Trevor Stenson wrote:

I bought him a small common pleco at a chain store, which actually isn't
bad at keeping fish and has a large selection. The told me it was a
common pleco but I remember commenting that they certainly were small!
The lady said she ordered them and they came in that way looking more on
the medium size (almost and inch with tail but not really fat yet).

I shop at an aquarium/fish only store now.

Anyway, the web is confusing on this. Some of the pictures are much
more plain with small fins. That is not my guy and is listed as
Hypostomus plecostomus (the store didn't have the Latin name). Others
look a lot like my fish but maybe these sites are mistaken. I
originally put down H. plecostomus in my database as the fishes ID.


However, some, but not all, of the pictures of the Sailfin Pleco
(Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps) do indeed look quite a lot like my pleco.
More so than the plain picutres of H. plecostomus.

Pictures of the Gibby and White Spotted Sailfin Plecos do indeed look
like my fish. So there is a chance that a Sailfin was unwittingly sold
and bought. And I'm taking it that this one of the large growth plecos.

Gibbies are often sold as "common plecos". Mislabeling is rampant at
the big chains. Big gibbies are gorgeous fish. To tell a little gibbie
from a common pleco, look for the spotted patterning on the fin and
back. Gibbies also have a large dorsal that's given them the name of
sailfin.

I originally knew that the fish could grow up to 18", I discovered this
when I investigated it further on bring it home, but I thought that
would take up to 10 years. Mine just is growing faster than expected.
Where I found this info also showed a picture of a fish that looks like
mine (so is that a H. pleco or a Sailfin?).

Heh. Fish grow to their natural size, and they do it pretty fast if
you're feeding well. Gibbies need at least a 55 gallon tank, and 70 is
better since it's 18" front to back.

I'll try to get a better look at mine next time he is out, but he often
hides from the light.

Also I tried algae pellets at first. They resulted in an algae bloom
but maybe I was adding them too often (once a day). I stopped, then I
got regular algae from all my plants. Then the Pleco went to work and
all the algae disappeared, and my Pleco grew and grew and...he seems
fine just on the normal plants and algae for now. The is no wood
(unless petrified) and I feed him no special food since the pellets but
if need be I can reintroduce other food at some point.

Plecos need a *lot* of food. Small ones eat a lot of vegetable matter
so offer slices of cucumber, blanched zucchini, or romaine lettuce along
with the algae wafers. Remove any veggies after 24 hours.

As they grow, common plecs and gibbies start looking for meatier foods.
Shrimp pellets, sinking wafers, worms, or anything that hits the bottom.

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