Is this a common pleco?

[jaylach]

I inherited this critter and it is currently ~3 inches long. I'm just not sure if I'm correct that it is what whould be a 'common pleco'. If it is I'm in trouble as it will out-grow my little 20 gallon cube tank sooner than later and will need to find a home.

 

[connorlindeman]

Yep its a

Hypostomus plecostomus​

 

[jaylach]

LOL! You could have made me feel good by faking it! Just kidding of course.

We don't really have an aquatics store in my small town but we DO have an outfit that does just live fish through shipping. They are in the process of setting up a new warehouse that is right next to my apartment building. Mayhaps they will take it.

I LOVE Plecos but can't keep this thing in a 20 gallon cube. I mean a Common can get to 15 inches, and sometimes larger, in captivity, 24 inches in the wild.

 

[Colin_T]

looks like a gibbiceps but they don't normally have orange on the fins.

gibbiceps have more spots on the body
normal plecostomus have more stripes

 

[jaylach]

In any case I have time to work this out. I also wondered about the orange in the fins but that may just be from the red lights in the LED panel. The LED panel has white, blue and red lights and I'm currently using all.

 

[jaylach]

I turned off the red LED's and tried just white and white/blue. Unless the red is enabled the pleco has no orange in the fins.

I don't remember ever hearing the term 'gibbiceps' but looked it up and it seems that they also get large for a 20 gallon cube tank, possibly larger than a Common. so my problem remains.

In either case it seems that eventually I'll need to find the critter a new home.

Still I must have a pleco as I LOVE the body style and fins. Just doing a quick search a Zebra Pleco looks like a good possibility and the adult size is only 3-4 inches. With the reddish brown tank gravel and green and brown fake tree trunk it would also stand out. Since a pleco and rope fish will eventually be the main attractions the contrasting coloration could work well. Rope/reed fish and zebra plecos also have similar life spans. Sounds like a win win to me although I'd want to look at other small plecos.

 

[Guyb93]

I would refer to this as a common pleco , iv saw them labelled as Trinidad plecos also , meaning it’s a pleco from Trinidad normally one of three species that come under “common pleco”

 

[jaylach]

I would refer to this as a common pleco , iv saw them labelled as Trinidad plecos also , meaning it’s a pleco from Trinidad normally one of three species that come under “common pleco”

Thanks for the input.

 

[jaylach]

I just finally got a reply from an aquatics forum that I joined before finding this site where I posted the same question. They claim that it is probably a tiger pleco. Looking at images there were some that could sort of be a maybe but I don't see it.

The poor critter also got ill but I think it is going to make it. I believe it to be a bacterial infection as, just about overnight, became lethargic, dorsal fin flat on the back, stopped mouth walking the tank, eating less and lost most of the color. I didn't want to dose this new of a tank with antibiotics so raised the temperature to 85F and broke up the algae wafers I feed into smaller pieces and spreed around the tank to make it easier to find food. Present condition is that the critter is more active, eating more like normal, dorsal fin back to usually erect and back to mouth walking the tank sides a bit. Also the color seems to be returning. The other three fish in the tank have shown no signs if illness.

I think it quite probable that stress caused this to happen as I removed a large fake tree trunk from the tank to remove plants I had going through some of the openings in preparation to probably ending up going with some dwarf cichlids. Also to make it easier to 'vacuum' while the tank finishes cycling. Prior to removal the tree trunk was used for mouth walking as much as the tank's glass and I believe it spent most of the 'lights out' time inside the trunk.

 

[Colin_T]

Before you add any medications, check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. If these are bad, the fish will be stressed and act sluggish and have clamped fins.

In your original post, the picture shows the fish in milky cloudy water. The milky cloudy water is usually associated with ammonia and uneaten food.

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Don't overfeed the fish. Uneaten food causing poor water quality kills more fish than diseases do.

If you have the light on for up to 16 hours a day, you should get some algae growing on the glass and that will give the pleco something to eat. You can reduce the lighting to 10-12 hours a day after the algae is growing on the glass.

Have some driftwood in the tank for the pleco to graze on.

 

[jaylach]

While there is still a slight haze most of the cloudiness is gone from the tank.

Closest match for PH is 6.0... Mayhaps between 6.0 and 6.4.

Ammonia: looks high at what looks to be 3 PPM. I am likely over feeding as my experience from the past does not include a lot of flake food.

Nitrite: Does not make much sense. Shows 0 PPM.

Nitrate: Again makes no sense as the test shows 0 PPM.

With zero on nitrite and nitrate yet 3 on ammonia I have to assume that this tank has not even really started to cycle but I can't understand why.

I will also be posting this info on my thread about a slow tank turnover.

 

[Colin_T]

With zero on nitrite and nitrate yet 3 on ammonia I have to assume that this tank has not even really started to cycle but I can't understand why.

The filter usually takes between 4-6 weeks to cycle but can take longer.

Having warm water 28-30C can help the bacteria grow faster.
Make sure there is lots of aeration/ surface turbulence to keep the oxygen levels high.
Keep the pH around 7.0 if possible. If the pH gets too low it can slow or stall the cycle. This normally happens if the pH drops below 6.0.

If the cycling process seems to stop, do a big water change and that can sometimes get it going.

You can get bottles of liquid filter bacteria from most pet shops. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week, then pour the remaining contents into the tank. try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

 

[jaylach]

Right now I have the tank strictly on under gravel filtration as I'm waiting a few more days for a smaller pump for the built in filtration. Since I really know nothing about this 3-stage built in filtration is it possible that not currently using could cause stagnation within the filter chambers?

The under gravel filtration is two filter plates with one air riser per plate with each riser being driven by a Whisper 40. There is plenty of aeration and water movement through the gravel. Shoot, with doing major water changes, the air risers still push water even if they are a few inches above the water level.

I have been thinking of getting a bottle of API starter stuff. Would that be good to use or is there better? I assume that this is the type of product that you mean by 'liquid filter bacteria''.

 

[Colin_T]

If the aquarium has a separate compartment for a filter, the water in it could stagnate if no new water passes through it. However, this will not affect the undergravel filter developing the beneficial filter bacteria.

You could pour a container of aquarium water into the filter compartment and let it overflow back into the tank. Do this each day until the new pump arrives.

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I'm not sure what the API started stuff is but there are lots of different brands of filter bacteria. If it contains a variety of bacteria to seed the filter, then it is fine to use.

 

[jaylach]

Thanks.

I haven't read the label but assume that the API starter stuff is a bacteria base. I mean what else would tank starter stuff be?

I will try dumping some water from the main tank into the filter compartment. I'm just thinking (without any real knowledge on this) that if water in the filter compartment has become even a little stagnant it could possibly cause the tank to not cycle just due to contaminants back flowing through the filter compartment's inlets.