Royal Pleco growth rate?

[Odo]

Hello

been thinking about picking one of these up but theyre a bit small - has anyone kept one long term? and if so, how fast do these guys grow?

Thanks in advance for any input

 

[Crispy]

They grow very slow... will take alot of years growing them out.

 

[Terri1987]

mines about 3 years old and its only 4-5''. Bought him at 2''? I hear it takes around 20 years to get large (about a foot?)

 

[blacktip]

I've seen a similar growth rate with mine, roughly an inch per year. However mine has been in less than ideal conditions. I'm sure with very frequent water changes and a better diet, that growth rate can be improved.

 

[Plec123]

mines about 3 years old and its only 4-5''. Bought him at 2''? I hear it takes around 20 years to get large (about a foot?)

yeah.... NOT cheap or easy grow-outs.

 

[matubula]

I've kept Royals (L027 and L190) for about 4 years and have been measuring their growth for the past 18 months or so.

In the last 12 month period on average my L190's grew 7cm/2.8" and my L027's grew 4.5cm/1.8".

My first L190 was bought at about 7.5cm/3" and from my last measurement was 20cm/8" (perhaps a bit more now), so in those 4 years on average 3.1cm/1.25"

 

[impala]

Had 9 Royals from 2004 to 2010, in which time they averaged 8" growth, from 2"-10" on average.

They where fed HBH Grazers, zucchini and sweet potatoe with two 33% water changes per week.

Royals are extreme filter cloggers and I scaled back to three this year.

 

[matubula]

I forgot to add that growth rates for my fish are all between 10-20cm/4-8".

My largest L190 grew 2cm/0.8" from 38cm/15.2" to 40cm/16".

 

[theunytedone]

in 4 or so months, ive realized about maybe close to an inch on my quad of L191...

my L190's have grown maybe an inch in about 7mos...

and thats with highly advanced guesstimation...i'm in it for the long hauls with these guys anyway.

cant wait.

 

[Jackson]

I find under 7" about 1.5"-2" per year max. After 7" I see about 1"-1.5" per year.

Fastest growers so far are 7 small royals I bought last year. The smallest 2 were about .75" total and the largest being about 1.5". They have all grown about 3" total since. That's the most growth I have seen from royals in one year since I have started keeping Panaque.

I just bought some l-418. I have read they are fast growers. That I am not sure of. They are for sure the most active and aggressive Panaque I have owned to date.