Sick Pleco?? Not sure.

Question
I have one hypostomus plecostomus and a small tetra in one 6.5 gallon tank. We have had the tank for almost a year now. We use Cycle whenever we do a water change and we vacuum the gravel whenever we change the water. We change the water between once a week and once every two weeks depending on how dirty it looks. We will do a complete water change if it is very dirty and a partial 25%-50% if it isn't too disgusting. We have had the pleco since February and the Tetra since October. We feed the tetra flakes in the morning and the pleco one algae disc in the evening. The pleco has his own hiding place as does the tetra. The filter is for a 10 gallon tank and we use both carbon and zyolite crystals in the filter. The filter is changed at each water change. We have a water heater in the tank and we keep the water at a constant 78 degrees.

That said, my husband is worried about our pleco. Usually he would hide behind the filter during the day and come out at night. The past few days, however, he has been sleeping right in the center of the tank and not moving all day. I keep telling my husband that plecos usually aren't active during the day because they are night feeders but he is convinced that something is wrong. What do you think?

Answer
Raina,                                                                 The biggest problem you have is that your tank is way too small for your pleco. Unfortunately your Pleco is going to grow no matter what size your tank is,. They do not grow to their surroundings they outgrow them. He is probably not getting enough oxygen. Put a bubble stone in there it will help for awhile. You will notice him being more active. Definitely get a larger tank if you want to keep him healthy. He will grow to 10 inches easy...prob more. The bigger they are the more o2 they need. Good luck.Tina