Hi all, I would like your invaluable advice on whether or not, in a couple of weeks time, it would be sensible to add a 10" Pleco to my Oscar tank. I now only have one albino tiger since the recent death of it's mate and would like to introduce something into his tank.
I have the fish already and was thinking of transferring it to a bigger tank soon anyway.
Are these fish comaptible? I'm presuming as they are not mentioned on the 'tankmates' page here, that they aren't but would appreciate any thoughts/clarification.
Many thanks in advance for any responses.
Martin

Well, you've got your Oscar which needs a minimum of 55 gallons. The pleco is quite big and could well have the potential to get a lot bigger. If it is one of the ones that gets very big, you could be looking at 100 gallons just for that fish. I know that seems a little excessive, but you have to remember they are extremely messy. Most people have these fish and squeeze them into tiny little tanks. Believe me, I've had them before am unless you can provide a big tank, you could run into problems. So from what I've said, I'm sure that you can decide what you are going to do. If I was you, I would try and find out exactly what sort of pleco you've got and then you can determine how big it can get. There are some that can reach well over 2 feet in length. I'm not saying they would get quite this big in captivity. However, they have the potential to reach well over 18 inches, and often do. I have seen some absolutely monstrous ones in some of the local fish shops.

I very much doubt you oscar will have a problem with a 10inch plec put in its tank. He might have the hump for a while and try to bully it a bit but oscars dont usually bear a grudge for long. But you never know as all fish are different so put the plec in at a time when you can observe the fish for quite a few hours. If the oscar batters the plec take him out


I personally think plecs are ok and they do clean tanks. As long as your nitrate levels are acceptable then you dont have a problem. The problem becomes when you are struggling to keep the nitrate levels down because of too many fish and you dont have a home for your excess fish to go to. Where i live (herts, england) the local fish shops will take back fish and even give you a credit for them so its not a problem if you need to get rid of fish (most fish shops would take a decent sized fish off you hands for nothing as they can sell them). A 6inch plec will sell for £10 to £15