got a pleco

[phish2189]

was at a fish store i hadnt been to before and i saw 3 plecos in a tank all at the bottom, and they were like 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. i asked the lady if they all get that long and she said they were that big beacuse they were from a fish farm in a pond or a big tank or something. i was at my lfs that i go to on a regular business, and i talked to someone i know there and he said they get pretty big regardless.

im just wondering, how big will a common plec get in a 20 gallon tank?

 

[CatLover]

A common pleco will reach anywhere between 13-18 inches regardless of tank size.
I have heard of tank size stunting fish growth, but obviously that is very unhealthy, and it would have to be already too big for the tank before it started stunting.

I would recommend at least a 75 gallon if you would like your common pleco to live happily into his 20s.

 

[digital_run]

If its a common plec then there not a fish for a 20 gal. It all depends on what type of plec your talking about. With a 20 gal. tank your limited. Fish will not grow due to the size of their tank. When large fish are kept in small tanks they suffer stunting...which means there outer body stops growing due to a lack of space and their internal organs continue to grow which everntually leads to a short life span and painful death. Find out exactly what type of plec it is and research it. HIH

 

[phish2189]

catlover, what did you mean by

live happily into his 20s.

did you mean 20 inches or 20 years, or what?

thanks for the advice though

 

[CatLover]

Sorry about that.
I meant years. Common plecos live around 25 years.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Yep commons get huge. Mine is a foot long, and only about 10 yrs old tops. Maybe a little younger. Im not sure cuz we inherited him. If you like plecs there are some smaller varieties, although Im sure of any names. You could also try corys. They are very cute, and much smaller than common plecs. You need at least 2 if you go with corys though, cuz 1 would get too lonely, and would be very unhappy.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I would suggest that you return that common plec (they are massive and create a huge amount of waste) and get some otos instead.

I would not put any other type of plec into that size of tank due to waste and size issues.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi phish2189

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, so check these out:

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...=0&#entry112237