Sailfin pleco Darn!

[Lady Hobbs]

After all my preaching to research fish before buying them, I come home tonight with 2 sailfin pleco's. Now am reading they get huge. Stupid, stupid.
I will have to take them back, of course.

I put them in the tank with my Angels and they've been chasing these pleco's all night. They pay no attention to the corey's but don't like these guys at all.

When the gal was bagging them up for me, one made a viberating sound and poked about a half dozen holes in the bag. She had to rebag them twice.
__________
OK I have returned to edit because honestly, I don't know what the heck I have. Store doesn't list the species worth a darn. I thought it was a corey cat but the lady said a pleco. It is muted brown and tan spots but has the high dorsal fin and apparently a barb of some type to punch holes in the bag. Any guesses. I just can't see a Sailfin Pleco selling for $5.98.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:iqdpJpOuLcxe4M:i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/science/12/01/cambodia.catfish.ap/vert.mekong.catfish.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/science/12/01/cambodia.catfish.ap/vert.mekong.catfish.jpg&imgrefurl=http://conceptalive.com/&h=242&w=220&sz=14&tbnid=iqdpJpOuLcxe4M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcatfish%2Bpictures&start=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1)

I want no fish that will get like this. LOL

[Slinky_Bass]

LOL, I doubt they'll get that big. Can you post a picture of them, I've got a whole bunch of resources on identifying plecos so maybe I could help figure out what it is.

Have you set up your 75 gal yet? Cause you could keep one pleco in there comfortably. I say one pleco because as they get older they get territorial and aggressive with their own kind. Check out this site, very interesting info on pleco behaviour

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com...eco_myth1.html

Most of them will grow between 30 - 40 cm (you do the conversion my brain is a bit moeg atm) and it'll take a year or two or three for them to get really big (depending on environment, genetics and food).

[jeffs99dime]

After all my preaching to research fish before buying them, I come home tonight with 2 sailfin pleco's. Now am reading they get huge. Stupid, stupid.
I will have to take them back, of course.

I put them in the tank with my Angels and they've been chasing these pleco's all night. They pay no attention to the corey's but don't like these guys at all.

When the gal was bagging them up for me, one made a viberating sound and poked about a half dozen holes in the bag. She had to rebag them twice.
__________
OK I have returned to edit because honestly, I don't know what the heck I have. Store doesn't list the species worth a darn. I thought it was a corey cat but the lady said a pleco. It is muted brown and tan spots but has the high dorsal fin and apparently a barb of some type to punch holes in the bag. Any guesses. I just can't see a Sailfin Pleco selling for $5.98.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:iqdpJpOuLcxe4M:i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/science/12/01/cambodia.catfish.ap/vert.mekong.catfish.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/TECH/science/12/01/cambodia.catfish.ap/vert.mekong.catfish.jpg&imgrefurl=http://conceptalive.com/&h=242&w=220&sz=14&tbnid=iqdpJpOuLcxe4M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcatfish%2Bpictures&start=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1)

I want no fish that will get like this. LOL

most plecos' fins are like razor blades. when i used to have some i made the mistake of touching his dorsal fin and he sliced my hand open. needless to say, i bled like a stuck pig lol.

[Severus]

I thought sailfins didnt get as large as the common plecos. I might be wrong though??

[Slinky_Bass]

You're right, they don't, the largest recorded sailfin is 30cm apparently. I wasn't specific enough. What I meant was is that most of the plecos found in your LFS will probably grow up to be between 30 - 40cm, and since we don't really know what plecos Hobbs has yet, I mentioned it as a rough estimate of what she can expect.

[jeffs99dime]

they can get upwards of 20" max- i looked it up lol

[Severus]

Jeff - sailfin or common? I full grown common is about 24"

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't know what you can see in this pic. Bloody things go from hiding behind the wood to the plants and I was chasing them all over the place.

And wouldn't you know it, I have foil background on my tank and get bad flashback from it so hope you can see this ok.

[Slinky_Bass]

Hmmm, can't really make out too much. If you manage to get a better pic let me know and we can try make some headway.

[jeffs99dime]

Jeff - sailfin or common? I full grown common is about 24"

sailfin pleco

[danthefishman]

These are one of the most common plec's sold in the uk. They are sold as 2-4cm babies and then took back because they grow to big. Nearly every fish shop has a load of returned ones in display tanks from 30 - 40 cm and people rarly buy them this big so they are stuck there. never seen thm bigger than this so 24" seems a little over the top. They grow very fast, you can expect a 2cm baby to be around 20cm within a year!! They also create alot of waste and sturing up dirt with their large tails as they get bigger.

Think carefully as they are a handfull to catch once full grown. Over here we transport them in polistirine boxes and catch them bare hand head first ensuring a tight grip over the dorsal and pectoral fins.

Hope you have some idea of what you've bought.

[Lady Hobbs]

I know. Picture wasn't too good and I'm unfamiliar with taking of close ups as well but think I figured it out today...........and now can't find them. I haven't seen them even once since I took their picture yesterday. I hope they walked back to the store.

[smaug]

this is a sailfin plec he grew6" in 10 months.Coolest plec Ive ever owned.
3063
the pic you have looks very much like some kind of cory.How big are they?

[Drumachine09]

VERY old topic.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

lol this is a very old thread

[crackatinny]

Started reading this and thought, wow, some of the old crew are back, then I read the date LOL.

[smaug]

it is old isnt it:c11: I guess its kind of like one of those cold case files ,huh?Just consider it case solved then:9:

[zackish]

All plecos get big!!!
Except for a few haha...sailfins are cool though.

[crackatinny]

So, what ever happened to them hobbs?

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, i know. i was like "WTF, slinkybass is back?" lol

[digital3]

You know, since we're restoring old posts. Those pics that Hobbs posted don't really look like Plecos to me. They look more like some sort of Featherfin catfish to me. I could be wrong though. But don't Plecos have a more flat snout? Those fish appear to have more of a streamlined look to their snout...

Oh well, it may be pointless now. :c7: