solution to Pl*co problem

meow91

meow91

AC Members
Feb 1, 2007
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North Central Florida
Three years ago I bought a common Pl*co from pet smart, being told he was an excellent algae eater and would not get too big. I put him in a 5 gal tank and he soon outgrew it. I bought a 20 gal and put him in that. He has now outgrown that. He also is terror on my plants and poos alot almost making more mess then he could possibly fix. Since I do 20% water changes twice weekly and test my water just as often. I have been very sadly trying to figure out what to do since I cannot afford a larger tank and he is really a nice fish with much personality. Well, this brings me to my solution, Today I called a lfs that is small and family owned for many years. They said this is a common problem, as we all know, and that they would take my Pl*co in trade for a new small one and then they would sell mine to someone who wanted a big one. I would then every few years trade out Pl*cos. Therefor always having a great fish and never worry about how big he will get. aThey will make a small profit off my Guy and I will still have a Pl*co. What are your ideas about this? And is this practice common?
 
It is probably a more common practice than we will admit. Though I don't think we should set the practice as a standard, I would prefer the swap out to benefit the fish from getting stunted, if it isn't already.

On another thought, what would be your feelings on changing out a pet like a cat or dog every 2-3 yrs, that you initially got as a kit/pup?

;)
 
Why don't you just get a smaller plec, like a bushy nose?
 
jm1212 said:
CAEs dont even eat algea though. they eat your fish.
Click to expand...

They do when they're little and before the get really agressive and they keep algae off of my deco's. I do not like these fish per say but the little ones will clean a bunch. I was mearly pointing out the solution for the pleco as stated above was how I deal with my choice of using CAE's for algae. I now have 2 American flag fish for algae.
 
My LFS does the same thing with the trade out system. I just bought a clown pleco which stays 3 or 4 inches and 2 SAEs. All of those together are less of a bio load than one standard pleco and eat TONS more algae. I made the mistake with the standard plecos before and hated giving them away.
 
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