# 8inch Pleco in a 45 gallon?



## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

My daughter and her fiance' just bought a 45 gallon planted tank with an 8 inch pleco, 2 angel fish and 2 other smaller unidentified fish. I told them they need to find a new home for the pleco right away, it looked so cramped. I felt bad.

What should they do? Can they sell it?


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## hlee72ca (Jun 29, 2010)

They can try to sell it, or more likely, trade it in at the lfs for a smaller one.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Here's a couple pics. 1st one is a ornamental log and the second one it is almost upright on a little decoration. There is a cd case in front of him for reference. It's his full body length.


















The pics are horrible, but he is very cool looking. They would like to keep him, but i think he is way to big.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Nice looking pleco but the tank is a little small. a 45g would be better with a few bnp, maybe some albino or silvertips. you should be able to find some on this site for a better price than the Lfs. Cheers


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## hlee72ca (Jun 29, 2010)

When they get larger, they are not good algae eaters, they just eat the food meant for the rest of the fish. They will also become more territorial chasing other fish out of their territory. A bristlenose would be a better choice as a algae eater. When I was keeping discus, i had a common pleco grow to a foot long, eat all my frozen bloodworms meant for the discus, then it would suck off the slime of the discus at night time. Back to the lfs for him!


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Thanks for the info.

What they really want is an Oscar. He's cycling a 29 gallon right now and he wants to put the other fish in it and get an Oscar. He knows he'll need to upgrade his tank eventually, but they really love them. So, would a bristlenose work with that.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but i think the Oscar would eat a bnp you might be alright with the pleco you got with Oscar's but there not a community fish from what i know


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## hlee72ca (Jun 29, 2010)

There is a 10in oscar on craigslist(port moody) available for small re-homing fee. The oscar would try to eat any pleco, or any fish, including the 8inch pleco you have. Oscars are not ideal tankmates


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

A big common or sailfin pleco will do fine with an Oscar, as long as it's big enough to not fit in the fish's mouth. However, a big O and a big pleco in a 45 gallon = huge bioload. I'd say, if you want to do that, get a 75 gallon. Big plecos have lots of personality, but hlee72ca is right in that they eat regular fish food and get territorial when they get big.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

They actually want to start very young fish at first. They are new at this and want to raise the fish themselves.  

Thanks everyone, i'll pass on all the info to them.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

a 10 inch oscar alone needs a 75 gallon; if you add something else into it, you'll need a 100 gallon, which is 6 feet. As is the case with just about any cichlid, the volume of the tank matters, but the footprint matters more. A 45g is a nice grow-out tank for an oscar, but bare in mind that a well-fed juvenile can grow at a rate of an inch every 1-2 months until it hits about 7-8 inches.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

yup, that's what they are thinking too, it will be a good grow out tank and perhaps in the new future they will move up to something much bigger, but they can't afford it atm.

He got a great deal on this tank, 45 gallon with everything for $50 it's a nice looking tank and well cared for, but the seller just got too busy.

I'm so jealous, I keep missing all the great deals like that. lol I found a 30 gallon with everything for $25 today, but it was in really rough shape.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

If they want another common/sailfin pleco to grow out, the lady at my pet store is rehoming her 3" common for free and doesn't know where to go. I can't take it myself (no tank space where it won't be either eaten or overcrowded), but I told her to check out BCA. If your kids want it, she'd probably be happy to give it to them.

My 8" sailfin pleco lives with 2 oscars, a JD and 5 featherfin catfish, and nobody bothers him. Once they're too large to swallow and too mean to chase, the oscar isn't interested. The growth rates for young oscars and plecos are about the same, so starting both young is OK, as the O likely won't grow so fast that it can eat the pleco.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

that's good to know. 
I used to keep an oscar in a community tank many years ago, he did quite well, but my tank was too small for it and I had to rehome him. So it never got big enough to get aggressive i guess. 

Thanks for the offer of the fish, but it would be quite far for them to go. They live in cloverdale as well.


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