Maximum Fish Sizes

[anvil63]

Okay I've been on this forum for a while and always see people getting jumped on for having plecs and clown loaches in too small of tanks for their eventual size. My question is not about these fish's max size, but rather how long it takes them to get there. For instance I had three clown loaches in my 55gal as well as a common plec. They lived there quite happily for about 2-2.5 years. They were then moved to the 150 gal for another couple of years. The loaches are still only about 5" and the plec is about 9".

I would love to have a trio of 13" loaches or a 18" plec, but how long does it take for these fish to attain these sizes.

Especiallly since I would feel that a 150 would be a bit to small for these and it would give me a great excuse to move up

Carl

 

[The-Wolf]

growth rates depend on a lot of X factors, so they can not be accuratly stated.
apart from genetics the rate depends on food (how much available and how often) space and temperature.

 

[anvil63]

Yeah I realize this. I was hoping for a rough estimate on the loaches. They were always more of my dad's thing and I honestly don't know too much about them. As for plecs I've had many and have never had one reach a foot in length in under about four to five years.

But as for the details - 78 deg F; fed rather heavily on flake, dried tubifex, frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, and live snails; water changes 30-50% weekly

 

[morgan]

Hi, I don't know anything much about loaches but I do have a largish Pleco. I am not sure exactly what type he is, he was sold to me as a Bristlenose but he is not. I bought him in May and he was 2 - 3 inches. He is now 10 inches. So to answer your question, he has grown 7 inches in 7 months. He has also got a lot broader. I think he is a Gibbiceps. He is at present in a 96litre (about 20UK gals) and he is going into a 300litre (about 60 - 62 UK gals. I have got the tank today . He is fed on algae wafers and also I put Brineshrimp, Daphnia, Bloodworms etc. for all the fish to eat. I also put flakes for the other fish but he ignores those.

 

[Valyrian]

Clown loaches grow very slowly but they live for a long time, supposedly 20+ years. That's why 12"-13" loaches are so impressive, it's because of the time and dedication needed to raise them to that size.

 

[cane76]

my loaches are growing about 1" every 2or 3 months they are now 6"

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Common/sailfin plecs should grow an inch a month in the first year of their life but after that they slow down, alot depends on how big common/sailfin plecs grow as they can cross-breed with each other creating hybrid common/sailfin plecs, which makes them difficult to accuratly ID or tell how big they'll get- generally though if the plec has many veins in its sailfin it will grow large(i.e 8 is very few, but 13 is alot).
I personally wouldn't add a monster sized plec to your tank is you already have a large one as although common/sailfin plecs are pretty peaceful as far as fish go, they can bully each other over food and terotory(not violently though) and a larger plec will almost always win unless you decorate the tank VERY carefully and also feed them carefully as they can have alot of disputes over terotorys and food.
Adding clown loaches will not be a problem though at all as long as you don't overstock your tank, the more clown loaches the better as they are very sociable friendly fish, even if slow growers- but then again they are long term investment fish and can live to 40yrs+ so they're not in any hurry .