Should I Get A Pleco?

[Decca]

Someone gave me a ten gallon tank a little over ayear ago that already had a pleco about 3 or 4 inches in it. about 3 months ago i got a twenty gallon as well. about a month ago the pleco I got died. I went in today to get another one and the woman at the store pretty much told me not to. saying that they will get up to 18 inches and my tank is way to small and I should get two of some other kind of fish instead. I understand that they get big. I grew up with fish tanks and I have friends who have some very large plecos. but doesnt it take a while? I mean my 4 inch one has been that size for the year I have had him. In all the time i have talked to people who keep fish i have never heard anyone say not to get a pleco that is less than two inches because it is going to get big some day. I am not against the idea of trying something different, I just wanted another oppinion.
Today I moved my pleco into the 20 gallon tank so I am trying to figure out what to do for the ten. in the ten I have 3 tetras and 3 cherry barbs. in the 20 I have guppies. any advice?
thanks.

 

[BerryAttack]

i have a pleco that can grow up to 24" and he is in a 20 gallon right now.. been there for years and is only around 6"... the thing is with them... the bigger the tank, the more room they have to grow.
i find them dirty fish, but always fun to see sucking on the glass xD

 

[snazy]

Why don't you get a smaller breed pleco like the bristlenose type, they'll grow max 6 inches or so.
I've got a common pleco a year and a half old, 7 inches long from head to end of the tail. It's not that massive because the tail is nearly half his size but is still too big for a 20G.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Had a Common in a 10 g for like 2 months.. Grew about 1". Moved it to 36 g, it grew 7" in 5 months. Bristlenose, def.

 

[Decca]

Oh! i will have to ask at the store next time if they have a smaller breed. I went to pet smart and there plecos are all spreed out and sometimes hard to find But i saw atleast 3 or 4 differnt kinds. when i asked the women though she just told me not to get one and I was kind of put off. She didnt seem to be in the happiest of moods. All of the ones they have there are probebly between an inch and two inches long. atleast the ones I saw. i will do some research before going back in to buy. Thank you both very much. you were both very helpful!

 

[raptorrex]

the bigger the tank, the more room they have to grow.
i find them dirty fish, but always fun to see sucking on the glass xD

seriously man, you believe that old wives tale, do you?
because its totally and utterly untrue.
the fish is STUNTED, which is cruel.
and something there is no excuse for.
clear information is posted here, and everywhere, for this type of fish and the volumes it needs.
WHY IGNORE IT?

I'm sorry if this comes of HARSH.
but i think we have no right to perpetrate such cruelty.

 

[BerryAttack]

the bigger the tank, the more room they have to grow.
i find them dirty fish, but always fun to see sucking on the glass xD

seriously man, you believe that old wives tale, do you?
because its totally and utterly untrue.
the fish is STUNTED, which is cruel.
and something there is no excuse for.
clear information is posted here, and everywhere, for this type of fish and the volumes it needs.
WHY IGNORE IT?

I'm sorry if this comes of HARSH.
but i think we have no right to perpetrate such cruelty.

dude that's what i said... bigger the tank, the bigger the fish will get.. don't you read?

 

[dbanner]

BerryAttack, What raptorrex is trying to say is you should never even have a fish with a potential size of 24 inches in a 20 gal as it doesn't have the room to grow... Which is why yours is only around 6 inches. If it was in the correct size tank then it would be much bigger by now. You said yours has bee in the tank for years so it sounds like your plec is already stunted from such a small tank. They need tanks of around 5-6 feet long and at least 2 feet wide.

 

[snazy]

I don't think the growth has anything to do with the size of tank. Normally the more overfiltered the tank, the faster the pleco will grow. In a small tank, the bigger the pleco, the bigger the bioload. Most beginners in the hobby buy tanks that come packed with a filter and normally that filter is way below the requirements of the tank itself, not to mind a bioload like a pleco. In a tank with very high bioload and very poor filtration any fish will get stunted, sick, etc... not because they've no room to swim, it's because of the poor unstable conditions an overstocked, underfiltered tank will provide.
So in a well filtered small tank a common pleco will grow and grow until it can't turn around, then it takes only a cruel and blind man to leave it suffer in this tank.

