Catfish

Question
Hello, I have a problem with a common pleco(Hypostomus plecostomus). I asked one of the ladies that worked at Petco and she didnt even know how long a foot was. The size has been throwing me off since the day I got it. At any Petco I go to, the size on the sign says it can get to be 24in. however every fish book I get/look in says that the fish can only get 12in. When it says 24in. does that mean that it can get that big in the wild but not in a tank? I thank you so much for your time.

Answer
Brenda,  Actually this is a very kool question. There a many breeds of plecostomus. Your typical common pet shop plecos will outgrow a small tank quick. They will leave trails of poo everywhere. These guys in larger tanks I have seen them abit more than 12 inches maybe 16 max. This particular guy kept healthy in a 125 gallon tank could easily max out at 2 feet. They do stunt in about 55 gallon's of water at about I would say 9 to 12. That is also dependent on how full the tank is and how well he is fed. They will grow large enough to eat your smaller fish in tropical tanks. Now, there are some like the rubber nose, the zebra, candy stripe, clown's that may be hard to find in a shop and will have to be ordered online if they can not order them for you that only get about 3 - 5 inches max. So that 24" is max potential size in the wild for this particular pleco unless you have big water at home!!! There are many beautiful breeds of this type of fish unfortunately the type at petco are the most common and they are also know as giant pleco's. I am going to send you a site on Pleco's in general I think you will enjoy.  http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/scavengers/plecostomus.htm Good Luck, Tina