New Plec! - Updated

[Flumpus]

After the whole bristlenose fiasco, I needed a bigger, tougher plec for my cichlid tank. I went to my LFS with something and mind and found this great fish!

 

[Durbkat]

Cool you got a common pleco!

 

[maryjason]

He's a lovely plec Flumpus. Ours is about 3 1/2 - 4" least urs is out , when i first got mine it hid for about 2 weeks , but now it never hides which is good cos i ve got a synodontis catfish i only see when i takes its hiding place out ov the tank to check its healthy hahaha Mary

 

[catxx]

he's gorgeous!!

my LFS has a common plec in their show cichlid tank, he's about a foot and a half long!!

 

[Flumpus]

This guy is about 9" long. I wanted one that was bigger than any cichlid I had in the tank so it wouldn't be bothered, or would at least stand up for itself. As far as I can tell he's doing great so far, and has cleaned off several rocks already!

 

[overboard]

I have one of these as well. I wish I never bought it or at least had the smarts to do some research first. I had a planted tank and bought one of these when he was 2" long. He is now about 7" and kills all live plants, doesn't eat algea just comes out to eat the food that falls to bottom of the tank and to top it all off, he craps out piles and piles of poop everywhere. He poops as fast as I can clean the tank. Bummer! What a mess. I had to switch to all fake plastic plants. LOL!

 

[Flumpus]

Haha, well, since he's in a cichlid tank I don't have that problem. There are no plants (real or plastic), just a bunch of rocks with algae, and good hiding places. I knew about the excessive amount of poop from my bristlenoses, which are affectionately named Poopy and Big Poopy. It'll take a little extra cleanup on my part, but I love watching plecs, so it'll be worth it.

 

[overboard]

I should pack mine up and Fedex him to you. LOl! He is pretty cool looking but the plop is getting to me. Oh Well, how long can they live, this one is about 2.5 years old?

 

[PlecMama]

Congrats on the Plec

I have 4 of those, three little ones and a 9 inch one, Nessie, and ok so they poo a bit (lot) but boy are they pretty and majestic when they glide around!

Oh and big well done to getting such good pics!

As far as life span goes.....be prepared to have your poop machine for a good further 15 years wonder how much poop that is?

 

[Durbkat]

Actually they can live 20 to 25 years depending on how well they were taken care of and if they had enough room to grow as big as they want. Also you will need to rehome your pleco because a 25 gallon is to small for a common pleco but you could trade it in at the pet store for a bristlenose pleco. I know what you guys mean about the poop, this morning I woke up to a piece of poop stuck onto the intake of my big filter and a very long piece of poop (bout 6" long) stuck to the intake to my small filter that came from my 20g since I'm cloning my 55g. Its sick and now I'll have to take a net to help the filter be able to suck the poop up.

 

[Flumpus]

After cleaning up all the algae in the tank in a surprisingly short amount of time, I decided we needed to feed the new pleco something substantial. We bought a cucumber, but then though "how are we gonna get it to sink?" We didn't have anything except some old tank decorations, so this is what we came up with...

Giant Poopy (his new name) isn't sure about it yet...

And a peacock is wondering what we've put in front of his favorite rock...