 

[BerryAttack]

well i have my pleco and some sort of catfish thing.. in a 20 gallon.. no other fish.. i understand what you all are saying... but in the end you have to realize that some people can't have a 4-5ft, by 2ft long tank..
i've had my pleco for 7 years... very healthy and happy, no colour loss or lack of eating... etc

and i've got my pleco when i was a kid... so you can't be "you should have known" .... haha kids don't know these things. now i do, and i am way older now so i know now not to buy a large species fish... because of that reason.

raptorrex,
advise.... when you think someone is not doing something right... be polite because in the end if your rude then they won't take your advise.



haha sorry Decca for the side track... but i think you should get a small breed of pleco... or you might hear people freaking out at yea cause of the size of your tank... blah blah blah...

 

[Questions?]

the bigger the tank, the more room they have to grow.
i find them dirty fish, but always fun to see sucking on the glass xD

seriously man, you believe that old wives tale, do you?
because its totally and utterly untrue.
the fish is STUNTED, which is cruel.
and something there is no excuse for.
clear information is posted here, and everywhere, for this type of fish and the volumes it needs.
WHY IGNORE IT?

I'm sorry if this comes of HARSH.
but i think we have no right to perpetrate such cruelty.

+1
people may think stunting is wrong. but here is the story. it shortens the life of your fish. the body will stope to grow. the organs will continue to grow. the fish is not happy. the organs implode(the y explode inside the body). bye bye fishie. NEVER STUNT FISH

 

[snazy]

+1
people may think stunting is wrong. but here is the story. it shortens the life of your fish. the body will stope to grow. the organs will continue to grow. the fish is not happy. the organs implode(the y explode inside the body). bye bye fishie. NEVER STUNT FISH

This is so not true.

 

[dbanner]

+1
people may think stunting is wrong. but here is the story. it shortens the life of your fish. the body will stope to grow. the organs will continue to grow. the fish is not happy. the organs implode(the y explode inside the body). bye bye fishie. NEVER STUNT FISH

This is so not true.

It is very true... Up until the part about organs imploding.. The rest is true. The fish stops growing on the outside but it's organs continue to grow causing pain, eventually deformity and then early death. The above statement by BerryAttack is very true... "Not everyone has or can get a 5-6 ft x 2ft wide tank"... So in that case you should only buy the fish suitable for the tank you have.. Not monster size plecs and such.

The only plecs suitable for a 20 gal no matter what the tank mates (if any) would be a bristlenose or something like a clown plec or bulldog plec.. 1 that only gets to say 6-7 inches tops.

If a common or sailfin plec can only get to 6 inches in "years" in a tank then it's clearly stunted.

 

[snazy]

There isn't one scientific proof that organs keep growing and the shell remains the same causing pain in the fish. What's the logic in that anyway? Why would the skin and bones remain the same and how exactly does the body/brain send signals to the outside of the fish to stop growing but tells the organs to grow, described in simple words. Stunted fish yes, but to describe it as organs growing in a small shell is ridiculous. Fish get stunted and that doesn't mean their organs outgrow their body, it's because of water quality issues causing health problems and organ failure. A healthy, well filtered aquarium will not stunt a fish as long as you move it out on time to keep growing as small aquarium can't provide the necessary filtration for big fish.
Try growing 50 guppy fry to adulthood in a 10G tank, they'll get stunted too eventually although it will have nothing to do with them not having enough room to grow.

 

[dbanner]

The skin and bones don't remain the same at all. Lol. This is why they are snakeheads and arowanas all over YouTube with arched backs and dropped eye from being in too small of a tank. Hence why stunting leads to deformity. There are plenty of experienced members on this forum that will back this up