HEATER GUARD???

Otherwise.. how well do in-line heaters work? Any issues with reaching and maintaining a constant temp.?

I've occasionally seen heater guards just for that reason - so the less-than-intelligent pleco doesn't get cooked. :lol: I don't have any plecos myself, but my parents' solution was to tape a bit of black construction paper around one of the corners of the tank so that their "monster" pleco would have a space to hide in. (He's probably about 12" now, so none of the caves are big enough for him!) They've got their tank in front of some wall mirrors, and before that it was a room divider, so they don't have a background except for that one corner where the pleco sits. Now he prefers his corner to attempting to hide behind a heater. There are a couple different brands of heater guard available, try google shopping!

I did some searches and found some online.... will have to check the shops near me to see what I can find too. I'm leaning towards the inline heater for my cannister though... one less eyesore in my main tank... and will get a small heater guard for my 50 watt in the 10 gallon.
Thanks!

how are the aggression in your tank? your pleco propably die from too much aggression, they need dark caves for shelter...your pleco burn to death by the heater indicate to me that you dont have enough hiding places...Its desperate shelter was the heater. *** have had good results in the past years with a little DIY pleco PVC pipes with suction cup attached to the back of the glass...it looks alittle corny but you can put plants or rock works in front so you dont really see it.