Brown spotted pl*co ID.

[GekkoGeck0]

I was recently asked by an old acquaintance to help out with some fish that he took under his supervision, since he knows very little about fish care. The previous tenants that lived in the same residence as him left them behind.

I have the rest of the fish IDed but I haven't been able to identify this guy. I'm trying to get definite IDs on all of them so I can impress on him that the gouramies, molly, Jack Dempsey cichlids and the plec should be in a much, much larger tank than a 10 gallon...

[racoll]

Hello.

This is your typical common pleco, mass bred in the far east.

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

Why it's bred in such numbers is due to its fecundity. However, despite its ubiquity, it is not a good aquarium fish as it get way too large for most tanks.

I would recommend at least a 50g tank, preferably bigger.

You are right to tell your friend this is a bad idea to keep it in a 10g with large cichlids.

There are loads of fish available in the hobby suitable for small tanks, but fish like these remain on sale.

[GekkoGeck0]

Thanks for the reply. I suspected that it might be that, but I was hoping that my ID was wrong.

I am just hoping that my efforts to convince him to relocate the fish are successful.