Royal Pleco Growth
Posted: 09 Mar 2007, 19:55
Hello all,
I'm new to posting to this site though regularly visit others. I have a question about my royal pleco and this seems to be the best place to ask it.
I have been keeping fish for 15+ years. I currently have a 60 gallon tank which houses a royal pleco (~5-6"), L001 pleco (~8"), a blue acara (5"), a rainbow cichlid (4"), and 3 clown loaches (3-5"). It has several hiding places and two pieces of driftwood. I run 2 Emperor 400 HOB filters. Water change schedule is 50-70% every 5-7 days and ammonia and nitrite are always at 0 and nitrate is generally below 10.
I feed cichlid pellets, cucumber, zuchini, hikari algae wafers, sweet potatoes, and frozen bloodworms as a variety. Normally i feed once per day.
Now with all that said here is the question. I have had my Royal for almost two years now. He has grown perhaps 1.5-2" in that time. Is that normal? The growth is very slow. He seems otherwise healthy, color is great and i generally see him come out to eat every day.
I've heard they grow slowly but i was not prepared for this slow. It doesn't really bother me as long as it is normal and he remains healthy but i would like to know if there is something i am doing wrong. I am planning on upgrading the tank to a 125 gallon by this fall when my basement is finished (knock on wood).
I'm new to posting to this site though regularly visit others. I have a question about my royal pleco and this seems to be the best place to ask it.
I have been keeping fish for 15+ years. I currently have a 60 gallon tank which houses a royal pleco (~5-6"), L001 pleco (~8"), a blue acara (5"), a rainbow cichlid (4"), and 3 clown loaches (3-5"). It has several hiding places and two pieces of driftwood. I run 2 Emperor 400 HOB filters. Water change schedule is 50-70% every 5-7 days and ammonia and nitrite are always at 0 and nitrate is generally below 10.
I feed cichlid pellets, cucumber, zuchini, hikari algae wafers, sweet potatoes, and frozen bloodworms as a variety. Normally i feed once per day.
Now with all that said here is the question. I have had my Royal for almost two years now. He has grown perhaps 1.5-2" in that time. Is that normal? The growth is very slow. He seems otherwise healthy, color is great and i generally see him come out to eat every day.
I've heard they grow slowly but i was not prepared for this slow. It doesn't really bother me as long as it is normal and he remains healthy but i would like to know if there is something i am doing wrong. I am planning on upgrading the tank to a 125 gallon by this fall when my basement is finished (knock on wood).