I am finally about ready to set up my 120g tank. I plan on stocking it with angels and a school of cory's. I am also thinking about a school of cardinal tetras but I'm not 100% yet. I was going to get a couple bristle nose plecos later on because I have had good luck with them eating algae. I had also considered 1 common pleco because I do like the looks of them when they get large and now I have a tank to keep one. I plan on having live plants in the tank, mostly low light stuff (java fern/moss, anubias, swords etc.) Some people are telling me the common pleco's will destroy the live plants in a tank. I have BN plecos in 75g tank with some plants and they have never bothered them. Will the commons cause a problem with all plants or are there certain types that they like to eat?

I have a pleco and I've never had a problem with them eating my plants. But im not sure when they are bigger, I heard as they get bigger they rely less on algae and come on to other sources of food.

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55gallon
Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day
Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete
Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B
Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans

It's not that they will eat the plants, due to their size and their thrashing behavior, they are known to uproot plants. Make sure you add a nice piece of driftwood in there for him. Once your plants have taken root, it won't be so bad.

Ive got the driftwood covered. I just received a very large piece that I think is going to be the centerpiece of my tank. It is one piece but it twist around itself and makes some natural cavities. I have it soaking in a 32 gallon trash can right now trying to get it water logged. It was in a creak for a long time but that guy I got it from had removed it from the creak and had it in his yard. I have a new 55 gallon drum I am going to boil it in this weekend. I am trying to find another method of soaking it because it won't fit all the way in the thrash can. The weather here just today got above freezing so I will have some more options soon.

oh he's gonna luv that! have a bathtub u can spare for a spell?

I would avoid plecos that get over 6 inches long because they add a large bio load and they tend to make a mess and uproot plants IMO. I would add the angels last and get them small and get about 10-12 and then plan on thinning them down to like 6-8 so you dont have problems down the road.

My 10inch common pleco was a (lovely, personable) poop-monster; eventually you'd be in for regular gravel vacuuming. Hopefully you'd be filtering the tank as if it were much bigger? She left all my plants alone, I think because she had driftwood, veggies on a suction-clip and a grotto to keep her entertained.

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current tanks:
20gal: one small fancy goldfish, 4 mystery snails
10gal: many mystery snail hatchlings & 2 female guppies
55gal: 4 juvenile blood parrots & 5 giant danios, 2 gold tetras.
55gal: 10 mystery snails, 1 CAE, 7 guppies and 6 cory cats
wishlist: 75+ gal for BPs before they get big

My experience is to avoid the common pleco in a planted tank. Mine had a voracious appetite and grew very quickly while my plants disappeared. With such an abundant food source, it also created significant waste in the tank. Stick with cory cats if you plan on a planted aquarium, IMO.