I have L128 (blue phantom) and L007 (Galaxy / Vampire plecos) and I'm just wondering how long it takes for them to reach their full size.
How long does it take for fancy plecos (e.g Blue Phantom or Vampire plecos) to grow to full size?
- Thread starter silverrhino8
- Start date
Damn, that's why I'm asking haha. I've had mine for a few months now and I'm not sure I'm noticing much growth either. Water is pristine and they eat quite a bit. Fins are healthy etc. So I'm just wondering if they're a slow growing fish by nature?
Totally agree about the blue. The vampire is almost permanently hidden lol
I recently picked up a Blue Phantom for a community 55 ive had running forever. Got the pleco in hopes he would do a dent on the algae, but by my observations, I havent seen him leave his "cave" since the 2nd day I had him. its a shame, because of how beautiful he is, but I did worry if he was getting somewhat bullied ya know, though after a couple weeks, its created a friendship and invited a roomate into the little cave, believe it or not, a pink convict haha, whom is known to chase away my coryadoras from the said area. Besides my personal story, other than the fact i havent seen him leave his one area, I, too, have yet to see any growth, but its only been a month or so. Bought him at aprox 6 inches.
Yeah to my knowledge these plecos don't really eat algae. I have two blue phantoms and they have different personalities. The larger one (6+ inches) is so skittish. If you come near the tank he bolts off under a cave. The smaller one (5 inches) is much more calm and hides half of the time. Pretty cool how yours developed a friendship with a convict. Interesting!
Both grow slowly. From my experience, the Leporacanthicus will grow a bit faster than the L128.
The Leporacanthicus is primarily a carnivore though it'll eat veggies too. It's not a fish that's going to put a dent in your algae. The L128 might but algae isn't what it's going to want/need as it's primary food. More likely a last ditch thing. My current L128 is roughly 7-8" and goes for massivore, algae wafers (which have a ton more than just algae in them), mysis, krill, shrimp, zucchini, ect.
What's your lighting like? Perhaps it's too bright and causing more algae growth and also a bit brighter than the plecos like...
The Leporacanthicus is primarily a carnivore though it'll eat veggies too. It's not a fish that's going to put a dent in your algae. The L128 might but algae isn't what it's going to want/need as it's primary food. More likely a last ditch thing. My current L128 is roughly 7-8" and goes for massivore, algae wafers (which have a ton more than just algae in them), mysis, krill, shrimp, zucchini, ect.
What's your lighting like? Perhaps it's too bright and causing more algae growth and also a bit brighter than the plecos like...
Apologies for the slow reply. Thanks for commenting. My lighting is actually pretty low. I turn the tank light on for 3 hours about 4 days/week. The rest of the time the tank is in the shadows. There's zero algae in the tank. Water is crystal clear. I feed the plecos algae wafers and a sinking shrimp pellet. They eat it all up no problem and fins look great. I just didn't know how long it takes for them to grow.