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Pleco in a 10g

3279 Views 11 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  LongTimeAquarist, 
L
I'm in the process of stocking my 10g tank and right now the only thing in there are a Rainbow Platy and 4 Harlequin Rasboras. What I'm curious about is well a bristlenose pleco do okay in a 10g tank?
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Sylverclaws
No. BN plecos get six inches and are very thick bodied, and are actually pretty active. No type of pleco can properly fit in a ten gal. The smaller ones are either territorial and.or very active, and all have a bioload too high for it. They'd just stunt, be unhappy and die likely in a year or less. Minimum requirements for it are 20 gallons, but to properly keep them you'd want 25-30 gallons.

You'd be better off with things like nerite snails or trumpet snails in a ten gal over any bottom dwelling fish. Shrimp would be ok too, like cherries, glass/ghost shrimp and crystal shrimp.
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L
I'm pretty sure a pleco can survive in a 10g tank, since I've kept one in there for at least 7 years. And it was a Common Pleco too.
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Sylverclaws
Common plecos get longer than a ten gallon tank can be and their head alone would be about as wide as one. They can get 18-24 inches long and are BIG bodied fish. That is a very sad existence and I can't believe you'd do that to one. I certainly wouldn't want to live my short life out with my organs being crushed and in constant pain, and that's how it is for them or any fish kept in a tank too small to allow them proper growth.
Stunting is a big killer for them. If it died after that time, that's why since they can live more than 20 years properly cared for. If it's still going I feel bad for it. You need to rethink your stocking for the fish, if not yourself, it's very cruel to keep them like that. I had a common in a 55 gallon until it was about seven inches long and then moved it to a 73 gal pool because even a 55 is a bit tight for them as adults.

So no, they CAN'T live in one, not for very long. The fact he DID survive so long tells me you otherwise gave good care to the tank, but did not do right by him.
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jaysee
LongTimeAquarist said:
I'm pretty sure a pleco can survive in a 10g tank, since I've kept one in there for at least 7 years. And it was a Common Pleco too.
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We don't advise people on what fish can survive too often; it's just not the right attitude to be promoting. Really, when you think about it, surviving is one step above dying. Of course if you want to keep your fish one step above dying that is your prerogative, but we try to set the bar a little higher than that when it comes to giving advice to people who are asking for it. Asking a "what do you think?" Question and then arguing with people's responses isn't going to win you any points.
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L
Oh I did right, considering that most of the time, he had the tank to himself. The only thing that killed him was when his bladder started to make him float. And arguing would include overreacting, and I didn't. I asked, I made sure to do the research first and I asked for personal opinions when I feel the facts are contradicting each other.
I've just ask a simple question, stated a personal experience, and you jump down my throat. That won't win you points either.
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jaysee
LongTimeAquarist said:
Oh I did right, considering that most of the time, he had the tank to himself. The only thing that killed him was when his bladder started to make him float. And arguing would include overreacting, and I didn't. I asked, I made sure to do the research first and I asked for personal opinions when I feel the facts are contradicting each other.

I've just ask a simple question, stated a personal experience, and you jump down my throat. That won't win you points either.
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Having the tank to itself, most of the time, doesn't change the tanks dimensions - it's still grossly inappropriate to keep a common pleco in a 10 gallon. Kudos to your fish for surviving so long. You can say the bladder killed the fish - even if that were true, I don't know how that makes it any better since environmental factors would be responsible.

No need to overreact - no one is doing anything to anyone's throat. You are certainly welcome to argue with people when you don't like their answers to YOUR questions, rather than thanking them for taking the time to post and moving on. You might find the number of responses to your questions dwindle if that doesn't change, though.
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L
No, the fish was nice and healthy for years, until one day it had trouble swimming because it's bladder caused it to keep swimming. When I got it, it was at a local walmart and the person probably didn't know their stuff since they didn't ask the questions. Plus I was still doing things by the seat of my pants since I could never afford the internet at the time.
The tank itself was mostly empty, with two decorations and an airstone, along with a strong power filter. Did everything I was suppose to, but it just happened out of the blue. Now, I have my 10g up and running again, and I have live plants, and a nice little decoration that it can use, so that should account to keeping it alive.
The one thing that I do keep track of is how some of the fish tend to adapt well to just about anything, meaning that that we can do so much, but rest is up how well the fish handles things.
Plus that reply was done when I was half-asleep and thought through completely.
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jaysee
When it comes to survival, yes that's true - it's largely up to the fish.

I wouldn't go with anything larger than a clown pleco, but that's me.
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L
Doesn't a clown pleco become the same size of a bristlenose? plus I have clown pleco in my 20g for algae control, but he ignored the algae and nibbled on my plants until I got him a driftwood. What I'm looking for is something that would help with algae control and for the bottom of tank. While the place I'm planning on ordering fish from is out of the bristlenose pleco, they do have Oto catfish, and they sell out fast, along with the amano shrimp. Nerite snails, I already have three tiger blood ones in the 20g from another place that has three different varieties, but the place I'm going for only has one variety, which is what I already have, and want a different version. Snails I would consider, as long as they leave my plants alone and won't try to get out of the tank.
Plus I've just bought a male betta, so right now there is another factor to be careful on.
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jaysee
No, clowns are a lot smaller.

What kind of algae do you have? That's the most important thing to consider when looking for an algae eater.
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L
In my 20g, green, but my snails are doing a good job keeping them at bay, at least when I can find them, along with the ghost shrimp I have. In my 10g, a light green, but I think that is from the live plants I've added, making them a bit brittle. But still, no point in slacking since there is always a chance that some new algae can comeback.
The sad thing is that the fish that are called algae eaters by name usually tend to be anything but, and grow up to be mean.
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