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Hi, so I posted on a tropical forum trying to identify my pleco, But It seems mine has "some" traits of a few different kinds of plec. And nobody seems to know if it could somehow be a cross of more than one kind.





He/She is about 4 inches long, and has not grown at all in the last 6 months. He/she has a greyish brown color with darker brown spots. Is there any other information you might need? These are the best pics I can get since the darn thing is camera shy

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In my opinion no way does it look like a common pleco. It might be, for all I know, but personally I don't think it is.

Was sold to me as a common bristlenose, and I KNOW its not that

CoyeMuse wrote:Was sold to me as a common bristlenose, and I KNOW its not that

You're right, definitely not a Bristlenose. If I were you I would bump up this thread during the weekend when there's more people on this forum that can help you, you're not going to get much people replying now.

igol66 wrote:

CoyeMuse wrote:Was sold to me as a common bristlenose, and I KNOW its not that

You're right, definitely not a Bristlenose. If I were you I would bump up this thread during the weekend when there's more people on this forum that can help you, you're not going to get much people replying now.

Will do! and Ill bump a few times before then too

Looks very much indeed like a 'common' to me. I'm pretty certain & if Racoll indicates it is that's pretty strong evidence.

In my opinion no way does it look like a common pleco.

What makes you say it's not a common pleco?

racoll wrote:

In my opinion no way does it look like a common pleco.

What makes you say it's not a common pleco?

If it was a common, how could it have stayed the exact same size for 6 months?

It's true that it's strange that it hasn't grown more, but that doesn't make it not a common pleco ;)

Fish can become stunted for many different reasons.

racoll wrote:It's true that it's strange that it hasn't grown more, but that doesn't make it not a common pleco ;)

Fish can become stunted for many different reasons.

I will say that the fish is in a 75G tank with a definite Bristlenose
And has not grown in 6 months, is about 4" long as stated. No problems with tank size(for now if it is a common, looks nothing like the one I had) but will be in the future

It's a common pleco.

Common plecos can have parentage of either Pterygoplichthys pardalis or Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus. This causes their spotting pattern to be somewhat variable so they don't all look the same.

AcidicAngel wrote:

racoll wrote:It's true that it's strange that it hasn't grown more, but that doesn't make it not a common pleco ;)

Fish can become stunted for many different reasons.

I will say that the fish is in a 75G tank with a definite Bristlenose
And has not grown in 6 months, is about 4" long as stated. No problems with tank size(for now if it is a common, looks nothing like the one I had) but will be in the future

lol, you took the 75g from the other site didnt you

Suckermouth wrote:It's a common pleco.

Common plecos can have parentage of either Pterygoplichthys pardalis or Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus. This causes their spotting pattern to be somewhat variable so they don't all look the same.

would it make a difference in size?

Both Pterygoplichthys species mentioned (as well as all other members of the genus) reach fairy large sizes. As mentioned, it's odd that it's not growing, but without knowing about your maintenance schedule then it's not out of the realm of possibility.

AcidicAngel wrote:No problems with tank size

There's more to it than tank size. Levels of pollutants in the tank can play a part, as will the type and quantity of food it's fed.

But, before you say "hey, my water is great and I feed my fish real good", there are also other things beyond your control, such as the genetic history of the fish, or conditions during it's early life.

racoll wrote:

AcidicAngel wrote:No problems with tank size

There's more to it than tank size. Levels of pollutants in the tank can play a part, as will the type and quantity of food it's fed.

But, before you say "hey, my water is great and I feed my fish real good", there are also other things beyond your control, such as the genetic history of the fish, or conditions during it's early life.

I get that Was just mentioning because they hadn't And yes I did lol. Btw, hey

It seems obvious to me that this is a specimen of common pleco of one of the already suggested species which has been subjected to severe starvation at an early age. It looks like it is still in poor condition which suggests an infestation of some kind(s) of internal parasites.
This would explain why it is a stunted specimen. A healthy specimen obtained at 4 inches ought to be at least 6 inches 6 months later.
I doubt if there is anything you can do to restore it to good health and normal growth.

Just in case you wanted more confirmation, I agree with the ID of (or P. disjunctivus - they are nearly indistinguishable) - give it plenty of clean water and good food, and I'm sure it will grow. It may never reach the size of a "long term well fed" fish, but it will almost certainly put on some weight and grow significantly larger - probably beyond what a 75g tank can hold. It may take a while to get well, and a dose of some suitable parasite medication wouldn't hurt (Flubendazole or Praziquantel are both pretty mild on fish and hard on the parasites).

[Note that although I have many posts on the forum, I'm nowhere near the "professional expert" as either @racoll or @Suckermouth - both of whom are currently working in the field of fish-science]

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Mats