Well, I'm very sorry to say but I had to find another home for my Common Pleco...he was just getting too big, as was my Oscar. I honestly believe even a 55 is still too small for either by themselves after having some experience. My Plec was getting on the short side of 11 inches and my Oscar was 9...time for someone to move on for them to have a good life.

At least I was able to find him a good home. I love plecos but he was uncomfortable and it was obvious, and I enjoyed having him but it's better he went for bigger waters...

This kinda sucks. He won't miss me...but I'll miss him....


...Yeah...I'll miss him.

sorry jp thats sucks man. u got rid of yr oscar too or u keeping him?

hey Johny...it really suck letting something to go but in the long run,
that is a very sensible thing to do... if some people could flush their
fish in a bowl, i am happy to know you are not.... i may take down my
fishes..but that is for a purpose..... i admire you for that action...

well if you knew plec will be happy in his/her new home... congratz!
job well done....

to be honest... from the time we discovered that our fresh water lake was
infested with plecs due to some irresponsible hobbyist, i hate plecs since
then... it is not the fault of plecs but i hate them still.

like completely invested paul? thats crazy

askhammatt wrote:


I'd NEVER, EVER, EVER get rid of my Oscar...


...but the tank was too small for both. The plec was having trouble turning around at the bottom of the tank to get back into his cave and it was obvious he was struggling with it. He would be ok, I guess, but it was not big enough for his needs.

I didn't want him to be uncomfortable so I'm happy I found him a much bigger tank so he can grow like he's supposed to.

well u def did the right thing mate, like paul says ur a good guy for it

johnnyphoenix wrote:

It takes a plecolover and a good fishkeeper to make a hard discission like that, but You did the right thing.
I've seen too many stunted commons for staying in small tanks for too long and it's an ugly sight.
Chin up, at least he's got a bigger home, and imo a common needs an 8 footer the least if you want him to reach his full potential.

i currently av bristle noses in other tanks and want a slightly bigger pleco for my 5ft'er what will grow to a nice size for that tank but not as big as a common?

askhammatt wrote:

My favorite for a tank that size would be a Hypostomus and it maxes out at 12".
and that would be it for they can be pretty territorial.
You could recognize a Hypostomus at his 8-9 backfinspines, in opposite to the common pleco that will have 12-13 backfinspines.
There's loads of fancy plecos that will reach about 10", but they mostly take many years to reach that size and getting them at adultsize will cost you big time!
I got the luck of a pleco fanatic hobbyist in Holland, that has provided with most plecos i wanted.
Some of them were very rare allready, but became extremely rare now, partly due to the pleco ban.
In fact i have not found anybody else to own this one,my L354 "Xingu new polka dot pleco" :


@Johnny:Are you planning on a smaller one for the future?

good choice jp i had to make big decision today i had let my big oscar go so my small one will survive instead of always hiding. Since my brother had over 100g tank thought best they both have their own tank. so my TO is with my Brother and my albino is with me nice thing is if i wanna see him i just go to my bro place.

Noddy wrote:


I would like to...although I am concerned about introducing a significantly smaller pleco in with my O who is around 10 inches now. He would have a place to hide of course, but I wouldn't want him to be constantly harassed, stressed, or possibly killed. I'll have to investigate further, but I do not want to wake up to find him chewed up. I know there's no guarantees anytime with fish, but I would want to be very confident of success before i make that move.

that would be a good move johny... and hope you enjoy the oscar to the
fullest. anyway, oscar is always full of character