Potentially silly pleco questions

[_Sushi_]

I was switching tanks today, b/c I just got a new fish, and when my pleco was waiting his turn in the bathtub with his piranha buddy, I noticed he looks more like a leopard than a fish...lol

He is a medium brown with light tan, orange-brown, and black mottled spots all over his body, is this normal for a "common", or is he not that common after all? Also he was in the 75 with my piranha, but since we just got a 9-11 clown knife, I moved him to the 29 with his piranha. He's about 4 inches long, and he's really wide for his length, and I've only had him about a month.

He's been eating whatever the piranha doesn't get (which is a lot of food) cucumbers, carrots, and there's a piece of driftwood he's been munching on for the last week or two.

Also, as soon as he gets a little bigger, would it be safe to put him back into the 75 with the clown knife, or is he better off to just stay with my piranha? OR, should I skip those entirely, and house him with my goldfish?

I would post pics, but my camera's no good at catching fine details.

 

[WyldFya]

Common pleco is a term used for many different species. Yours is still a common pleco, but may not be a common "common pleco".

 

[Rare_Cichlids]

I agree with wyldfya, its a name widely used for "common" plecostamus with relatively same patterns and structure. yours can be a leopard sailfin gibbiceps (L-083).... we would love to see some pics so we can tell you for sure if it is a "common".

 

[_Sushi_]

If my camera would co-operate, I would gladly take pics. His dorsal fin is really high (when he decides to act like a lil peacock) As is his tail fin.

If I can get pics up, his tail and dorsal fins have been nipped. He got in a tiff with the piranha the other day over who got to use the cave, and head-butted the piranha, who's a quarter inch shorter in length, and I guess that was his revenge. Up until then his fins were perfect. If I knew who he could go in with, I'd move him so that his fins would stay nice. But I have no room for a seperate tank for just him, so he'd have to share.

 

[PacKRaT]

he'll probably need the space in the seventy five, unless you're getting a larger tank. I just read a thread about a pleco getting eaten by a piranha...Don't let this happen to you!

 

[_Sushi_]

I will be moving him back to the 75, as soon as he's no longer bite-sized for my clown knife. Considering he's really my fiance's fish, and I don't think he'd be very happy with me if I let him get "eetid"!! Until then, I'm hoping his name does him justice (his name is Lucky)

I'm uploading the 2 clearest pics I have of him out of 10. They're still not that great but hopfully will give you an idea of what we have here. I'll post them as soon as they're done.

 

[_Sushi_]

I tried draining most of the water out of the container, so that the flash would bounce off of his skin, instead of the water. I did leave some in there so he could breathe.

This isn't the clearest, but it shows how high his fin is, since he was quite annoyed with me at having his picture taken.

 

[Mystix212]

Its fine to take plecs out of the water for photography. Just make sure its no longer than a minute or two.

Looks to be a sailfin plec. Grows 18". Although there are possiblities on how much he can grow. Dont worry about the other fish eating him. He'll be fine as any bites he reciveves will be virtually painless. He has an 'armoured' body. Also, if you take him out of the water, you shoudl notice he has 'stabbers' on the side of his face. Both Sides.

Place him in the 75 and enjoy him!

 

[_Sushi_]

I didn't get the water that low, But I'm sure that's what he was trying to do when I was touching his tail to try to get him to raise that fin of his, as soon as he swung sideways, I let go, and clicked the camera, and got that first pic. As soon as I got that one, I put him back into his tank, where I got the second one.

I'm still gonna wait till he gets a bit more size on him, my clown knife has a BIG mouth and a hungry hungry hippo reputation.

Thanks for IDing him though, my fiance's going to be happy he's not just a "common"

Is the diet he's getting with my Piranha good enough, or do I need to up his veggies? I give him 2-3 cuke slices a week, and I'll walk into my room to find the rinds floating around the tank. lol

 

[WyldFya]

With those pics it will be impossible to give a definite ID. It does look somewhat like a L083, however, the color pattern doesn't look right. Regardless, it still would be rolled in with all the other common plecos.