Dilemma on whether to keep Common Pleco

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hmilstead

Heather
Aug 7, 2006
111
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54
Glendale, AZ
Good evening all,

I found this site not long ago and have read alot of great information and help from many people. So my turn to ask:

Back in March, my family started in the fishkeeping hobby by accident and very quickly - we decided against a dog and my stepson brought home guppies from the pond. We knew the pond guppies didn't work but decided to go with fish as pets. I will spare you the gory details, but we did all the wrong uneducated things that happen and unfortunately listened to employees of PetsMart (I have learned they don't know much more than I did). I have learned soooo much since then. We started with a 10 gallon tank (thats where the horror stories were). We now have a 55 gallon tank that is almost through cycling.

Of all the fish that survived our ignorance, we have a lovely Pleco affectionately named "Mr. Clean". I have now done research on Mr. Clean to determine what he is and found from pictures that he is Common Pleco. I went back to PetsMart to see exactly what he is but couldn't find any of their little signs that said and I figured if I asked someone, they probalby wouldn't know either. My family is quite attached to him, but my research is showing that he is going to get quite large. We plan to have over time in the 55 gallon tank - swords, tetras (diamond or long finned black skirt), cory cats and possibly one or several dwarf gouramis. (Finding conflicting information on whether male dwarf's get along, since I haven't seen any females at the pet stores). Unless we move anytime soon the 55 gallon was pushing it on size since we live in a townhouse.

Here is the dilemma - what is in the best interest of Mr. Clean. Can he have a nice happy life in a 55 gallon tank or is it too small for him. If I try to see if PetsMart or Petco (the only two options anywhere close to where I live) will take him back as a trade, I am worried that he won't fair well there. If they take him back and if he doesn't get sold because he gets too big, what happens to him? We are attached to him and I want him to thrive, not just survive. I don't know if they even would take him back or just try to tell me the song and dance that he will "only grow as big as his tank" Yeah Right!

Let me know what you think.
 
common pleco's grow fairly slowly and i think he'll be far better off with you than back at that 'petdumb' place.
 
I agree they grow somewhat slow but the 55g tank will still be to small for him once he is full grown. Most Common Plecos get up to almost 2 feet in size and a 55g is only 4 feet long by about 1 foot wide. The fish will have a very hard time when it comes to moving in the tank and may end up injured because of this. I would not take him back to the LFS, unless you have too but if you could find someone to house him in a bigger tank then that would be the way to go. Depending on his size right now will also allow you to decide how long you have until you will have to move him to a larger tank.

All in all you will need to either get a larger tank or let someone else take him.
 
It would be really too bad to have to get rid of Mr. Clean, especially since you and your family are so obviously attached to him. It will be even harder to do that after he has outgrown the 55 gal (maybe years from now).

Maybe when he gets to that point, you could buy an even bigger tank for him??? I know, it's hard for most people to accomodate. That's why I think common plecs should really not be sold at stores and treated more like "monster fish".
 
If your only options are to send it back to one of the chain petstores or keep it, I'd keep it. It's not going to fair any better at the chain even if they accept to take it.
 
I think I'm going to take mine back to the store. He is doing great, has a full belly and loves hanging upside-down on his stick.

But I was thinking of starting a marine setup, and I don't think he would like that! Plus, he is about 7-8 inches in a 29 gallon setup and has grown quickly. Won't be too long before he has to move anyway.

These kind of decisions are tough, I would rather give him to someone with a large tank instead of taking him back to the store. But I don't know much about shipping fish, and would feel bad about killing him due to my irresponsibility.
 
I also have this dilema, I have a beautiful marble sailfin pleco. I plan to get a 100+ gallon within a year or so, but that would prolly also be too small for him fully grown. My suggestion is to find a reputable LFS not a chain. Or maybe even post on auqabid or somthing similar to try and find him a nice home free to a Big tank. I have a great LFS near me that finds larger fish new homes, I am thinking that is where my "Durty Sanchez" will end up. I also have a big "Aquarium/museum" near me, "The Chattanooga Aquarium" They have a huge river exibit, maybe I will see if they will take him. That also might be an option for you depending on where you live.
 
liv2padl said:
common pleco's grow fairly slowly and i think he'll be far better off with you than back at that 'petdumb' place.
Click to expand...

Define slowly....

When feed properly, and housed in a tank of adequate size with good water conditions, you can expect growth of about 1 inch per month for the first 2 years. Yes, I have a common, and yes he grew that fast!




The Story of Rufus....

http://aquafacts.net/showthread.php?t=406
 
Depending on which 'common' pleco he could grow to be almost 2' long.

even the smaller of the commons tend to get to 12".

But on the flip side..you could get involved and get a larger tank.

I started out with a 10, then moved to a 55..changed the 10 for a 20 (still have the 10 I use to keep fry) added a 75 ready to go, then got a deal on 2 30's with all the goodies.

we also decided to get a 110..I wanted it for a discus biotope tanks..but the spousal unit wants a marine tank.

do you have access to Craigslist??

I got almost all my tanks thru there. there are some sweet deals on tanks if you're patient.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. We are going to keep Mr. Clean for awhile. He is not going to outgrow the 55 overnight. Its unlikely we will move soon enough to get a bigger tank, so I will look for a suitable home for him before he does get to big. If anyone knows someone in the Southern Maryland area that would have space for him, let me know. I loved the story about Rufus and the idea about a public aquarium is interesting too. The National Aquarium is at the Baltimore Harbor and I was going to take my kids there in the next month or so. I could ask them at the time if they take donated fish. Mr. Clean probably would be in fishy heaven in one of their tanks. Have a great weekend.
Heather
 
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