Topic: Question about my royal

[Ezekial]

I know that Royal plecos grow very, very slowly and mine has proven that so far growing maybe an inch a year.  In the last year however I'd be hard pressed to say he has grown at all.   

Anyone ever heard of plecos, specifically species of Royals that stay smaller?  Mine is maybe 6-7" TL.  He has grown from around 3" when I got him to where he is today but I'm not sure he's any bigger.  I don't think there is any stunting going on, he has always been in my 60 gallon.  There has always been wood to eat and I feed algae pellets and veggies routinely.  He looks healthy, as a matter of fact he still looks just like my avatar.

Any thoughts?

[Gerry]

like cichlids, sometimes you get one that's not gonna get as big, my L001 is about 1 - 2" smaller than what it's supposed to reach

[Stormbringer]

was gonna say something along lines Gerry said not all fish reach max size 

[Ezekial]

Yea I know but mine isn't just an inch or two smaller.  He's 1/2 what a full size Royal gets.  That's like a 12" O only getting to 6".  That seems a bit too low doesnt' it?   

[Stormbringer]

it does but if his bellys not sunken in he isnt starving and maybe they reach the size yours is in that time then grow slower rest of lives ?

[Gerry]

yeah but how long does it take for them to get full size I think is the question.
My L001 is around 7" but supposed to be 12

[Dan]

Joe,

Do you have alot of driftwood in your tank? I know, that Ive heard Royal's are very picky eaters and constantly need alot of driftwood.  Just curious.  That may be part of the problem. 

[johnl]

I think they slow down as they get older. I've had a snow king for the past two years he was about 3" when I got him he's about 7" now but hasn't shown any real growth in the last 6 months. As long as he's not starving I wouldn't worry too much.

[Ezekial]

I do have two large pieces of driftwood Dan.  He looks healthy just noticed he hasn't appeared to grow.  I know it takes them years to grow to full size but I didn't think he'd slow already.  If you figure an 1" a year that will take him at least 14 years to reach full size, if they slow down this much it will take him closer to 20-25 years    Do they live that long? 

[Gerry]

just wonder if that's how it works with plecs as mine is the same as yours Joe, not growing (or appear to be) but not full size, coincidence?

[mrbigfish]

My question is has anyone ever seen a 12in Royal?

[Ezekial]

Not in person no but there are plenty of ones on you tube and I've seen an 8-9" one at the LFS.

[tracey]

Did some quick reading on Planet Catfish and the slow growth rate seems to be totally normal    There is one species of Royal that stays smaller than the others, L191, the Dull-eyed Royal, but I don't think that is what you have.  It seems that most of the larger Panaque species reach a certain length, bout the size your guy is now, they really slow down on their growth.

Another thing that came up as a limiting factor on Panaque growth was nitrate levels.  It seems that growth slows even more is the nitrate level reaches 20-25 ppm.  A lot of ppl were recommending small, very frequent water changes, 10 to 20% every couple of days, to increase the growth rate.

[Ezekial]

That is good to know Tracey.  I've been keeping my Nitrates to 20ppm or below so not sure how that will affect him. 

Not sure I can do the WC's that often as that will cause a overgrowth of algae in no time.  I think more plants are the answer