Pleco in trouble

[joy13]

Yes do water changes every week at least 25 to 50 percent.

With the proper care a pleco can live longer than 10 years and can get over 2 foot long. Most people think look at the cute little sucker fish I want one. Once they get them they turn out to be more than they bargained for.

 

[Gulino2]

Thank you all for your advice. I will do partial water changes more often now. Wow i'm surprised he's done so well for 1 1/2" years this way.

I want him to live a long and healthy life.

In my 15 gallon tank, how big can I allow him to get, before I have to upgrade my tank?

oh, also, I now understand possible why other fish didn't last in my tank, I wasn't changing the water enough and they probably couldn't handle all of the waste.

What sort of fish do you recommend in a tank with a pleco?

 

[joy13]

In your 15 gallon tank I don't think adding fish would be a good ideas because of the waste problem. If you up grade you can put most fish in with him. His size might be stunted or at least slowed because of the water quality, but it is probably just slowed.

 

[Gulino2]

how long does it usually take for one to get full size?

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

i have one i put in my 55 gallon 5 months ago.. he is already 9" long.. the bigger the tank.. the more active they are.. the more they eat.. the more they grow.. id upgrade to a 29-55 gallon soon.. for his sake anyways.

 

[fisch]

As fish tend to get larger they also tend to be a little more messy when they eat. So you may have been ok with lots of fish and fewer water changes initially. But as the pleco got larger he was probably cleaning up less of the leftover food and making more of a mess himself. Also, with smaller tanks things can get out of whack much quicker than larger tanks.
As for tank size, get as big as your can afford. 55 gallons is probably the minimum size when the pleco gets full grown. The good thing though, is that you can add other fish too when you get a larger tank. And now that you found this site there are plenty of willing people to help you on your way.

 

[papa_bear_21]

In reference to the bogwood, the commons do not require bogwood for their diet. Your plec is a common, he would enjoy it for cover, but it is not a supplement to his diet. I usually use a spoon or other utensil to sink my veggies, though anything that will keep it to the bottom will suffice, as long as it is safe to the water.

As mentioned before, a partial water is needed to lower your water levels. You say you do a change every 3-4 weeks, with a large plec like that, you may want to move that up to about every 2 weeks. He puts off a lot of waste, and requires a little more maintenance. keep us posted on the results.

Commons can live for many years, give the right circumstances. They can get as big as 18 inches, but will require a much larger tank, a full grown common will require roughly a 6 foot long tank. They will only grow as big as their surroundings, meaning they will eventually die if they are in too small of a tank.