8inch Pleco in a 45 gallon?

[Tazzy_toon]

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?

[hlee72ca]

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

[Tazzy_toon]

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.

[Scherb]

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

[hlee72ca]

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!

[Tazzy_toon]

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.

[Scherb]

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

[hlee72ca]

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

[2wheelsx2]

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.

[Tazzy_toon]

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.