Please Id My Plec

[mikev]

Would someone familiar with plecos kindly comment on mine?

The desired information is:
1. Is it a common or a sailfin
2. Can you estimate its final size (right now he is at 6.5" and about 1.5year old)
3. Is it a male or a female?

Thank you very much!!!

 

[conaquavict]

It's a Sailfin Plecostomus
Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps and can reportedly reach 18"
but the largest i have seen is 15" or so.

Here's a pic of one of mine.

 

[Animation]

Pretty certain it's a sailfin,
There body marks tend to vary plec to plec,
You can't really estimate how big- It all depends on his home etc etc

 

[morgan]

Hi, you can estimate the eventual size by counting the individual rays on it's dorsal fin. Twelve or more and it is likely to get big. I read that in a fishkeeping magazine. I also read that viewed from above the males have a broader head and the females are broader between the pelvic fins. I think your fish is going to get big! I have one similar with the same number of rays. I bought it last May at 2 - 3 " and he is now 12". Nice fish by the way. PS They won't reach their full potential size unless they are in a big enough tank. Mine is in a 65ukgal which may not be big enough in the long term.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree he's most likely a sailfin, but he hasn't grown much in 1.5yrs, how much and what do you feed him and how often, and how many gallons is the tank you are keeping him at current? Do you plan to continue keeping him?

 

[mikev]

Thanks everybody!

I agree he's most likely a sailfin, but he hasn't grown much in 1.5yrs, how much and what do you feed him and how often, and how many gallons is the tank you are keeping him at current? Do you plan to continue keeping him?

He lives in a 65 gallon tank and he is not stunted, I hope. He added about two inches since he was moved to this tank in September (was in a 29 gallon before). So he's really growing very slowly for a pleco.

He mostly eats spirulina discs and helps himself to loach food (shrimp pellets especially). We almost never gave him vegetables (rejected cucumber and zuchini). I don't think he is starved, the belly is nicely rounded, and he is not too paranoid about food: small loaches in the tank often succeed in chasing him away from the disks.

As for keeping him, this is why I posted this. If he stays under ten inches, we would love to keep him, he is our oldest fish. OTOH, if we cannot keep him anyway, it would be better to rehome him while he would fit in the lfs tank....

Hi, you can estimate the eventual size by counting the individual rays on it's dorsal fin. Twelve or more and it is likely to get big....I bought it last May at 2 - 3 " and he is now 12"..... Nice fish by the way

Thanks! He has 13. Yuck. I think your growth rate is more typical for the breed...

I guess we still don't know what to expect from him.

Last question: Is this kind of growth pattern (from 2" to 6.5" in 17 months) consistent with commons?

 

[bunjiweb]

I disagree, it doesnt look like a sailfin to me. The body markings are clearly different to that of a gibbiceps. It looks like a plain old common plec to me...."Liposarcus pardalis" L021/023.

Have a look on planet catfish and compare pics of the commons and the sailfins.

Ben

 

[mikev]

I disagree, it doesnt look like a sailfin to me. The body markings are clearly different to that of a gibbiceps. It looks like a plain old common plec to me...."Liposarcus pardalis" L021/023.

Have a look on planet catfish and compare pics of the commons and the sailfins.

Ben

Thanks, Ben.

I did check planetcatfish before posting here and realized that I'm not capable of identifying myself: it looks like either to me. I simply have not seen enough of big plecs in vivo to sense what is important and what is not.

I very much hope you are right, but the closest picture to my plec I've ever seen is the plec in smithrc's signature....who I'm afraid is a sailfin...

 

[morgan]

It is difficult to tell a Sailfin from a Common sometimes. They interbreed so you could easily have a hybrid. Mine looks like yours actually Mikev, with the markings getting smaller around the head. BTW I really like the second picture. Mine swam up to the surface today for the first time and swam on his back to eat the other fishes' flakes. He isn't hungry, he is nicely rounded he probably just found out he could do it.

 

[mikev]

It is difficult to tell a Sailfin from a Common sometimes. They interbreed so you could easily have a hybrid. Mine looks like yours actually Mikev, with the markings getting smaller around the head.

I'll assume for now that he is an honest Common (because otherwise he has to be very sick, and he surely does not look this way). The question is to be reopened when/if he crosses 8in (I think this is the likely size for an adult common, with 10in being the max).

BTW I really like the second picture.

TY!

Mine swam up to the surface today for the first time and swam on his back to eat the other fishes' flakes. He isn't hungry, he is nicely rounded he probably just found out he could do it.

Mine never did this and never will: the tank has Danios that make sure that flakes don't stay around for too long. As for being hungry, imho Plecs should be renamed to WaterCows: they need to chew on something, hungry or not.

The funniest feeding thing mine does is allow loaches to eat from the disk right in his mouth.---He softens the disk and spreads the smell, so black khulis and polkadots get attracted. I have a scary picture somewhere that *looks* like he is eating live black khulis, maybe I can still find it.

 

[Discomafia]

I'll assume for now that he is an honest Common (because otherwise he has to be very sick, and he surely does not look this way). The question is to be reopened when/if he crosses 8in (I think this is the likely size for an adult common, with 10in being the max).

I thought that common plecos can grow to more than 10"...

 

[mikev]

I'll assume for now that he is an honest Common (because otherwise he has to be very sick, and he surely does not look this way). The question is to be reopened when/if he crosses 8in (I think this is the likely size for an adult common, with 10in being the max).

I thought that common plecos can grow to more than 10"...

My logic:

Planetcatfish states max size 10in for L021 (and 18in for sailfin).

Max size is often nonsense; what is the max size of a human anyway? 2.5m or 3m?

*Usually* it is reasonable to assume that the "normal" adult size is about 70%-80% of the max.
(example: max size for khuli loach is stated as 4", but the 3-3.25 is the "normal" size)
Same ratio seems to hold for sailfin.

For common this logic may be wrong, since as Morgan noticed they are often hybrids with sailfins; hopefully (both for the fish and for me) this one is not a such hybrid.

 

[Moofius]

That's definately a common pleco, my friend has a common and gibby (sail fin) in the same tank.
The pic in the second post (sail fin) is clearly different from the pics in the first post.

 

[bunjiweb]

That's definately a common pleco, my friend has a common and gibby (sail fin) in the same tank.
The pic in the second post (sail fin) is clearly different from the pics in the first post.

Well observed,it seems you properly looked at the pictures before making a quick guess like some people....

Ben

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah on second thoughts i also agree he's a common...