At what size do I have to move my pleco?

F

FancyFins

one of "those" people...
Aug 12, 2007
15
0
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Arkansas, USA
*sigh* I spent all of last night reading here (for other reasons), and have come to the sad realization that I can't keep my hypostomus pleco to adulthood in the tank I have. It's a ~30-gal (12"x36"x18") with just the one pleco (approx. 2 years old) and a super-herd of guppies.

I knew they got big. I read the care sheets and did other research before I purchased him, but at the time, I thought my tank was a 50gal (got off Freecycle & was told 50g). I guess by the time I figured out it was really only a 30g, I had forgotten that the care sheet said a pleco needs at least 45g. :uhoh:

So what I need to know is - at what size will he have to be rehomed? He's 5" long right now (not including the tail fin). Is he already overcrowded in 30g? I'm perfectly willing to get rid of most of the guppies to make him temporarily more comfortable, or at least transfer some to my empty-ish 10g tank (currently hosting snails and algae) but it probably won't solve his problem in the long run. :confused: Also, I'm not sure how to rehome any of them (the pleco or the guppies). I'll have to check with the LFS about buy-backs - bet they won't want guppies. :headshake2:
 
The bigger tank the better.

What about looking for a larger tank :) instead of sending him back where he might just be placed back in a 30 gallon tank by someone else, or worse!
 
I wouldn't worry too much as long as you plan to upgrade... My 9" gibbiceps pleco is currently in a 38gal tank with too many other fish... and has been since I upgraded the tank (up from 29 about 3 years ago); he's planned to go into the 55ish I'm in the process of setting up, and hopefully in a year or so I'll be in a more permanent location (i.e., not a 2nd floor apartment) with a job and can get him a much bigger living space. I feel like as long as the fish has enough space to turn around, hang on whichever tank side he feels like, and can lay across the bottom, it's adequate (though not necessarily ideal). Sometimes you don't have a choice, and just do the best that you can. (as far as the guppies, as long as the water parameters are good, I'm not sure plecos care much about other fish at all... at least, mine seems to totally ignore everything else in the tank, even when they're picking over him cos they think he's a rock or something...)

And if it makes you feel any better, the BF of a friend of mine had a common plec in a 10gal tank for 9 years since the BF didn't know better (thanks to my friend, he now does :P). Jimmy has a funky weird fin that's all bent cos he was crammed in there. He was upgraded last year to a 70-something gallon tank and is much happier :) At least you're looking to be proactive about it :)
 
shaggbark said:
The bigger tank the better.

What about looking for a larger tank :) instead of sending him back where he might just be placed back in a 30 gallon tank by someone else, or worse!
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While a bigger tank sounds great, it would have to be cheap/free, and I honestly don't think I could take care of the water changes under present conditions (new baby, etc.). At least, not without a python.... see, now I'm trying to make it work! :eek3: You're an enabler! :grinyes: You definitely have a point about what might hapen to it next, though.

When I went to my local library about 3 weeks ago, I discovered that their pleco (in a 10g w/ 3 small fish... uh, serpaes?) was "missing." A librarian told me he was too big and had been traded for a new baby pleco who was hiding in there somewhere. That just seemed wrong, somehow. BUT, the original one is probably in a better place than a 10g tank.

OT: They also have a sad-looking betta in a maybe half-gallon bowl. He doesn't swim around at all. :headshake2:

Thanks, equus_peduus, I won't worry "too much" yet.

The bristlenose idea might be feasible. I'll look into it, though it feels somewhat traitorous, like trading friends. :nono:
 
FancyFins said:
The bristlenose idea might be feasible. I'll look into it, though it feels somewhat traitorous, like trading friends. :nono:
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Hehe... that's why I can't get rid of my plec (that and I've had him way too long to consider it, and he's my favorite fish...). But if I'd known when I got him that he'd get this big, I would have tried to find out about plecos that were going to stay smaller... and would do a better job of actually eating algae XD Bristlenoses, from what little I know of them, are pretty neat :)
 
You're an enabler!
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LOL!!!!!!:grinyes:


Think of it this way, if after some time you do feel the need to trade him in, at least you are thinking of his well being and doing the best for him.

If only we could trade in husbands, LOL, I'd be all set 8) Michelle
 
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