Mini ranger pleco?

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dmckercher
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Mini ranger pleco?

Post by dmckercher »

I got some what is named ranger pleco's. I was told that they grow to about 2 inches max. They don't look like any ranger I've seen before.
pleco.jpg
They are only about 1 inch. Any ranger pleco juvie or adult have spots and not stripes like these little fella's
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by bekateen »

I've heard mixed things about "mini rangers." Mostly, peopke have said that the name is contrived and that "mini rangers" will grow to full-sized rangers if you take good care of them. I have also heard a few people say that mini rangers stay mini, but I have know idea if those people have kept them long enough, and in good quality conditions, to say the small size is real, natural, and permanent.

I tend to suspect they'll grow big since, after all, they are a .

Good luck with them.
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by Bas Pels »

Once I got similar fish, which grew out to be Pterogoblichthys punctaus or similar.

Perhaps not the most cvolorfull one in the genus, but very nicely sized at max 30 cm.

Perhaps you will be as luckey as I was.
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by bekateen »

Bas Pels wrote: 01 Jan 2022, 08:50 Once I got similar fish, which grew out to be or similar.
... max 30 cm.
Let's hope not. A regular is supposed to max out at 20cm (SL). Still no dwarf. :))

Cheers, Eric
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by Narwhal72 »

Years ago, Pterygoplichthys weberi were being imported into the U.S. as very attractive small juveniles for a short time. I still have a half dozen of them that maxed out at about 8" SL. I will say that they look similar, but not the same as the fish in your photo.
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by dmckercher »

ranger pleco.jpg
So, It's been 10 days. They are starting to look like standard Ranger plecos. Losing their stripes, Body getting light brown, Eating like there is no tomorrow., And grew about 1/2 inch in these past 10 days. Still real cool looking pleco. I'm starting to eye my 120 tank for a future home as the standard ranger tops off at around 7 - 11 inches. Time will tell.
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by bekateen »

They are so pretty at that size!
Cheers, Eric
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by Acanthicus »

The "minis" are nothing but P. punctatus, if you are lucky you end up with a P. weberi.

The exporters might either name them like this to sell them better, or maybe just get fooled by the juvenile pattern themselves, leading them to think they are a different species, because they look so different.
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Re: Mini ranger pleco?

Post by Jools »

It's like "jumbo cardinal tetra" but in reverse. The mini just means a small ranger pleco which as we know means one of the big brown spotted ones eventually - anything else is social mumbo jumbo. Great bit of marketing. :-)

When really small they have red caudal fins - makes you wonder what other big plecos look like that small.

HTH,

Jools
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