Common And Clown Plecs

[Tobigara]

i bought a common pleco for a 60 gallon tank and a clown pleco for a 20 gallon. in the six months i've had them, they have not grown at all as far as i can tell. i was told that plecos are really slow growers so didn't think anything of it til now when i read that they should grow about an inch per month for a while. did i do something wrong?

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

clown plecs are slow growers but commons should grow about an inch a month until they reach 6 inches then the growth slows down a bit. Are your tanks heavily stocked?

Emma

 

[Tobigara]

at the moment...no. they're both cichlid tanks but all of my fish are little. i mean once everything is full grown the tanks will be fully stocked

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What are you feeding these fish and do the clown plecos have access to a variety of types of driftwood/bogwood? Diet plays an important part in the growth of plecos, particularly juvenile/young ones.

 

[smithrc]

What are you feeding these fish and do the clown plecos have access to a variety of types of driftwood/bogwood? Diet plays an important part in the growth of plecos, particularly juvenile/young ones.

as does nice clean water

 

[Tobigara]

the water is good and both the clown and the common have wood. besides any algae and what the other fish miss, they get algae wafers most nights. i've seen them eating the wafers so i'm pretty sure they're eating well. am i missing something?

 

[smithrc]

the water is good and both the clown and the common have wood. besides any algae and what the other fish miss, they get algae wafers most nights. i've seen them eating the wafers so i'm pretty sure they're eating well. am i missing something?

how much water do you change?

 

[Tobigara]

25%-30% every sunday without fail

 

[smithrc]

then there should be no reason for the slow growth...

I'm terrible at regular water changes.... and our common still grew at about 1" every 2 months...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Does the common pleco look skinny at all? This is what the stomach of a healthy common pleco looks like;

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=6502

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=1640

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=7873


If the pleco's stomach looks skinny then it could mean that the pleco has internal parasites, fish can stay infected with internal parasites for very long periods of time and the parasites may prevent the fish from growing properly, keeping it at a smaller stunted size etc.


Although common pleco's are primarily herbivorous fish, they can find difficulty in obtaining enough protein in their algae based diets, feeding them cooked de-shelled prawns (which you will have to weight so they sink) or slices of raw plain fish (preferably which has been frozen and then thawed, to make sure it has no parasites in it) like tuna every now and then can help the pleco get the necessary protein and so may help the pleco's growth .

 

[Tobigara]

as far as i can tell they aren't skinny or boney or anything. they look pretty healthy actually. just like those pics. they just aren't growing. i'll try to get them more protein. thanks for the advice.

i'll see if i can add some pics of them a little later. maybe someone will spot something that i missed

 

[rocknurworld2006]

clown plecs will not grow big as they will stay small but common will grow massive!

 

[cats]

clown plceos are wood eating catfish I have had mine for 2yrs and it is doing just fine. Do you have driftwood in your tank? got mine temp at 78. woody is also an adult. I see him on the glass and gravel. What size is your filter? Do you have alot of water movement?

 

[xingumike]

what size is the common?

 

[cats]

The common pleco gets between 18" to 24" some types can get bigger.