Petco gives away large commons

[Behemoth]

I went into Petco today to pick up Shrimp pellets and noticed a large common in a tank. The sign said that it was not available for adoption.

I asked the girl behind the counter and she said that they usually give away the large "algae eater sucker things" but they had to keep this to keep their plant tank clean.

He was roughly about 10". I tried talking her out of it but she wouldn't give in.

 

[Cross127]

I just got a Free 16-18" Pleco from Uncle Neds fish factory yesterday. I am leaning towards 18 inches because he is almost the lenght of a 20" peice of slate in the tank. Why wouldn't they give away a 10" pleco no one will buy it plus they aren't meant to clean tanks. Petco is retarted lol they have no idea about anything in the store. I mean why not just put a uv steralizer on the tank. They have the equipment right there.

 

[Havey]

Why wouldn't they give away a 10" pleco no one will buy it plus they aren't meant to clean tanks. QUOTE]

Common pleco's will eat the algae off of the glass, rocks ,and wood in a tank. They also feed on leftover food from other fish. That is why most people have them.

 

[WyldFya]

I just got a Free 16-18" Pleco from Uncle Neds fish factory yesterday. I am leaning towards 18 inches because he is almost the lenght of a 20" peice of slate in the tank. Why wouldn't they give away a 10" pleco no one will buy it plus they aren't meant to clean tanks. Petco is retarted lol they have no idea about anything in the store. I mean why not just put a uv steralizer on the tank. They have the equipment right there.

Common plecos, especially at that size, eat algae. UV sterilizers will work on unicellular alga, but not on brown algae which commonly infects aquariums. Most Petco's run UV sterilizers anyway.

 

[Cross127]

Why wouldn't they give away a 10" pleco no one will buy it plus they aren't meant to clean tanks. QUOTE]

Common pleco's will eat the algae off of the glass, rocks ,and wood in a tank. They also feed on leftover food from other fish. That is why most people have them.

Yes they will eat algae i know that and leftover food but they require a stable diet them selves and no one should EVER depend on a fish to do their work themselves. It's just dumb you are supposed to take care of the fish and plants yourself. Having a bottom dweller to just eat the leftover food and algae is idiotic as petco is doing.

 

[WyldFya]

Yes they will eat algae i know that and leftover food but they require a stable diet them selves and no one should EVER depend on a fish to do their work themselves. It's just dumb you are supposed to take care of the fish and plants yourself. Having a bottom dweller to just eat the leftover food and algae is idiotic as petco is doing.

It is not idiotic to rely on a fishes strengths to keep a healthier system.

 

[Ianab]

Yes they will eat algae i know that and leftover food but they require a stable diet them selves and no one should EVER depend on a fish to do their work themselves.

All my tanks have plecos in them - and I dont clean the glass or rocks in any of them. I dont have to. But dont worry the plecos are as well looked after as the other fish. They get fed their plecos tabs and veges, the algae and cleanup are just a bonus.

Idiotic is selling a baby Monster fish (gibbiceps pleco) to a person with a 15gal tank and not warning them how big it IS going to get. Selling that same person a bristlenose pleco, a jar of pleco tabs and telling them it will help control algae is good advice though.

But I agree, dont just buy any pleco because you have an algae problem. Buy the right ones because you want an interesting bottom dweller that just happens to eat a bit of algae as a bonus.

And remember this is MFK - big common and gibby plecos are ideal complements to many of the members tanks. If you have the space for them they are great fish

Cheers

Ian

 

[wataugachicken]

i think Petco has a great idea. a common pleco will definitely help keep their plant tank free of algae. in fact, if it gets hungry enough, it might start keeping their plant tank free of plants too. then the tank would *really* be clean. except for all the pleco poop. great idea.

 

[davo]

Some commons are good algea eaters, some are bad. I've never been able to depend on them.

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

i work at petco.

a. yes retards work at other petcos blah blah we know.
b. they will help but arent there to do all the work.
c. she was probably lying as someone called dibs on him already.
d. and yes we do have a UV on every system.

this is meatpot, i got him approx 6 months ago, hes all of 16 inches now.