What kind of Pleco do I have?

[mariposa]

After reading several posts and discussing this on another thread I began to wonder what kind of pleco I actually have. I'm going to post a pic of him here and see if you guys can help. They had leopard pleco or something of that nature on the receipt but I didnt get the scienctific name so I'm stuck wondering if I'm going to have to take out a loan later to afford the tank to keep him in....

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/nichollerodriguez/Camo%20the%20pleco/Camofullbodyshot.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/nichollerodriguez/Camo%20the%20pleco/camopuppydogeyes.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/nichollerodriguez/Camo%20the%20pleco/DSCF4815.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/nichollerodriguez/Camo%20the%20pleco/DSCF4816.jpg

[squirt_12]

That looks like a common pleco to me. S/he will get to be about 3 feet long.

[Dave66]

Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps. They are farmed in Florida, and are VERY common in shops. About 18 inches, tops.

Dave

[mariposa]

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! dont tell me that! You wouldnt believe that I actually read up on plecos before I got this one. I knew there were some that got big but my being new to fish keeping (naive in other words) was assured that this was not one of the larger variety but one of the ones that only got 6"! Man I so should have taken with me the scientific names so I couldnt be so fooled. Lesson absolutely learned here!!! These dang common names for fish are so misleading. They call them all kinds of things! Why in the freaking world would they sell these fish to ppl knowing that they get that large? Thats not fair to the fish really! I just informed my husband of this little revelation, you should have seen his eyes!! lol. How are we going to afford a tank of the right size? I love Camo and had I known that this fish would get this large I never would have purchased him..as a matter of fact I was sure he was only going to grow to six inches tops! How long do you figure I have before I have to get a gianormous tank? I the biggest one I have now is the 42 thats not fully cycled so I havent been able to move them into it yet. I know thats not going to be near big enough....***sigh!!***

[squirt_12]

Well mine has grown really slowly but he is getting big now an di am going to trade him for some little (well i forget how to spell it) its like octinoulus (sp?) they get about 2 inches tops.

[Dave66]

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! dont tell me that! You wouldnt believe that I actually read up on plecos before I got this one. I knew there were some that got big but my being new to fish keeping (naive in other words) was assured that this was not one of the larger variety but one of the ones that only got 6"! Man I so should have taken with me the scientific names so I couldnt be so fooled. Lesson absolutely learned here!!! These dang common names for fish are so misleading. They call them all kinds of things! Why in the freaking world would they sell these fish to ppl knowing that they get that large? Thats not fair to the fish really! I just informed my husband of this little revelation, you should have seen his eyes!! lol. How are we going to afford a tank of the right size? I love Camo and had I known that this fish would get this large I never would have purchased him..as a matter of fact I was sure he was only going to grow to six inches tops! How long do you figure I have before I have to get a gianormous tank? I the biggest one I have now is the 42 thats not fully cycled so I havent been able to move them into it yet. I know thats not going to be near big enough....***sigh!!***

You hit the nail on the head; without the scientific name, you have little hope for an honest total length from a LFS person. Its the same for Pacus, Iradescent Sharks and SA Red Tail Cats, which have no business in anything under several hundred gallons.
Know this isn't what you want to hear, but in a planted 200 gallon, they turn into big, glamorous Snow King plecos, with white checks on a black background. They also live past 20 years.

Dave

[TowBoater]

I took one to the LFS that was 10" long 2 years ago, it is 17" long now in a 150g there.

[mariposa]

I was just wondering at how long I had to save up the money for a huge tank! I am a stay at home Mom right now but I told my husband I'll have to get a job outside the home just to afford the tank for my Pleco and the house to fit it in. We are out of room for anything bigger than about a 5 gal maybe! lol I am planning on going back to work when my 2 year old starts school (another 2 years). If he can wait that long I suppose I'll try to buy a giant tank, but if he starts getting too big before I suppose I'll start looking around for someone who can take him, maybe a LFS. He has grown kinda slowly. I got him just before Christmas last year and he was a small guy then but hes only about as long as my hand now. I love him so much, he's almost tame..if thats possible. My son threw in 2 algae wafers for him that landed on top of his house and 1 in some plants so I stuck my hand in the water to knock them down to him and he came out of his house and sat there and started munching on the first one I knocked down to him and just was like waiting for me to give him the second one. I mean I could just almost touch him. He is usually pretty shy. So that was so cool for me!