dmm28

I spontaneously just bought a royal pleco and now am kicking myself in the butt! The guy that I get all my fish from told me that he'd get to be 6" max but upon further investigation he'll get to about 17"! I have a 75 gallon but with the amount of fish I have in there now he'll put me over the 1" per gallon at some point. He's only about 2-3" right now.

Anyone have one of these bad boys?

Shawnie

no but pleaaaaaaaaase get us a pic

dmm28

ok here ya go these are the best pics I could get in 10 minutes! I will get better pictures of this guy when I have more time.

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Shawnie

ooooooooo my!!! id be looking for a bigger tank and keeping that boy!!! im sure you have a bit before you have to worry a ton...he is amazing! ty!

dmm28

I'm so stoked to have him! He's so cool looking and different. I'm sure I have some time, but I couldn't believe how big they can get! I'll eventually be getting another tank and I'll switch things around.

Mike19

nice fish, congr8s

pinkfloydpuffer

What a beautiful fish!

I'm sorry if other disagree with me... but personally I wouldn't be concerned if you're over the '1" per gallon' rule by one inch... In fact I never use that rule... I rely more on the specific requirements of each fish, the amount of swimming space they need, and the amount of waste they produce.

Lucy

He sure is gorgeous.

GouramiGirl1221

Would 75 gal not be large enough for him when he's full grown? I couldn't keep a large pleco in my 55 because of the decor (which is why I have cory cats lol), but as long as you don't have extremely large scale decorations I would think he'd be alright...how far over the 1" per gallon will that put you? If it's not too bad maybe a bit of extra filtration could take care of it. I don't have personal experience with plecos, but I don't think you have an issue that can't be taken care of on your hands. He is gorgeous!

dmm28

Thank you all, I think he's amazing as well, that's why I couldn't pass up the deal. I got him for $30! Other ones double the size were $50, at my LFS. Other places I have seen them before they were 60-80 and even more some times.

So after I did some calculating, he actually should be just fine in there even at full size. With the amount of fish I have in there now plus him at full size I'm @ 74" of fish in a 75 gallon tank. I'm still planning on getting another tank so he may have a new home in the new year.

dmm28

Here's a pic I found of a royal that must be close to full size.

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soldieroffortune1974

Not quite close to full size,the 1 in the pic is about 10-11 inches and has close to 6 or 7 inches to go.They get huge.

dmm28

your right. I looked around a little more and they do get MASSIVE!