Minimum Tank Size For A Pleco

[firefighter1588]

i have 2 hillstream loaches, not sure if they are also called butterfly plecs? but anyway ive had them a while and they are only little maybe an inch or 2. are plecos the same as loaches??

 

[nukeonekitty]

I didn't call you stupid, I said you looked stupid for plagiarizing information on a marine fish and then trying to tell us it is a little, fresh water pleco though the profile you showed us says it gets up to a meter long...

P.S. Don't swear, it makes you sound uneducated.

 

[gsta13]

Lmao this is the funniest topic i have seen for a while, specilly like the bit here we find out your not GOD, wow what a twist, ten years in bussiness then eh? where is your shop any web links to pictures of you and your slenders in all your beauty?
jus like to thank ya all for makinmy eary mornin not laughed so much for ages

Greg

 

[pica_nuttalli]

well, if that's what they send you from Australia to sell as freshwater algae eaters, then your trust is sadly misplaced. and just because that's what the supplier calls them doesn't make it an accurate name. it is ok to think for yourself once in a while.

where are you located anyways that your supplier is in Australia? the vast majority of places don't get their shipments directly from Down-Under due to the intense export laws the country has in place. plus, most common tropical fish are from South America anyways--a place with generally lax regulations with regards to the fish trade.

(PS: posting up text which you obviously haven't read or understood from a website with pictures that you clearly ignored doesn't make you look... smart. who gives a crap how long you've owned a business?)

 

[TerraDreamer]

The ones I order come from Austrailia. That's what THEY call them. I trust them enough to know that they know what they are talking about...AND don't ####n call me stupid because I have owned my business for 10 years with very happy customers. If anything maybe Austrailia has the wrong name for them but that's what my establishment goes by so #### off.

Really? 10 years? In another post you said you have a boss? And you ask questions about pregnant guppies? For a female, you have a mouth like a dock worker.

 

[Josiah]

Lmao this is the funniest topic i have seen for a while, specilly like the bit here we find out your not GOD, wow what a twist, ten years in bussiness then eh? where is your shop any web links to pictures of you and your slenders in all your beauty?

Lol my thoughts exactly. But to the orignal poster, Common pleco's can get over 1 foot.

 

[Darkmoon Bettas]

The ones I order come from Austrailia. That's what THEY call them. I trust them enough to know that they know what they are talking about...AND don't ####n call me stupid because I have owned my business for 10 years with very happy customers. If anything maybe Austrailia has the wrong name for them but that's what my establishment goes by so #### off.

What in heck are you doing owning a fish store, then? You could be retired, a millionaire, from writing up scientific papers on this fish, if you actually bred them!

...since they have a larval freeswimming stage and there are NO known or available records for the successful breeding of the "slender suckerfish", Echeneis naucrates, in captivity in public or private aquaria.

 

[Darkmoon Bettas]

I've seen tiny tiny pleco's about an ich long.
As for the regular ones I say 20 gallons or more because they grow really REALLY HUGE as time progresses.
*** On another note: You can keep them in a 10 gallon when they are small but when they get HUGE you will have to convert them.

Tiny ones are babies. Your "common" plecos, Hypostomus punctatus, easily reach over a foot long--we have one at work that's a good 14 inches. They should NOT be kept in a small tank with the assumption you'll move them "eventually". Big plecos, if you decide not to upgrade, are near impossible to get rid of. Most fish stores won't take them, public aquariums won't take them either, and most other fishkeepers, if they wanted big plecs, would already have them. It's unfair to keep an animal confined in a tank too small for it, where it produces so much waste it makes its tankmates and itself ill, and lives a shortened, unhealthy life because of it.

If you KNOW you're upgrading your tank--you have one at your LFS picked out, you've made payments on it, you're just waiting to pay it off, or you're getting one for a holiday and you KNOW it, within the year, sure that might be OK. But probably 85% of people who say "oh I'll just get a bigger tank later on" never do, (and that's being generous).

Pick a pleco that's appropriate for your aquarium, not the other way around. There are a handful of plecos that only reach 2-3 inches--the "pitbull" pleco is the most common of these-- and a LOT more than reach 4-6, including the fairly readily available "bristlenose" or "bushynose" pleco. Female bushynoses look a lot like miniature common plecos, as they retain mostly smooth heads. (The males grow huge bristles). A fairly comprehensive list is HERE. Even with the bristlenose, I wouldn't put more than a single one in a 10-gallon tank. There really aren't any commonly available plecos whose ADULT size is suitable for much smaller than 10 gallons.

You DON'T *need* an algae eater, it's best controlled by manual removal (hand + sponge pad) and controlling your water quality. But if you want one becuase you enjoy them and find them fascinating, an otocinclus would be much more appropriate for tiny tanks than any of the plecos, as far as suckermouth catfish go.

 

[SamUK]

LOL

funny post to read.

 

[The-Wolf]

 

[dwarfgourami]

But it's such a funny one, Wolf. Are you sure it wouldn't fit in my tank?

Actually, on reflection it is not all that funny. While most trolls are content to flame and get into silly arguments, this poster keeps offering advice- and seriously inaccurate advice- while pretending to possess more experience than she clearly has. This makes it a bit more of a problem. Did you read the one about not using the gravel vac because it kills fish? That could really get somebody's tank into trouble.

 

[jamie2010]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha,what a laugh,and to think i was guna go to bed after my nightshift.aquadreams your a legend.try not to loose your rag so much or you mess up your own lies.

 

[SuperColey1]

Excuse my rude post last night in this thread. I'd like to apologise for swearing. Got in from my pool match drunk as a skunkfish and then opened up my IE and saw this post and then let fly.

So sorry for the swearing and aggressive manner (Even though I was entirely right)

Anyway being a native Austrailian fish it's scientific name will probably be something like Walla Walla(us)

Can't wait for the next post from our friendly Aussie friend. lol

 

[InaneCathode]

Goes to show you CAN type with your foot firmly imbedded in your mouth (not you coley)

 

[SuperColey1]

Goes to show you CAN type with your foot firmly imbedded in your mouth (not you coley)

typing and yoga at the same time. great idea might try it myself, but not late at night or i'll injure myself in my drunken state.

Next topic I will start:

IS IT OK FOR ALCOHOLICS TO KEEP FISH, AND IF SO WHAT ARE THE SAFETY IMPLICATIONS