12" common in a 20 high tank!

plecoperson · Post by **plecoperson** » 09 Apr 2006, 05:20

We got this fish 2 weeks ago from someone who was moving-if I have to look at him/her in this tiny prison much longer I'm going to scream. Seems to be doing very well, considering. Vacuumed his gravel, rinsed his filter cartridges. They took great care of their dogs and cats, not so much with the fish.

We have two options: Either get the 55-gal kit from PetsMart, or find him a new home with someone with a larger tank than that. Moneywise and spacewise we can't go larger here. I assume that large common ples are not a hot item for the serious aquarist, but I don't want to put him in a 55 if that's going to be too small anyway.

Fascinating fish! We love "Frederick" and my husband will weep openly if we don't keep him, but I am more concerned about Fred's welfare than a few husband tears....

Opinions on whether a 55 will serve him OK, at least for the next year, and whether I would be likely to find someone w/a large tank to take him?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 10 Apr 2006, 12:22

If you have a fish that is 12" long, you should really have a tank that is 48 x 24 x 24 inches, as that's 4L x 2L x 2L (L being the length of the fish). A 55g tank, I beleive, is 48" long and something like 13" wide and 15" tall. It's VERY FAR from sufficient, the fish can't even turn around without making a "six point turn". Certainly, a 55g tank is not big enouhg.

Pleco's aren't active swimmers, but they still need enough space. Just marginally, I'd say you could get away with a tank that is around 48" long and 18-20" wide - height should be at least 18", but any standard tank with a width of 18-20" would be taller than that anyways, so I'm not worried about that.

Giving the fish to a local fish-shop or some other way finding it a new home would be the other solution.

Of course, those tank-sizes are for the size the fish is right now. It's most likely not fully grown, these things can grow another 6-10" from where it is now, assuming it's given sufficient space and food. So within a year or two, I'd say you need an even bigger tank, eventually ending up with a tank in the order of 6 x 3 x 3 foot - that's HUGE!

--
Mats

plecoperson · Post by **plecoperson** » 11 Apr 2006, 16:46

I think we've decided to get the 55g to offer him a better environment until we can find someone with an adequate-sized tank. I have a couple of leads but will stall on contacting them so I can justify getting the 55 first.