pleco question...

[pandafishowner]

In March I bought a pleco from a lfs here in Calgary. When I bought him he was 3 inches long. Right this second he is still 3 inches long. To the best of my knowledge he is a common pleco, not one of the kinds that stays shorter. He gets a good meal of cucmber, zuchinni, algae wafers, blood worms, brine shrimp, sinking pellets, etc. He devours all this food and yet he isn't growing. My cousin bought a 4 inch pleco back in December that is now 8 inches long. I have my pleco in a 29 gallon tank. I'm just wondering if there's a reason that my pleco isn't growing at all?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Don't knock it. I've had these common plecos grow to 14+ inches in the past & that's too big even for the 110g tanks they were in. If it's eating & healthy, then staying small is a bonus.

Anthony

[jvision]

How's the tank maintenance? WCs go a long way in helping young fish grow. FW is not expensive to change like SW, so a 25-50% WC/week is not too much.

[pandafishowner]

I add water daily due to evaporation and I do weekly water changes of approx 5-8 gallons (I use a 5gallon bucket twice but don't fill it all the way because it gets heavy lugging from one room to the next).

[doublette]

I would venture to say it's the size of tank he is in. I've been in a similar situation as you, two plecos bought at the same time, at the same size yet the one who was in the larger tank grew at a much faster rate. Just my experience...
Debbie

[pandafishowner]

odd little creatures :) thanks.

thought maybe mine was just weird. my cousin's pleco is in a 33 gallon tank so there isn't much difference in tank size.