Which plecos stay small?

K

KeithL

AC Members
Nov 5, 2006
60
0
0
72
Wisconsin
Last year I was given a 6 inch common pleco and it has done well in my 55 gallon community tank. Now it is nearly a foot long and I am thinking it might be better off in my son's 125 gallon tank, and I want to get one or two new plecos to take its place. I am told many types stay small(er), and not being a pleco expert I am wondering which ones will stay in the less than 6" range?

I really like this guy that I have now. He spends lots of time in an artificial rock cave in the corner of the tank, but when he comes out he is spectacular! His fins are all flared, and he will come to the front of the tank and display. Its just that he will continue to grow, and there are getting to be fewer and fewer places for him to land and still fit.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
ancistrus, some panaque, and peckoltia sp. usually don't get huge. Hypancistrus are generally small, too. The more common smallish plecs are the bristlenose (common, albino, longfin), clown (panaque maccus), flash (L204, panaque sp.), king tiger (L066, hypancistrus sp.) and queen arabesque (L260, Hypancistrus sp.). Go to www.planetcatfish.com and check out the catelog. Look under family loracidae and you'll find lots of smallish plecs. The families to avoid, mostly, are baryancistrus (gold nuggets, green/blue phantom) and hypostomus. These are the groups that get to 10"+, although some grow slowly. And yeah, some will tell you that the baryancistrus will not get huge, but they do.

good luck!

Andy
 
IME gold nugget plecos do not get overly huge like the common pleco does. However, the others listed probably do.

Marinemom
 
There are probably a lot of different species called gold nugget, with different max sizes.
 
most reference sites list all species of gold nugget maxing out at 12". I've heard that some species will only get to 6", but those are listed at 12" in other places. I guess no one knows for sure, but I like to be conservative.
 
My foot long pleco is now happily living in my son's 125 gallon tank, and my 55 gallon now is home to one Bristlenose Pleco and one Clown Pleco. No doubt about it I downsized with these guys. They are both about two inches long and are neat little fish. They both spend some time out of hiding so I can watch them (I like that), and have been eating algae like crazy. I have wood in the tank for them, and will augment the algae with discs and veggies like I did with the Common that grew so well. Nice to know these guys will stay small.

Thanks for the advice folks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom