pleco delemo, oops

[lethalp]

I bought, what I now know is a common pleco from my lfs, he is doing fine, he resides with 2 danios. Question, will he be ok in a 2.5g tank? I posted this on another forum and they suggested I talk to someone here. So you could all laugh at me I am guessing:( They all said I had a future monster on my hands. Before you start telling me what I dumb move this was let me defend myself a bit. First of I told the guy at the fish store exactly what I had, and he told me to get it anyway, and second I am getting ready to move him to a 29g tank. Will he be ok there? And is there anything I can get to replace him in the 2.5g?Hope this was good for a chuckle, now please lead me in the right direction ;)

[Darkangel]

The short answers, no he will not be okay in a 29 for long and definantly not in the 2.5. For algae removal in a 2.5 I would look to a snail.

[clayt101]

I agree, I would return him to the store. Try to get credit for it. One possibility for such a small aquarium is an otto, but I would probably just wait until you get the 29 gallon.

[wetmanNY]

We're not so nasty here. We love a good laugh. But not at your expense. Our own foolishness is funny enough.

-"We're all a little mad here, you know."-

The Cheshire Cat to Alice.

[valerie]

Not much can live in a 2.5gal tank,definately not the common pleco. The pleco will even out grow the 29gal.

For algae control in a little tank such as a 2.5gal I would either get a snail or an oto.But if it were my tnak i would just clean the algae by hand(the tank is small so it won't take long). What kind of algae do you have? Maybe add a plant or just don't keep the lights on.

As for the 29gal if it developes an algae problem i would suggest a bristlenose(bushynose) pleco.they only get about 4-6" and do a great job with algae.

I would return the common pleco.They grow huge and become lazy,not eating algae. They are also pooping machines and will be more of a problem then you need.

[lethalp]

What can I feed my common pleco? As I said the 29g isn't ready yet. He is gonna get lazy? I had a ball watching him last night, he was all over the place! Up unti then he stayed over by the filter so I hadn't seen him that much. I wondered if he was dead. He sure wasn't last night! I must say watching him has been the most fun I have had since I got into this whole tank thing. Anyway, what do I feed him? Thanks!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Return him and get like an oto.

[Bantam]

they'll eat algae tablets, cucumber, courgette (zuchini i think), lettuce and mine has a tate for bloodworms.

you definitley need to get it out of the 2.5g asap. and as mentioned it will outgrow the 29g. unless you're prepared to keep upgrading your tanks i'd take him back before you get too attached ;) . if they are kept in too small a tank for long their spine and head become deformed which isn't good obviously.

[valerie]

what i meant by lazy is that when they get bigger they stop eating algae and will prefer fish food.

I feed my plecos algae tabs,carnivour tabs,zuchini,cucumber, carrots