Algae eater - Page 2

**Cory1990** · 06-30-2012, 03:25 AM

Yea Mine makes a mess, I'm just not completely decided on keeping it in a 55 yet. I may take him over to my moms house for one of her tanks. That's what I do with most the fish I don't want to keep lol. She may like it I'm not sure. But yea they make a big mess.

Angelclown · 06-30-2012, 01:49 PM

Cory: how many plecos do you have? If you only have one, I would suggest getting another one so that the one you have may be happy. Maybe the one you have is not happy being alone, if he is the only pleco you have. It could be why he isn't eating anything.

Plecos eat what is left over from what other fish don't eat, plus they eat fish waste as well. My 55 gallon tank is clean and clear, and I have two plecos that keep it that way.

**lohachata** · 06-30-2012, 02:36 PM

angel....contrary to some beliefs , fish do not eat fish waste....
plecos are mostly solitary creatures so i doubt they get lonely or have any need for a friend to be happy...
i agree that it needs to be moved to a larger tank...i am not sure exactly what species it is but there are a few we can rule out...
commons do grow fast.....if one has a common pleco that is 5 years old and only 6 or 8 inches long then it is severely stunted....i bought a couple of tanks from a guy..with them came fish..2 of them were 3" common plecos....within a year they were almost 10"at 2 years they were 18"...that is when i sold them to a coworker who put them in a 240 gallon tank...i wonder how big they are now...lol
not all plecos are fast growing...most of the hypancistris and peckoltia do not reach fuul size until they are 5 or 6 years old...and most of them stay pretty small...6" or less...

**Cory1990** · 06-30-2012, 05:19 PM

Oh god if mine was 18" I would put that bad boy in my pond! That's way to big of a fish that I ever want to keep lol. I don't think he's lonley and it seems fine. I just have not seen it grow at all. So until I see a size change or a huge growth spirt it will stay in my 10g he likes hanging out in the darker areas of the tank or hangs out on my filter tube. And I really never see him so it's not like I wouldn't relies it growing because it comes out like once a week.
He likes to just hang out by my heater. But I already have 2 full proof plans to move it to another tank.

Redhead305 · 07-01-2012, 01:54 AM

i dont think its a common, it looks like a clown imp. Commons dont have much patterning

**Cory1990** · 07-01-2012, 03:01 AM

I really have no idea I just know its small has not grown much if any at all and it's poop can stretch up to 6" at times when I see the huge string of poop coming off of it.