I have a baby common pleco and two baby(?) common feeder goldfish. I heard common plecos get big so I am wondering what the minimum gallon size will be. My mom bought them for my late birthday WHICH IS A HORRIBLE IDEA as I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility AND SHE BOUGHT IT WITHOUT RESEARCH FROM PETSMART. She originally put them in a small ahh bowl but I sneaked and bought a 5.5 gal as a temporary home till I planned to buy a 75gal or something and today is the chance. This is day 5 of owning them and I really want them to have a good life. If I can't keep them please be honest (I WON'T GET UPSET) and I will give them away to people I know they can own them like a personal pond or something like that. Maybe on facebook if anyone has a tank req that can care for it.
Aquatic plants I ordered as supposed to arrive today. So it's literally the perfect chance to get a tank as mom isn't home!
Posted by Comfortableolive1223
10 Comments
I am in USA! If you know any good stores to buy tanks pls lmk as I want to buy it asap so they won’t feel crowded. Other suggestions for tank interior also welcome (ex. Get more coconuts for pleco, or any other stuff to put inside).
Any of these can reach 2 feet and live for 20 years , do you want this sort of commitment for the future ?
Return them, plecos get huge and goldfish are destructive, dirty, and need lots of space.
It will just be far more rewarding to start with easier fish that don’t require going from 0 to 75gallons.
20 longs are a wonderful intro in my opinion, big enough to make parameter swings slower but small enough to not break the bank and take up tons of floor space.
Unrelated to tank advice, and I don’t know your home situation so take with a grain of salt:
Being an adult does mean you can do what you want, but it also means no one is legally obligated to house and care for you. Be careful how you play that card. It would be a shame to use living creatures as pawns in that battle.
Common goldfish need at least 50-gallons per fish. Common pleco needs at least 75-gallon tank.
Common goldfish can get up to about 12 inches long, but I’ve seen them get close to 20 inches. Common plecos can get up to 24 inches long but I’ve also heard of them getting bigger than that.
You have two fish species that get huge and also have a large bio load. So, you need really good filtration to keep up on top of it.
Please do A LOT of research with fish species you want to keep because I think the biggest problem with people getting in this hobby is not doing research and setting themselves up for failure and then they quit after spending a bunch of money on it. There are so many different fish out there that are easy to keep. Goldfish and plecos sound like they are but it’s their sheer size and the fact both are poop machines that’s what makes it difficult. Not everyone can afford to keep 200–400-gallon tanks in their house or have the space for a large stock tank.
listen, dont go all the way into a 75 gal. thats a huge jump and it may overwhelm you. and if you do switch tank sizes, PLEASEE take your time and have alot of patience building the tank. The pleco you should look into getting rehomed sooner than later, but if you dont want to get rid of it right this second, thats fine, it wont grow to the max for a good time. I would say you should look into getting a 20-35 gallon, look into getting like a group of neon tetras, or some corydoras catfish!! search through r/aquariums and get some inspo from others natural tanks (like sand, real plants, rocks, etc) either way, dont let anyone stop you from enjoying this hobby
It doesn’t let me edit the post but I’ve decided that THEY ARE ALL BEING REHOMED! Thank you all for the realistic advice 🫡
A pond
Quick question, are any of them common?
Saw you rehomed them, smart decision since the two biggest reasons are 1. Both of them live in two different temperatures so it would be impossible to keep them in the same tank. 2. The common pleco is a beast of a fish, getting to nearly 2 feet long and will require 125 gallons to be comfortable (it’s crazy that even PetSmart agrees with that)
Now if you want to tackle that challenge in the future go for it