plecos are weird

so a while back i got this pleco for my tank. its a 75+ gallon. (not sure what it is exactly) my first real big tank so i was excited to fill it with fish :) there was a nice pleco at the pet store that was very colorful. i think the lady said he was a clown pleco. hes black with orange tiger stripes sorta. heres a shitty pic i got with my phone. the battery is dead on my camera well, hes an awesome pleco, but ive noticed that he doesnt really clean algea very well. he just kinda hangs out under a bush and never moves much. so needless to say, the tank has been getting funky lol. so i figured we needed another pleco. one with a little more of an appetite. we got a regular one this time, mostly black, no coloring at all. tiny little guy. well Janitor Ned (the orangey pleco) went fucking berzerk when we added a new pleco to the tank. all of a sudden hes zipping around, sucking on the walls, filter, (like in the pic) and swimming after the other pleco, bumping it off the walls. (the other pleco wasted NO time getting to work on that algea) so i wonder... is Ned jelous? territorial? trying to mate? ive never seen him do this, and its interesting. he NEVER moved untill that other pleco was in there

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  1. This is what I picked up from here: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile80.html
    Maintenance:
    The Clown Pleco is a beautiful specimen exhibiting a brown and tan
    stripe pattern (which changes as the fish matures). If you need to
    see your fish on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis this fish
    probably is not for you. The Clown Pleco is found in root structures
    at the banks and driftwood dams. Where, due to its coloration, it
    is difficult to find. Properly housed, the same conditions in your
    tank will make him difficult to spot. Complicating sightings by the
    hobbyist is tank lighting. This species will not exhibit robust daytime
    activity in an improperly designed environment. Rather, they will
    stay in the shadows afforded by wood and rocks, as well as camping
    out in the small sized caves that should be provided. The Clown Pleco
    becomes easier to spot moving from location to location in dim light
    environments. The Clown is a wood eater, so driftwood is a must. It
    is territorial and will stake a claim to areas at the base of its
    favorite driftwood or a near by cave. At feeding times the Clown pleco
    will defend its patch of substrate against interlopers eating its
    food. Also, vegetables (zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potato, etc.) are
    required. Sinking pellets as well as algae and vegetable wafers should
    also be fed to this fish. This species creates a lot of waste. Good
    mechanical filtration and tank cleaning practices are required. Caution:
    If you are after an active algae eater this is not the fish to get.Although some sites, like wikipedia say it gets along well with tankmates, other plecos may make the  Clown Pleco territorial.  Wikipedia also suggests that the Clown Pleco will not move far from it's driftwood until feeding time.

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  2. ooo interesting. the pet store lady lied to me then about his services as a tank cleaner lol

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  3.  Well I read some of the comments from other Clown Pleco owners and it appears they do their cleaning/feeding at night.  If you dim the lights you will be able to see them zip about.  And they can do a much better job at cleaning than other plecos.  It just depends on yours, since they all have a different personality and have a different diet.  The link is pretty useful.  But I would be careful.  It may kill off the other pleco . .it also won't do well with other smaller algae eaters.  It'll kill them off as well.  But it does well with non algae eaters. 

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  4.  aw i hope he doesnt kill the other one :(
    the tank is often left dark at night, so hes had more enough oppertunity to clean under the cover of darkenss. he just isnt doing it. i have had to manualy clean the tank myself a few times since i got him. at least he doesnt really seem to be attacking other other one just yet. hes just alot more active. ill keep a close eye on them

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