How much room do Plecos need?

CoNMaN

CoNMaN

Large Fish
#1
Jul 1, 2003
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Madison, Wisconsin
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#1
I went to a couple of FS in madison over the weekend, and was very disturbed to find a very very large pleco (over 18") curled up in a 30 gal tank, it looked like it couldnt even turn around in the tank. Its head was buried under a piece of drift wood in the very front of the tank, and its tail swept around the side of the tank, and settled almost parrell with its head. (if you dont understand taht his body made a complete U shape in the tank) I wanted to get him out of there, i asked teh kid working why he was in such a small tank and he said that it was the right size for him. I think bull****! I wish i had a tank to put him in. Very pretty sailfin.
 

420Loach

420Loach

Superstar Fish
#3
May 26, 2003
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Makaha, Hawaii
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#3
yeah it does, but here people just dump fish back into stores fully grown, because they claim they didnt now how big it would get, and ive also been to houses that had a 12 inch oscar in a ten gallon tank. pisses me off, but people dont care either way.

ive got a two inch common pleco in my 55 right now, hes a happy little guy! cant really find a fancy one here.
 

Angelfish

Angelfish

Superstar Fish
#4
Apr 14, 2003
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Valencia, California.
#4
Unfortunately I have seen simmilar things at my LFS, they usually have more than one 8" pleco in 15 gals. Makes me sad :( But I do believe that people dont realize how big fish get sometimes, especialy plecos, they start out so tiny, and someone who hasnt done research before probably wont imagine it will get 20 times bigger. There is no excuse for the LFS to cramp a sailfin in a 30 gal. That really sucks.
 

C

cory catfish

Small Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
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#7
When I first bought my tank I had three corys and five neon tetra. At first the glass was coated in algae and the snail population I had introduced with the purchase of aquarium plants made the tank unsightly. I made the rash decision of buying a sailfin pleco, my tank is now clean but the fish has reached a length of nearly 6 inches (including tail). Do I need a larger tank?
 

F

Fatboy

Large Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
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#12
Yeah my friend keeps a Pleco in a 25/30 gallon tank with some other fish, mainly barbs. He needed a bottom feeder for his tank and the original pleco that I suggested he get was killed by his tank mates. It was fairly small but I thought it would have room to grow out until he got a bigger tank, unfortunately I was wrong and it fell prey to the viscious barbs in the tank. Now his new pleco is a good 6" and growing so no fish in the tank even thinks about having a go at him.

I know what u guys mean when u find it sad finding a large fish in the lfs stuffed into a small tank. In my friends case I actually find it kinda funny as his pleco seems to be doing very well and I can't help but find it cute when his tail sticks out from under the driftwood he hides in. I think my friend will be getting a bigger tank soon. Probably a 55g.
 

dana307

dana307

Large Fish
#14
Jan 6, 2003
703
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Massachusetts
#14
Grrrrrrr. I hate that!

Another rant - went to Petco just to shop for plants as my good lfs doesn't carry much in plants. Tons of dead fish in the tanks. Looked atrocious. Told the manager that it was a HUGE deterrent to buying fish and I walked out without spending a cent. Course I prefer in general to go to the small LFS but sometimes I have to go elsewhere for some things.
 

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