Petsmart Spotted Hi-Fin 3 bucks? :o

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

Here is mine, finally. His name is Tebow (because he sucks)

Him at 1.5", barely bigger than a cucumber slice.

This is about 7 months ago when he was around 8". He is now around 12" and getting better looking by the day. As you can see he goes nuts for veggies, and is very entertaining.

 

[jbarbaresi]

Here is mine, finally. His name is Tebow (because he sucks)

Him at 1.5", barely bigger than a cucumber slice.

This is about 7 months ago when he was around 8". He is now around 12" and getting better looking by the day. As you can see he goes nuts for veggies, and is very entertaining.

you have a pterygoplychthys joselimaianus, cousin to the sailfin. also one of my top favorite plecos. very nice one, too.

 

[jbarbaresi]

petsmart sells both species under the same label. here's a pic of both as juveniles. p. joselimaianus on left and p. gibbiceps on right.

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

I stand corrected. You are exactly right. I just assumed he was a variation of the gibbiceps sp. Its funny cause ive owned tons of rare plecos and have a pretty vast knowledge, but since he was so cheap and one of my first fish purchases i never really looked to deep into id'ing him. Sorry my pics are irrelevant. Thanks for the compliments none the less, I will tell tebow you liked him

 

[jbarbaresi]

I stand corrected. You are exactly right. I just assumed he was a variation of the gibbiceps sp. Its funny cause ive owned tons of rare plecos and have a pretty vast knowledge, but since he was so cheap and one of my first fish purchases i never really looked to deep into id'ing him. Sorry my pics are irrelevant. Thanks for the compliments none the less, I will tell tebow you liked him

definitely not irrelevant, it was sold at a petsmart as a hi-fin spotted pleco you got lucky imo, i wish my local petsmart carried the joseli's instead of gibbiceps. i think they are much more suitable for aquariums since they typically max out around 12-15". the gibbiceps get much larger and most tanks can't house them as adults. plus i think the adult joseli's look more "exotic". i would say you have a keeper! nothing matches the attitude of an adult gibby though.

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

Yea, my local petstupid had both species in the same tank labled as spotted hi-fins. I picked him cause he stood out. i lucked out he is amazing. Like a big water puppy, though he is in my 220, so size isnt really an issue.

 

[jclyde13]

Yea, my local petstupid had both species in the same tank labled as spotted hi-fins. I picked him cause he stood out. i lucked out he is amazing. Like a big water puppy, though he is in my 220, so size isnt really an issue.

Lol @ "petstupid" .

I have a gibby in my 220 also, he's 1.5 years old and over 16" long.

definitely not irrelevant, it was sold at a petsmart as a hi-fin spotted pleco you got lucky imo, i wish my local petsmart carried the joseli's instead of gibbiceps. i think they are much more suitable for aquariums since they typically max out around 12-15". the gibbiceps get much larger and most tanks can't house them as adults. plus i think the adult joseli's look more "exotic". i would say you have a keeper! nothing matches the attitude of an adult gibby though.

I disagree. Anyone who can properly house a jose should be able to house a gibby as well, since there is actually only a 2-3" difference in max size between the two species (jose's max at around 18", despite the popular belief that they never pass 16", and gibbies max at around 20") and both require a minimum of 125 gallons.

 

[josephjeon]

Well looking at the pictures of you guys' beautiful plecos, I am really excited to see how mine will turn out! It is currently in the 10 gallon... (yeah yeah flame me all you want) because it is only 1 inch right now... I am REALLY tempted to move it to my 125 gallon ASAP but it has 3 glutonous silver arowanas in it... Do you guys think I should take a chance in the 125, or will the growth rate be okay in the 10 till about 3 inches? (i doubt they'll be able to swallow it at 3 inches cuz they are pretty sturdy anyways)

 

[studd muffin]

They are just regular sailfin plecos. I did the same when I got mine a year ago. Was only a buck but I got it any way. I got rid of him because all he did was crap.

What else did you expect?

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

Id say the 10 will be fine while he is small, he will grow fast and be in the 125 soon enough. I would wait until around 4" if it was me.