Do You Have A Common Pleco?

[Durbkat]

Do you have a common pleco? If so how long have you had it, how big is it, and what size tank is it in? Also no sailfins or other kinds of plecos please.

 

[phoenixfire]

Yes i have 2 in my 50 gallon...they are probably about 5 inches and in my opinion grow very slow...they are very cool fish and glide along the water when there not scavaging the bottom...they do a great job cleaning up...

 

[guppy_man]

i have 1 common pleco hes about 6" and i have had him for about 2 years.
he doesnt seem to grow in length only in width lol

 

[smithrc]

see signature... we've had him over 2 years now - he's about 12" now

he's in our 100gal (us) corner tank.

(hes about 8" in my signature)

 

[morgan]

Hi, I bought my Common Pleco in about May and he was 2 - 3 ". He is now 10". He is at present in a 96litre tank and he is going into a 300litre one as soon as it is cycled. I am having the tank this week.

 

[Durbkat]

i have 1 common pleco hes about 6" and i have had him for about 2 years.
he doesnt seem to grow in length only in width lol

see signature... we've had him over 2 years now - he's about 12" now

he's in our 100gal (us) corner tank.

(hes about 8" in my signature)

Guppy man what size tank is he in?

Simthrc that looks more like a sailfin pleco than a common pleco because his tail fin is in a different shape than a common pleco.

 

[smithrc]

Simthrc that looks more like a sailfin pleco than a common pleco because his tail fin is in a different shape than a common pleco.

Feel free to ID him - Even the planet catfish forums havent come to a conclusion

Best guess is that he's a common / sailfin cross which are apparently quite common from pleco farms

 

[Durbkat]

That's pretty cool.

 

[Ethos]

I have a common plecd that basically does nothing. He sits in the same spot, sucking onto an egyption collum.
I've never seen him swim. He moves across the tank in the middle of the night though, because sometimes when i wake up he's on the other side of the tank..
He's 7-9" in length.. and I've had him for almost 3 weeks.

 

[phoenixfire]

mines always on the move because there still fairly small...ive noticed the bigger they get the lazer...i had a 9inch and he sat there and did nothing!...also mine are a common/sailfin pleco...ive had my two for about a year now...and got them at 3 inch

 

[HeatherW]

Hi!

I got my common pleco on Friday night.

He is just a baby, 2" long.

He cleans my 20 gallon tank wonderfully.

Is their growth rate affected by the size of their tank?
I've had some several years and never get bigger than about 6"

Heather

 

[Mudfrog]

I've got a couple commons in my tanks. One inparticular stands out though. It seems to be a common with a color morph. He is very cool looking. Black with red stripes. Here is kind of a bad pic of him.

I have tried planet catfish and pleco fanatics but everyone seems to think it is just a common with great coloration. More pics can be seen here: my pleco

 

[morgan]

Hi Heather, they can be stunted by being in a too small tank. However mine is in a 20 UKgal and has grown to 10" in 7 months! I suspect he is not a Common but may be a Sailfin or some kind of hybrid. He is very active and I expect he will be more so in his new tank. I posted a question a while ago about catching him to go into his new tank, the bigger he gets the less keen I am to catch him. But I will have to. He does get stressed very easily.

Mudfrog, that is a very nice Pleco. They can be difficult to identify because the species interbreed.

 

[Durbkat]

Morgan I thought I'd let you know how I catch my common pleco. What I do is try to catch him with my net but if that doesn't work I corner him in a corner with the net then I take my hand and gently pick him up and put him in the net. But I hardly ever have to take him out infact I've only taken him out at the most of 10 times in the whole time I've had him.

 

[morgan]

Thanks, I have never caught my Pleco. He does get stressed very easily. The other day I put the syphon and tube in the tank to get it started and I think I accidentally got too close. He hid behind an ornament for a couple of days and he also goes blotchy when he is stressed. I read on another thread about catching plecos in a colander which also sounds like a good idea. I will be catching him next week, I hope so anyway! Did you wear a glove when you picked him up?