Wee New Plec & Questions!

[SLuRpIe!]

His/her's ( ) name is Kiba hehe
yeah so i went to shop for a plant but i ended up staring at this guy for 20 mins before deciding to buy him
mmm yeah hes a common plec.. i dont know what i was thinking besides 'this guy is so pretty' because now im pondering what to do because i havent got a tank big enough for him/her to grow in

so im thinking i should save up for one big big tank instead of managing 5 smaller ones

aprox. what size tank would an adult common pleco need? assuming it grows to about 24 inches??

also how do you check if it eats meat or vegs or both
mines just been sucking on its tank and all the decors
but the waffers; algae & catfish one (hik), shrimp pellets, zucchini & lettuce have simply softened and fouled up my water

so that brings up the questions
1. where should i put the food?
&
2. why isnt it eating anything?

help apprec. thanks!

 

[LisaLQ]

Min 75g for an adult common, preferably bigger. Food should go on the bottom of the tank on a night - veggies weighed down (at his size a slice of courgette with some plant lead to weight it down should do). He'll be eating at night time when you're not about - they're nocturnal

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Actually i think he is a young L001, although still a large growing plec (12inches), the L001 is more predictable in its eventual size than the common pleco;

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=177

"Lettuce, Peas, Frozen Spinach and any prepared food that reaches the bottom. Larger fish enjoy prawns or pieces of freshwater trout. Algae (especially soft brown) will be eaten immediately."


New pleco's can take some time to settle in before they start chowing down the food, however your one looks like it is a of a good weight and health, so i wouldn't worry if its not eating just yet. A lot of pleco's are primarily nocturnal, so you will probably have more success if you feed him at night after the tank lights have been turned off rather during the day time when they are on.Make sure you remove any uneaten food in the tank to prevent it rotting and causing water quality problems or desease like columnaris.
Its good to drop the food in the same location so the plec can easily find it, an open area in the tank is good. Make sure you provide the pleco will some cover like a large cave for it to spend its time in during the light hours of the day.
A 4ft long and 2ft wide tank would be a good minimum size tank for such a pleco, although if you can afford or fit a larger one in your house that would be even better .

 

[LisaLQ]

Yep, looking at him with my specs on, I'd say he's an L001 too, lovely fish - big sailfins like gibbies (though wont grow as big as one - reaching 16" max, but more usually 10-12") in reverse colours. Very pretty.

 

[SLuRpIe!]

oo. Thanks!!!
yeah i thot it looked a bit different from its tankmates
ok ill start saving

also.

is it ok for stainless steel to be in the tank??
ive been weighing the vegies down with a chopstick
like a bbq

 

[SLuRpIe!]

nvm!! i read another post so i guess im good to go
thanks! ill try feeding at night in the same spot

 

[LisaLQ]

Yep that's fine

 

[§tudz]

Yep that's fine

IMO that isnt an L001 I'll do some research when I get home, he looks nothing like any L001s I've seen, and I've had mine since he was under an inch, its not a good 8-9" XD

His markings are a lot bigger than L001s and his shape is different, which leads me to think its another plec.

well As I said I'll do some research

 

[KathyM]

I agree Studz, but it's hard to tell with those pics. I think it's a nicely marked common plec (liposarcus sp.).

Edited to add: Changing my mind again looking at the picture of his belly. Hmmm maybe L001 after all.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yep that's fine

IMO that isnt an L001 I'll do some research when I get home, he looks nothing like any L001s I've seen, and I've had mine since he was under an inch, its not a good 8-9" XD

His markings are a lot bigger than L001s and his shape is different, which leads me to think its another plec.

well As I said I'll do some research

Juvenile L001's can have larger markings than their mature forms, i'm 100% positive that it is a juvenile L001.

 

[LisaLQ]

Some really bad pics of my L001 as a juvie, when I had him:

So yep, the spots can be bigger while they're young - if I remember rightly, they looked bigger in proportion to him when he was smaller than in those pics, and he grew into them

 

[Studz]

What I ment by bigger is... ok look at your pics the dots are spread out and they are like large peppered marking (Simialr to my L001 when he was young)
But look at the SLuRpIe!s Plec the marking are large marking widely spreadout.

Look at the differences in the markings, here is a close up of my L001 when I first got him, he is only a few inches long

/me searches on...

I'm still convinced its NOT an L001 though I could still be wrong


Edit:

you can also see what I mean about it being a different shape too.

 

[§tudz]

OOPS! I was logged in on the account I use for chat

 

[SLuRpIe!]

I can try taking some pics for you if you like but it may take a while as I am not the best of photographers lol.
In any case I was just wondering about how long it takes this pleco to grow to its full size.

 

[§tudz]

I can try taking some pics for you if you like but it may take a while as I am not the best of photographers lol.
In any case I was just wondering about how long it takes this pleco to grow to its full size.

Well the one pictured above was about 1" when I bought him, in april 2006, and he is now easily 8-9" so its grown an inch a month