Common Pleco's Should They Be So Readily Available?

[Haych]

this was my rant a couple of weeks back, i was sold a sailfin as a clown

my rant not that anyone replied lol

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I read your rant yesterday haych. I think that is why I was inspired to write in here .

Bloody sales people.

 

[Haych]

it is disgusting, its daft as well. i could walk into a shop, ask for a nugget plec, which i did as i was told they stay small, and it turned out the conditions i had him in werent for him, once i knew, and couldnt make him happy, i sold him to someone who could.

but people should be warned about how big the fish can grow. the shop i bought mine from dont tell you, but they do have signs stating the size they can get too. but i do not really think they would think twice about selling to someone, as mentioned, with a biorb either

 

[star4]

Wow, long time since I posted this rant lol. What a lot of people do not realise, and I certainly didnt before I had mine is that these fish is they are really really clever. Splodge (who I picked up today) is an absolute sweetheart, I havnt seen him still very much yet, he has explored the whole tank and is not that shy. He was so good to catch too, I just put the container in the tank tickled his head and asked him to move forwards and he went straight in. The same when I had to get him out of the poly box, no stressing at all he is a darling, although I dont think he can get over how much space he has now! wait till he goes in the bigger tank when its ready

 

[Haych]

ooh nooo

youre really making me regret not getting him!

thats why i love sailfins

 

[calsonic]

i cant complain aboy my lfs they have a huge tank that they keep a giant gouami in and a lot of common plecs in there the bloke that runs the shop gave me my common pleco but then i have known the bloke for over 2 years and he knew i have a 6ft tank for him but if they sell a plec they will take it back in if it gets too big so you cant really complain about that imo

 

[theshadowinc]

There is an employ at my local pet paradise (yes i know not a good store) but he is one person ive actually seen care for fish, he may go overboard with some stuff as some people think but i think he is totaly in the right for doing it, thy had a decent pleco about 6"-7" and a guy came in to buy it and he asked how big of a tank he had the kid was like 10 gallons and he told him there is no way he would sell this fish to him and then the kid thought he would fool him by telling him oh ya and a 50 gallon which he then asked for a picture for proof then he would sell it to him, long story short...he didnt get the fish and this is not the only situtation like this he will not sell any fish or pet in the store to an owner he deems unsuitable.
Again you may say this is wrong but i find this completly right, just because it isnt a person doesnt mean it should be given away carelessly its still a life.

Not sure where you are from, but I to also deal with Pet Paradise!

I live in London Ontario so as far as fish stores go there isn't many!
The 2 Main ones are Big Al's and Pet Paradise and over time this is how I eventually figured out who would continue to get my business
since I buy alot of frozen food for my discus and to lazy to try and find a source to ship to me cheap!

Story Starts with Big Als I had a 55gal tank and some of the information on mixing fish is a little inaccurate from them, even I know with all
the information I have in this trade, but what pissed me off the most with this store was when I purchased Panda Cory's from them and they
ended up having that fungus crap all on the mouth! I ended up losing almost the entire batch and treated successfully a few, took back for the warrenty with a sample of water and of course I didn't think about the sample of water LoL long reason into a short reason I have a planted discus tank so I inject Nitrate into my tank and usually have anywhere from 30ppm - 50ppm and honestly losing pandas and suffering the loss of them is cheaper than risking my plants I have way more invested into certain plants that just can't be found where I live. The person I took the sample to tested the water and of course wasn't going to warrant the fish due to nitrate 50ppm haha thats because I dosed the tank and took the sample the same time so on my part was foolish i didn't think about it, so then I explained to him about my Planted tank and that I dose Nitrate for Plants and even off the shelf products do the same but just not as high reading in the nitrate area!(I am actually very Horny about the water Quality because this is my Discus Tank so I use to check water all the time) My Test was 0ppm Ammo, 0ppm Nitrite, 50ppm Nitrate,(50 ppm because I just dosed the tank) usually its 20-30ppm in the morning before a dose) long story short he just told me to MY FACE don't care! I even explained the fungus and what it was etc and even how to treat it and with what! Still said to me don't care,(Everything needs to be 0) Long story short a few choice words in my head and me being the most polite person in the world about the situation and calm about it he told me to come back in a week with a sample and he would warrent it if the perematers where right. So of course asked help on here and was welmed with information. So from my Quartine tank I got a sample hehe not from my planted tank took it in and got new corys but I told him I didn't want them from the same tank due to the fungus issue and that all would have to be treated so he said sure pick others you would be interested and well turned out the same way and decided wasn't interested in buying fish from this place ever again, this place sold me a Common Pleco for a 30gal tank when I first started in the Hobby!

So me being pissed off in side but still showing the cool part of me, I konw alot about fish and also stopped supplying them with what we use to breed for them! Basically I stopped breeding all together especially when I had a gourmis fry go bad on me for unknown reason(Think it was from the shock of moving them into another tank)

