Is my setup suitable

[XIII13]

Thanks to this site I now know that I have a L001 rather than the Clown Pleco that the LFS said they had sold me (previously a shop that has given me great advice).

My issue now is that the LFS said "the Clown" would only grow to about 5", but it looks like I have a fish that could potentially double that. My other issue is that I like this fish and want to keep it, so would appreciate any advice around my set-up and if it's suitable before I take the fish back to the shop.

Details are

- The fish in question is currently approx 3" long
- Tank (Internal volume )118Lx38Dx60H (CMs)
- Filter Rena XP3 (mechanical and biological - No Chemical)
- 2 substrate layers: 1) Plant substrate 2"; 2) Quarts Gravel approx (2-3mm) 2"
- Low wattage heating cable below substrate
- Daytime CO2 injection.
- Approx 70% planted, plus driftwood & piece of slate
- Other fish are Shrimps, Tetra's & Dwarf Gourami.
- Maximum planned stocking density is 52" (inc Pleco)
- Ammonia 0; Nitrite 0; Nitrate 15ppm; KH 6.5; PH 7.2
- Regular treatments are tapwater conditioner, blackwater bio and plant fertiliser.
- Water changes 10-15% per week (usually 50:50 RO and tapwater)

Are there any issues with anything above that could cause a problems.

When the fish is fully grown is it likely to cause significant disruption to the substrate and plants? Although happy to re-organise things to minimise this.

Thanks in advance for any advice ofered.

Cheers
STEVE

[MatsP]

Your tank is a bit narrow to accomodate a 10"+ fish...

Unfortunately, shops make mistakes sometimes. There's two things that can be done about it "after the fact", and you have to choose which way you go at some point.
If you bought the fish relatively recently, you may be able to take it back and get a genuine clown pleco in it's place. The clown won't eat algae quite so well, but at least you'll be able to house it in the tank you've got... Or you can live with the fish you have, and accept that it's not what the shop told you, and it doesn't match what you expected to get in terms of adult size...

Once this fish grows quite big, it will probably conflict with your plants. Not so much that it's going to eat them, but rather that the plants will be "bulldozed" out of the way when the fish decides that it wants to get from point A to point B in the tank, and plant X happens to be in it's choosen way from A to B... That applies not to this fish only, but to just about any larger pleco - they don't go well with planted environments... The bigger, the worse the plants fare.

I'm not a fan of using inches of fish to track stocking levels. Nitrate levels (combined with the fish's behaviour) is a better measure of the correect stocking level - bearing in mind that you have to account for growth in the fish...

Also, why don't you add where you live to your profile - it's helpfull when it comes to giving advice that is dependant on the locale (such as if you live in the UK, I might say that B&Q has a good supply of rocks, which wouldn't be particularly useful to someone in Australia, where I'd probably just say "try a local garden centre", because I don't believe B&Q are available in Australia...)

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Mats
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Mats