Unidentified Flying Object.

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Nossie

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Nov 24, 2010
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Hi, new here :)
I bought a little pleco last week, and I would like to know which species he/she is exactly! (If you can sex him/her, it'd be a plus!) I know at least that he should grow to be about 30cm+, and that he stripped my tank completely of my nice green carpet of algae.

I want to know which species he is to be able to feed him a proper, balanced diet, since some plecos are vegetarian and some are omnivores and... you know.
Here are some photos! Hope they're good enough!
 

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Nossie

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Nov 24, 2010
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It does look quite appropriate! :D

I'll be getting some live foods that'll be easier to feed him from now on :)

Any ideas on the gender? :D
 
scatz

scatz

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Apr 8, 2009
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Nossie said:
It does look quite appropriate! :D

I'll be getting some live foods that'll be easier to feed him from now on :)

Any ideas on the gender? :D
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no way to tell very easily, its possible to have a guess when they are a lot bigger, but as they can't be bred in conventional tanks, people dont tend to bother.
go with your gut feeling, if you think it should be a he, call him a he:dk:
 
B

Big-B

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Apr 22, 2009
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Nice little Gibby. It wont stay that little for long. They are easier to sex when they are bigger. Great fish with alot of personality and really are not shy.:thumbup:
 
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Nossie

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I noticed that he seems to get more comfortable every day! :) He's been all around the tank now while he was pretty much dwelling in only one corner, on the walls and the big chunk of driftwood on that side.
Now as I have such a little critter around, I think I'll skip cleaning the sides of the tank :D
Thanks, guys! :D

May I just ask one more thing, why are they called "tank busters"? xD I get nervous...
Oh, and how fast will he grow? :)
 
JoePlec

JoePlec

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Nossie said:
I noticed that he seems to get more comfortable every day! :) He's been all around the tank now while he was pretty much dwelling in only one corner, on the walls and the big chunk of driftwood on that side.
Now as I have such a little critter around, I think I'll skip cleaning the sides of the tank :D
Thanks, guys! :D

May I just ask one more thing, why are they called "tank busters"? xD I get nervous...
Oh, and how fast will he grow? :)
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HAHA... just hope you dont have any plants. because pretty soon they will be floating instead of planted.
 
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Nossie

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Oh my... x'D I have my tank full of plants, and I intend to keep it that way! x'D
Hm, sounds like I'll have to teach him to behave later >>
 
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Nossie

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Honestly, I thought about getting a larger tank later and keep this pleco there with a few Oscars, and I'm aware that the oscars grow large too and tend to be pretty destructive, which is why I'd rather put sturdy rockwork and bog wood in the tank as ornaments :) Keeping my eye on a nice, cheap 500L (Or 540L) to get at some point when I'll have space and money ;)

Funny thing is, I thought this would be a peaceful pleco, since that's all I heard in the pet shop. Guess they didn't really know what it was either. I wasn't even planning to bring him home at first! But since they emphasized that he's extra peaceful... >>
 
JoePlec

JoePlec

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Nossie said:
Honestly, I thought about getting a larger tank later and keep this pleco there with a few Oscars, and I'm aware that the oscars grow large too and tend to be pretty destructive, which is why I'd rather put sturdy rockwork and bog wood in the tank as ornaments :) Keeping my eye on a nice, cheap 500L (Or 540L) to get at some point when I'll have space and money ;)

Funny thing is, I thought this would be a peaceful pleco, since that's all I heard in the pet shop. Guess they didn't really know what it was either. I wasn't even planning to bring him home at first! But since they emphasized that he's extra peaceful... >>
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Extra peaceful just made me laugh quite loud haha
 
N

Nossie

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Have you all had experience with this fish? Or do you know people that did? :)

Either way, I feel like it may be smarter to find some smaller pleco to dwell with my goldies and dump this one in with some cichlids c:
 
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Big-B

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Apr 22, 2009
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He would probably be quite happy with Oscars. Some Gibby's have been known to suck on the sides of some types of fish, like discus, but Oscars should be able to fend for themselves. I have one with some Severums and he never bothers them even though they sleep on the bottom. As far as aggression goes, I find that they could have problems with other plecos around the same size and body shape. I have read that in the wild they shoal with other Gibby's, but in the confines of a tank they can be territorial. The one I have was added to the tank when he was small and lives with a Rhino thats about 10 inches. They never had a problem until they got to be about the same size, then they would chase each other but never really doing any harm. Once he outgrew the Rhino, the fighting stopped.:dk: Mine grew rapidly when younger but as he reached somewhere around 12 inches, his growth slowed down some. He still averages a little over an inch a month though.:yes: Oh, and he will eat my plants but as long as I feed him alot of veggies he tends to leave the plants alone.:thumbup:
 
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Nossie

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Nov 24, 2010
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Very interesting! Well, fish have that thing, that they gauge their "enemies" before deciding whether to fight or not, so I guess that once the Gibby was the big guy in the tank, he was comfortable :)

Anyway, I was going to ask one more thing, on the pictures of this one, there are no white edges on the fins, and my fish happens to have white edges on the dorsal and caudal, don't know if it's visible on the photos I uploaded, but they're there!
And since there are so many L-catfish, maybe he's a separate breed altogether?
 
scatz

scatz

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Apr 8, 2009
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Nossie said:
Anyway, I was going to ask one more thing, on the pictures of this one, there are no white edges on the fins, and my fish happens to have white edges on the dorsal and caudal, don't know if it's visible on the photos I uploaded, but they're there!
And since there are so many L-catfish, maybe he's a separate breed altogether?
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no, nothing new, just very young, a lot of plecs with have some patches, edges that are different colours to adults, BN's and Royals etc, but these will always grow out when they get a bit bigger
 
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