about my plec

Hy their i got a 9 inch plec 2 days ago,have given him alge pellets and cucumber,but he is not eating anything,any ideas, ACER,

hi acer

with him only being in the tank 2 days he will still be getting used to his new surroundings keep your eye on him for a day or two.

rich will proberly be able to give you some expert advise later.
hope he picks up.


dekker

hi dekker thanks for advise, ACER

Woah, 9" plec? I hope you have a four foot tank...

What species? Not all plecs are vegetarian. For instance, I have a Panaque that eats wood and another plec that's an omnivore so eats prawns as well as veg.

hi it is a common plec,i got it out of a pet shop,i have a 45 gallon tank, will that be ok

What size is the tank though? Three foot, four foot? They have the potential to grow even bigger. Is that US (170L) or UK gallons (205L)? Hopefully the latter...

uk gallons 205L. 3 and a half feet.

volumne of tank means nothing when it comes to the physical size of a fish - a common misunderstanding too be honest - a plec doesnt care too much about 'volume' ie 45 whatevers - its the physcial length and width that matters - a common plec needs bare minimum for its longterm good to be in a 4foot long tank (48") - at 9" for a common plec -(s)he is a little over half grown (aiming on the conservative side as well)

Your diet for pleccy is fine have a read around the site to see what other tasty treats a plec will eat - they do eat most things - including meatier food (not steak sandwiches - prawns, and bloodworms and the like) but most 'catfish pellets' will have this to a varied degree.

So really, most sinking pellets / wafers etc will be eaten

As said - two days is early days - if it goes a week withiut eating 0 thats the time to worry. Also - I hope (not meaning to be rude or sarcastic here) you are aware that most plecs general feed at night - so you may not get to see it eat - especiall early on - it will need to associate you with food - after a few weeks - if you feed them in the morning (just after the lights have come on) it will pop out to eat and gradually become more confident with you and eating in daylight.

TBH - I think many people get caught out with common plecs - they cost very little but they do grow big and do so fast - I persoanlly think all fish/pet shops should by law be forced to display clear warnings about the maximum size these fish grow too - a good LFS will ask you what size tank you have 1st - they will still sell the fish to you but at least theyve wanred you.

I have resuced a number of Plecs (common and sail fin) from pet stores and gotten them healthy again then rehomed them to people who do have the tanks to cater for these fish.

If you measure the tanks lentgh and width (height/depth doesnt matter) we'll advise you

TBH - the best plec for 'average' home aquariums (ie from 2 - 3 feet) in my opinion are brostlenose plecs - they dont grow big - are reasonably sociable and breed easily (thus there is a ready supply of domestic bred rather than wild caught plecs) and are easy to cater for.

As a siode note - most plecs need bogwood in the tank - they dont 'eat it' as such - but do scrape small amounts off every so often to get lignin which they need as aprt of their digestive system - some of the better brand pleccy foods (Sera Chips are one example) have this built in but its always good to enable an animal to behave in as natural a manner as possible.

If you havent got any bog wood (NOT mopani - this is too hard) it isnt too expensive and you can buy it pre-soaked (we'll explain if your unsure what were on about) and it is actually quite a nice thing to have in the tank.

Hope this helps (and you havent taken it as a lecture - all fish sites such as ours find ourselves helping many people caught out by common plecs and their potential size) - time for this trade to be dealt with (many fish grow too big for most tanks ad get sold in the thousands every year - i shudder to think what becomes of most of them)

Any questions etc - just ask

and welcome to TFF and the mad world of fishkeeping

(were not all mad - some of us are just lunatics )

there you go acer i knew rich would sort you out, plus there's a lot of tips and advise for us all in what rich has said, cheers mate.


dekker

To put it in perspective, I have two 3" plecs in my three foot tank and IMO they have just enough room to roam.

2x adult Bristlenose (breeding pair) in a 100cm (3 n half foot) long - 16" (1 n half foot) tank - male is 8" female is 6" and I had (for a short while) an 8" sailfin plec anmd this is how jammed in he looked





and this is albino common plec at about 6months old



here is a good site for catfish info - the link is for the common plec

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=87

they say 10" for max size - we all here (most of us) have seen pics and heardof pet plecs getting much bigger

were not nagging - just trying to warn you - if you have a 4 foot tank then all is cool - if not - seriously consider finding a good home for it - some one who can cater for its needs - or at least retrurning to lfs as soon as possible

would you like to spend the test of your life in a room the size of a police cell? youd survive but you wouldnt be happy (or healthy)

if your still interested in catfish for your tank - we can help - a few of us have different ones and some experience between us so let us know what size tank you have and we can knock our grey cells toghether on this

be warned - at once cell per member average - dont expect a genius response

forgot to add

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=49

these are bristlenose plecs - great little plecs - suitable for most tanks (well - 2 foot minimum but thats about average tank) easy to care for and breed

and I may be able to get you them free (20 babies about ready to go to new homes)

thanks for the advice although i must admit that i am depressed now,i really wanted to keep him,how long could i keep him in my tank,as i might by a norther tank

LOL!
another one bites the "mts" side.

imo i think that one (and only one) common plec should be ok in a 3ft tank.
as long as the whole floor plan is set to his/her needs.

my gold spot is at aprox 9-10" and my gibby is at about 3" both these guys share a 4ft tank with 3 bn's with no probs.

Nice photos and plecs.

Hi Acer I have a 12 inch plec and he gets pellets, courgette,cucumber, he also eats prawns and mussels, he also trashes the tank every night I came down this morning and the airline that was buried in gravel was floating around the tank. A word of warning if its a common they get big I didnt know when I got him how big they get and he was put in a 60 litre he soon out grew it and is now in a 4 foot.

Is that tank planted, alison? I've heard that they basically bulldoze everything in sight...

Yes nice photos,Well that is it i will keep him,and if he gets to big i will by another tank, £400 tank for a £10 fish.Mmm.lol. Acer

Occasionally bulldoze? try twice daily for a smaller plec - the little s- darling

they may be trouble sometimes - but id nt have em any other way - yup - 1 common plec in a 3ft is do-able but as said - makes suret the bottom isnt too cluttered with 'stuff' ie allow it room to move freely and un hindered (stretch its fins so to speak) - but if you do keep this 1 I would strongly advise no more plecs of any kind - you may get away with a few clown plecs and otts for sure - but i mean no bristlenoses or any other medium to large plecs.

Some plecs become hand tame - it takes time tho

a new tank - there is always an excuse for a new tank - even if you dont actually have the room or cash for it

great photos B.G lovely looking plecs, i have two little britlenose plecs beautiful little fish .


dekker

Yes Mary plants are up every morning floating around the tank and because the tank is deep I am up to my shoulders putting them back in, mind you I put moss balls in and he has managed to get most of them in to his cave, I dont know if he is using them as pillows but once a week when I gravel clean I pull them out ,arrange them in the tank and by the following morning he has moved them again.

That is so cute! Using them as pillows...

probably eating them more than anything else - my catfish like to do a snatch n dash with food - that why i use 1oz fishing weights on courgettes etc

forgot to say - just got 4 plec caves off ebay for £10 no P+P either

Hiya Acer, good to meet you - see, youve only been on here 2 minutes and already you are going to get a second tank lol!

hya acer, good to meet you and welcome to TFF