammatically, but most people just say platypus as the plural or even platypuses. People do use platypi as well.. It's like how people say octopuses/octopi/octopodes.. Or even fish and fishes.. Even though some of them are technically grammatically incorrect when looking at Latin/Greek (whichever is the origin of the word), it's so commonly used that there isn't really a "correct" way to say it, all forms are accepted. Just whichever you prefer.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I want one. :3


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## Shirleythebetta (Jan 9, 2012)

There are so many myths about betta's and you don't believe those. Why Pleco's and snakeheads? There are many myths about both of those two. Snakeheads are only viscious in the water. Out of the water, just don't put your hands in their mouths! They don't crawl across land like hollywood says. they are air breathers and very similar to betta. They only are in small bodies of water or in the mud because of too much rain or not enough. They don't have the build for crawling across land. 

I own a pleco and I can tell you they can be creepy looking at times especially when they look like they are blinking. They are not totally harmless as they do have those spike/barb things that most catfish have just don't pick him up. They won't crawl out of your tank. I actually enjoy mine. Except the tons of poop.  I agree with Htennek. You need to be around one. They are really very cool.


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

Olympia said:


> It's technically an improper term grammatically.. Platypodes would be the correct way to say it grammatically, but most people just say platypus as the plural or even platypuses. People do use platypi as well.. It's like how people say octopuses/octopi/octopodes.. Or even fish and fishes.. Even though some of them are technically grammatically incorrect when looking at Latin/Greek (whichever is the origin of the word), it's so commonly used that there isn't really a "correct" way to say it, all forms are accepted. Just whichever you prefer.



Actually its placostomus. Which its a greek word meaning wide mouth.
Platypodas means wide foot. Unless i am mistaken and we are talking about a different species. 

As for the octopus its octapodi / octapodes which means 8 legs.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Platypodes =









:-D So, I guess they do have wide feet. I would have named them the Greek word for "ugly duck beaver thing." We did get off topic a bit.. xD


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Platypodes =
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I totally want one


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Platypodes =
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ashimopapiokastoroprama. Try to spell it in English :mrgreen::mrgreen:


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Pilot00 said:


> Ashimopapiokastoroprama. Try to spell it in English :mrgreen::mrgreen:


That's how you say it in Greek? :lol:


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

xShainax said:


> That's how you say it in Greek? :lol:


There is no actual word for "ugly duck beaver thing" so i combined them.

Ashimos = ugly
papia = duck
kastoras = beaver
thing = prama


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Greek is too confusing. I named my rescue επιζών or epizon since he is a survivor. xD My friend is greek and she picked it out


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

Yep its quite a complex language. I think you guys in the States have a saying: 'Its all Greek to me'.

Or is it a British saying?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

It's a British saying but it emigrated here. :lol:


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

yep we say that here x3


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