# can pleco grow long



## gary007 (Apr 3, 2011)

can a south american pleco grow very long? i was told in local pet shop 12inches max in an aqaurium but my friend laughed and said no way try 25inches lol imagine that it be half of the size of my tank. think i will stick with brittle nose catfish if pleco gets 2foot or more.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

(Common) Plecos are known to grow that big, but I imagine in most aquariums max out at around 12inchs.


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## -DC- (Apr 21, 2010)

Absolutely not true, there are small species however I'm assuming your talking common pleco then they will grow over 12" quite quickly, and tank size doesn’t matter i adopted one last summer who was 16" easy and had been raised from 2" in the same 33g tank, when i showed up for him he was living in it unfiltered unheated, half full and no light, yet he still grew to 16", i've personally seen at least 3 aquarium raised 22-24" pleco's and DOZENS over 14"


Bristle nosed species stay small, as do many other's pleco's with a bit of research you can find some in a stunning variety of color's and pattern's , in sizes from tiny to monstrous! IMO if your gonna get a pleco you might as well get a cool looking one that wont outgrow your tank!

Common pleco’s not all that great they are too big for most tank’s and when kept with larger tanks will often chew on larger tank mates, I even had one take a bite out of a 14” snakehead!


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## gary007 (Apr 3, 2011)

for bottom cleaners i was given many ideas such as brittlenose, ghost shrimp, apple snail and that pleco thats brown with black dots they call it south american pleco and its said these are your best algae/gravel cleaners of the lot.


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## gary007 (Apr 3, 2011)

coridora is recommended but i lost 3 of them due to either angelfish or gouramis nipping their tail off and leaving a hole in cori that i could see. iv got bronze coridoryas in a smaller tank with the last albino cori, he stays with the bronze, they family yea so in my experience cori's are no good in 66g tank with angels and gouramis.


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Hows that for big?








or








and another


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## jakesebastin (Jun 18, 2012)

Well the pelco looks to be quite big there. Generally it is only one feet long but here it looks like quite a healthy on though it is dead but the length is awesome.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Most plecos are giant poop machines. They grow fast, eat like hogs and they don't clean anything - quite the opposite. Trust me, I have several and I see/clean the results daily!! You still need to vacuum your gravel and feed the pleco actual food like algae wafers even if you have a small algae-eating species like a bristlenose.

If you want a small peaceful pleco, try a bristlenose or two. They stay small and will eat algae. They do need bogwood, caves to hide in, and algae wafers or veggies to eat as well or they will starve.

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/prob...eco-myths-sticky-29808/index2.html#post240140


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