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So, yeah... had a scary fishy dream last night (shattered heater in my 20 gallon). However, out of the whole thing, what I really remember is that I had a pleco of some sort in the tank (which I haven't since my albino BN died a few months ago). I'll do my best to describe...

It was either black or some other very dark shade, with a bright white belly. About three or four inches long. I remember him sucking on the front glass in the dream... I could see his white belly and an outline of the black color showing along the sides. He had some sort of white stripe pattern all over the black.

Definitely not a zebra plec, as these were very thin stripes, wavy, almost like a clown pleco, only white. Ooo... just took a look at planetcatfish... kinda looks a bit like a queen arabesque. Does that one have a white tummy? *chuckles* If anything, it had a bit less in the way of white striping that the queen does, but the wavy pattern is quite similar.

Let me guess, a queen should be pretty expensive? Drat it... I've missed having a pleco.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

20-30 per queen sounds reasonable. Females generally have whitish bellies.

*wonders if her fav lfs carries them* If they do, it will prolly be overpriced, darn it. I can stand overpriced for the generally cheap fish (the quality there is outstanding), but I dunno about an overpriced already-somewhat-pricey pleco.

Assuming they do and I can afford it... would it do well in my 20 gallon long?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Queen arabesque plecos are very beautiful, and the following picture will attest to that:



One should be just fine in your twenty long, as long as you have the space for another fish. What is in there at the moment?[/font]

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

A twenty long would be more than sufficient space for it.

Current stocking consists of nine betta girls, five black neons (looking for a new home for these guys), five cories and one lone otto who will be moving to another tank and hopefully regaining some friends (his disappeared ).

I had a BN plec in here before, but one day he was found dead... no signs of disease, nothing. I don't know what happened, but I miss my silly little plec.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I wouldn't add any more fish at the moment, as it seems like you are overstocked. Move the tetras and otto (like you said you would) though, and you'll be in business. The queen arabesque plec is a great addition to community tanks (like yours), and won't bug other fish. Keep in mind though, that they aren't very competitive when it comes to food. You might need to take precautions to ensure that the cories don't eat your pleco's grub, or you will end up starving your plec.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I think you're fine stocking wise for a pair of queens.

Oh, goodie... my betta girls already steal the cories' food! I feed the cories right before lights out and hope they get the grub... they seem to be doing well. *pats little round tummies* I've yet to find a food that the cories like and the bettas don't. Mostly because my girls are pigs!

However, my bettas aren't big on fresh veggies like cucumber and zucchini... I'm sure the queen would love those? If I like... dropped a bunch of algae/bottom feeder wafers in a couple times a week, then popped in some fresh veggies the other days, she'd be well off, I hope.

As for stocking, I was told because my fish aren't big waste producers, I was okay? However, I'm planning on doing some stock moving in the next few weeks, anyway. And if anyone wants those black neons, you're welcome to them. The "tetra twitch" annoys me. :%) I mean, they're lovely fish and are quite tame - they eat from my hand and all - but they just don't seem to be the best companions for the rest of my tank.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Some queens do, some don't. The bulk of their diet should be made up of some sort of carnivorous pellet, with occasional feedings of bloodworms and/or vegetables (which, as stated above, may or may not be consumed).

Ahh... well, since the queens at my fav LFS are obscenely priced at like, seventy bucks, I think I either have to forego them or find a different store to buy them from! They were beautiful.

I found painted plecs and long finned BN's for twenty, though. *shrugs* And the painted plecs were SO tiny, the biggest was an inch and a half, and there weren't many big ones. Most were less than an inch long! They were SO cute, but I think they'd get lost in my tank!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~