Will my large pleco mind smaller plecos?

[mrfryc]

I currently have a larger pleco who is 10" in length. I was considering potentially adding another smaller pleco (probably 3" or shorter in length). He is in a 30G tank, but will be upgraded to 55G in the future (LFS owner thought 9 to 12 months).

I have read, but not experienced, that pleco's can be territorial, so would he terribly mind another pleco?

In researching, I believe my pleco to be a "Acanthicus Hystrix".

[AnDr3w]

Dont even bother uprading to a 55. Just go straight to the 75g. 55 has no added depth and the length is not that much of a help. Addonis grow monster, as in over 2 feet.

[mrfryc]

Not that it matters, but do the chain stores usually carry tanks larger than 55G?

The only place I remember seeing larger ones for sale was at my LFS, which isn't a problem, just curious if a tank that big is too big for a chain store to stock.

[MySpace Mike]

a 75g is only a 6" difference than a 55g to be honest. Basically it all depends on what kind of pleco you have. If it's a common pleco they can reach 20" so I suggest a 90g or larger tank if you plan on keeping more than a single pleco. Some plecos can tollerate others being in the tank, and some can't. Pleco's just like any other fish fully depends on each fishes personal temperment on whether or not they can tollerate others in the tank.

[wataugachicken]

i think the amount of aggression will depend on the fish. i currently have 4 bristlenose plecos, 3 clowns (panaque maccus), a royal pleco, and a common pleco altogether in a 150g tanks. they range in size from 1.5 - 10 inches long. they do just fine with each other. when the bristlenose plecos were first introduced back to each other (they were all siblings purchased at the same time, but kept in different tanks for over a year) they did fight and it looked very violent, but none of them had damage once things were settled. before this tank, the common pleco (10 inches) was kept with a very evil rubberlip pleco (3 inches) who would constantly drive the larger fish away from the food.

[legendaryfrog]

if you give your plecos some of their own room to make territories, there wont be much aggression. Like andrew said, go for the 75g, as a minimum.

and yes, most larger fish and pet stores do carry tanks above 75g. If you're worried about price, check out craigslist.com for some hot deals on used tanks.

[Malefic23]

Add to that some plec species show agression only within their own species. Adonis can be a little territorial with other adonis, most people don't carry tankage to hold one adult, much less two. Royals can be very agressive to other royals, etc etc. When you upgrade to 75 or larger, you can try another species of smaller plec, that does'nt resemble the adonis in pattern.

[Barbie]

Adonis are going to tend to be aggressive to anything and everything in their tank, IME. I definitely wouldn't class them with other plecos and their tendencies towards conspecifics. Adonis are right buggers once they get a little size to them!

Barbie