True Minimum Tank Size For A Common Pleco

[onidrase]

These things do indeed get huge. And yet they're sold so cheaply in pet stores in just about every pet store out there, whereas most suitable sized plecos are generally hard to find, and can cost twice as much, if not even hundreds of dollars.

I'm just curious. Not that I'm gonna go out and buy a common pleco. But just how big do these guys tend to get, and what would the tank dimensions need to be in order to keep one happily?

 

[moochy13]

Minimum foot long when adult. Theres a thread below with a guys 18 inch common in it.

 

[fishguy2727]

They can hit 24" or more, I would say 150-180 minimum.

 

[JenCliBee]

Ideally they shouldn't actually be in the trade.. simply because more often than not they just cant be housed correctly... however, ideally they should really have a 6x2x2 tank but bare minimum is considered 4x2x2 with 5x2x2 obviously being better.

They can potentially reach 2 foot but most usually max out about about 15 inches... this could just be down to size of tank in general though... if given a 8 foot tank from the offset, i think they could easily reach 2 foot and maybe bigger.

 

[nurglespuss]

Yes our big old plec (in my old 6x2x3) maxed out at 18" and lived nearly 10 years (I had him from about 8 inches) - Only popped his clogs because of a heater malfunction while on holiday...

In the wild, they are more likely to attain the 24" at full growth, but as with most aquarium fish, I think 16-20" is probably fair call for maximum size (at least going by most of my catfish books and experience).

I think the thing that maintains their popularity (except for the vast supply) is that they are 'relatively' inactive, fooling the purchaser/keeper into the belief that they need less space.