Is He A Giant Pleco?

Hello,

So I have a fun story of this guy.
My boyfriend met a guy and he saw our aquarium, told us he had a pleco that was too big for his tank and offered him to us. We had lost our pleco of 6 years recently so we said sure why not.
So my boyfriend goes to pick him up, and has to come back home to get a bucket. At this point I’m alarmed, how big is this boy if he needs a bucket?!
He comes home with this massive foot long monster. Apparently this poor guy lived his whole life in a 40 gal. I was pretty ticked off though, because I knew I was going to be doing weekly water changes with this massive beast in our tank.
I saw some posts about “giant pleco” and I’m wondering if this guy is just a regular old pleco that’s fully grown, or this “giant” species, and will he keep growing? I’ve read conflicting things on the google. I’m just worried as we have a 75gal stocked with two geophagus alto forms, one tiny ghost knife fish, and a tiny albino catfish. The catfish is going to be transferred to our outdoor pond once it’s done being built. I feel this guy is too big for our tank.
So far it’s been 3 months and I do water changes every 2 weeks, and not once has our water tested anything but normal. I test once a week. Which I was very surprised because I figured the ammonia was going to be wild considering this big boy.
Anywho, if someone can tell me if he’s going to get bigger and what kind of set up we’d need to accommodate him (if we need to buy a bigger aquarium) thanks!
He’s exactly a foot long nose to tail.

 

That is a common pleco. You need at least 100 gallons as they get 1-2 feet long and poop A LOT! He was likely stunned from being in such a small tank.

 

He looks like a typical pleco not a giant one but he still have some growing to do. They typically reach 20 inches so he has 8 inches till he reaches max length. Usually they do best in 100+ gallon tanks just because of their massive bioload when they get larger than a foot.

 

He looks like a typical pleco not a giant one but he still have some growing to do. They typically reach 20 inches so he has 8 inches till he reaches max length. Usually they do best in 100+ gallon tanks just because of their massive bioload when they get larger than a foot.

And they live 20-30 years if kept in a good tank!

 

... wait. There are plecos larger than a common? O_O *runs to google*

But yes. That is a common, and thank you for rescuing him! You are quite right that eventually your 75 gallon is going to be too small. You MIGHT be able to rehome him to someone in your area who has a larger setup...but me, I'd use this as an excuse to get the 200 gallon I have my eye on >_> Best of luck with your new monster

 

Oh... and he might not be producing a lot of waste because he might be underfed. They transition from algae eaters to needing a much more varied diet as they grow.

 

Oh... and he might not be producing a lot of waste because he might be underfed. They transition from algae eaters to needing a much more varied diet as they grow.

Vegetables! Lots of zucchini=lots of greenish poop

 

You sure that’s not a sailfin? The pattern on its belly looks exactly like my two sailfin plecos. If he a sailfin, he’ll get about 18 inches long. Either way, he’s not quite full size yet... Lol.

 

Common or Sailfin, can be the same fish. Commercially, "Common" is applied to 3-4 different species, maxing out anywhere from a foot to 2 feet, as noted above. There are several species of Sailfins, and at least two are frequently sold as "common". I would guess that the above fish is one of the Sailfin species, genus Pterygoplichthys. You could start your search by looking at those over on Planetcatfish.

As for a "Giant" Pleco, just what do you consider "Giant"? 18 inches? 2 feet? Three feet? Never heard that used as a common name for any Pleco, but I've frequently heard people refer to their "Common" Pleco as being a giant.

 

... wait. There are plecos larger than a common? O_O *runs to google*

Actually, yes. The Adonis pleco, for instance, can get a little over 3 ft.

 

Sailfins Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps are fabulous fish. This is mine. Males stay much smaller than females but are aggressive to other plecos and some other large fish especially at night. I wouldn't keep one with cichlids again as its not fair on the cichlids to be chased around all night when they want to sleep.

These are better algae eaters than Common Pleco Pterygoplichthys paradalis in my experience and make Bristlenoses seem useless by comparison. They can be trained to eat from your hand with a regular routine.

I imagine yours has been stunted, but it may continue to grow again once in better conditions and acclimatised to its new diet and environment.

 

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Sailfins Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps are fabulous fish. This is mine. Males stay much smaller than females but are aggressive to other plecos and some other large fish especially at night. I wouldn't keep one with cichlids again as its not fair on the cichlids to be chased around all night when they want to sleep.

These are better algae eaters than Common Pleco Pterygoplichthys paradalis in my experience and make Bristlenoses seem useless by comparison. They can be trained to eat from your hand with a regular routine.

I imagine yours has been stunted, but it may continue to grow again once in better conditions and acclimatised to its new diet and environment.

Beautiful fish RS