OK, so….
8 years ago, my parents purchased a 15 gallon aquarium. (This was before I knew anything about fish!)
8 years later, and they have given it to me. They completely neglected it, claiming they were ‘too busy’ to spend an hour cleaning it every saturday.
It was so dirty, you could barely see the fish. I decided to get to grips with cleaning it right away, because my parents hadn’t cleaned it in years. When they bought the tank, they purchased a Common Pleco, and I think they used this as an excuse not to clean the tank.
Yes, Common Plecos do eat algae, but they actually make the tank dirtier if anything.
I need to do something about the Pleco. He is, obviously, far too small for a dingy little 15 gallon tank, and he blatantly has no room to move. I purchased an additional two filters to keep the water quality good, because the build up of nitrate had really taken it’s toll on the other fish.
I am getting a (much) larger tank for my birthday (40 gallons!), but this is still really too small for a Common Pleco.
I pleaded and begged my parents to let me rehome him, but they refuse point-blanc.
So now I am left with two options.
Keep him, and put him in the 40 gallon tank when I get it.
I know it’s too small but its better than what he is in now. However, my biggest worry is that the waste he produces really makes the water quality not as good as it could be, and this could pose a threat, because I want to try to get more sensetive species of fish, such as Angelfish, but they are thoroughly intolerant of bad water quality.
My second option is to euthanize him. The alcohol cabinet is only a few paces away from the tank, and all I have to do is go to the pharmacy, get some clove oil, and then use some of my parent’s vodka. (They’re not alcoholics, i swear!).
However, there are two flaws to this plan.
Firstly, I would feel evil killing a 7 year old pleco with a great personality and he impresses all the visitors, who happily sit gazing at him and his curious ways.
Secondly, my parents are very suspicious and I don’t think they’d believe me if they came home from work and he was ‘magically’ dead.
It would also really upset my mum, she has grown attatched to him.
Please help me, what do i do????