Well this led me to another lfs near where I live, a place I have never been in cause I heard nothing but bad things about them, so well this is my last chance and hope I find it good here. (Pet Paradise) To be honest I checked the place out before I even thaught of buying anything from them and thaught I better talk with the fish guy there(they have a guy there they call the fish guy). I always went and checked out there discus tanks reason for this is if you keep good looking healthy discus you know what you are doing or at least flying by the seat of your pants and good luck is on your side! I also noticed a person that works there that use to work for big als kinda explains why I don't see him a popular person within the hobby so I went over and talked to him he knew who I was almost right away! I told him I am interested in talking and picking the brain of the fish guy he pointed me to him and introduced me ^^ gotta love it when a employee introduces ya to the fish guy all he said is this kid is a honest kid and alot smarter than you think compaired to regular customers! I don't think the fish guy understood till later on what he was talking about, so of course I picked his brains and to be honest all the fish I baught from him, I never had a issue with I am surprized! From the best suggestions he has given me and from some of my experienced shared with him we had what you would call a real bond! (Mainly because of the discus hehe)
~So he turned around and asked me what I run for a setup, I told him you able to hold your pants up! He said sure try me on for size I said well I ain't gay sorry lol was a Joke he laughed, good a sence of humor and easy to talk to lol! So I told him my setup I have and its a 55gal planted and I run co2 and do EI dosing of course he asked me what is EI dosing he never heard of it so I explained it to him. He was like WoW very nice setup and I always carry pictures on my blackberry around with me so he asked if I had pictures and I showed him and he was amazed, he said he never seen something in the local area so Hi tech of a setup but yet very very intreging to look at he was amazed at the pictures and how well it is working out. I ended up buying discus from him and never had a problem although alway had a hard time getting them to eat but never had an issue with any fish I buaght from him. I even listend to some of the convos he had with other customers about what could go in a tank etc, and seen him refuse selling a Common Pleco so someone Guess the short story of all this is, he has always treated me with respect always asks to see new pictures of my fish and plants whenever I go in to me I think this is a true fish guy and from now on they will alway get my business no matter what!

Example ~ Asked about a setup for Africans, electic blues etc ~ and with both stores I told them I know nothing about them LoL
Big Als ~ Said I had a 40 gal planted what can I put in it for them
Answer ~ 15 or so make sure you have it full of them because of aggresion and good filtration
My Answer~Have a good day not interested

Pet Paradise ~ Said well first you would put in about 20 into a 55gal to spread aggression
and make sure your filtration system is good, because they do better in bigger numbers so you would
pack the tank solid with them because of the aggression ~ They are easier to breed they are like humans
They are not like Discus so No worming issues wot really worry about parasites well thats with all fish no matter what
Oh and your 40gal won't work for them its to small min is a 55gal and that is actually even pushing it to be honest should be a 60
to house them coumfrotable ~ and btw I know you are testing me there is no way you don't know about these
I said to him honestly I don't know much about the Africans so ya I am testing you but also being honest at the same time LoL
(So then I asked about Dwarf) He said what you mean by dwarf and what you consider a dwarf?
So then I asked him okay so what can I stalk in a 40gal planted
he said well plenty of options but not africans not any I have anyways, said gourmis certain plecos, guppies, etc stuff like that

Guess what I have made my mind up on what LFS I stay with now!
I would rather have someone that treats me with respect but also isn't afraid to speak up and say
you can't house them! Go bigger or don't bother with them!

What would you say, btw his discus look very healthy plenty of customers I talked to said he carries the best in town, and many even said
Big als fish look sick even there discus fish look sick! To me they looked sick to....

Basically as a customer you have to do your homework and know a few things before you get into the hobby actualy helps but with a store like pet paradise the one near me anyways atleast he strives to help! Unlike others that would sell you fish that are not suitable for a tank you have

I figured you would enjoy reading this, I was actually doing research on Oto's Cause my fish store has a sale on them 4 bucks ea and thinking of getting 6 of them for my 55 gal planted if anyone can help me out on temps they can survive in from experience I would appreciate it just mail me , the research is what brought me to this thread looking up Oto's

 

[Bigjakee]

There is no other fish which grows to the size of a common plec that is quite so readily available and for good reason. Maybe if they weren't so cheap people would stop and think a bit more, I honestly think because of their price some people (as disgusting as it sounds) have the attitude that they'll just "get rid of them" when the time comes...

 

[crazychris]

I bought a 2" common plec for my 3ft tank and he grew to 12" so he went back to the lfs. The owner wouldn't give me anything for it as he said, exact words "they don't sell so it'll still be there in a year's time" The following week I was there when he sold it for £25!!!

 

[fishnovice]

How about campaigning for a small tax/surcharge (say £1) on all large plecs which will go towards building huge heated ponds as a "retirement home" for them when they grow into 18in+ monsters? After years of faithful service to their owners as algae eaters, plecs deserve to be "pensioned off" not dumped.

 

[Redrum]

I say the LFS should use oto's like they use common plecos.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i totally agree with everything said in this thread!

i am literally pleco mad.lol i would love to own a few common pleco's but i know for a fact i would need a huge tank! one lfs near me actually has a 2ft common plec in there store in a pond casting. this is cruel in its self( and ive ranted about this.lol ) but its kinda there for a reason. its there to let people know these boys get big! it has a sign next to it saying, common plecostomus--->adult length 18 inches +, not recommended for small aquariums!!. actually with the exclamation marks too

at least in this store, there wont be any mis sold commons

but yeah, too many retailers miss sell stock, knowing full well they will grow way too big for there aquarium. makes me VERY unhappy at the thought of these poor plecs being treated this way.shame on them!

i think these stores should be named and shamed, with store name, and address!!!!!!

 

[Redrum]

Alright ill start with every single petsmart and petco out there

 

[plecostomus-mad]

Alright ill start with every single petsmart and petco out there

that would be quite a mission i know but you get the gist of what im saying right?

 

[Truck]

If LFS's sold ottos like they do common plecs, they're going to have a lot of angry customers, ottos don't fair to well in home aquaria, they tend to only do well in proper algae filled biotopes and planted tanks.