After a lengthy conversation with a 'fish specialist' at a local petstore about my problem with algae in the tank and my goldfish eating all my snails, the woman recommended I invest in a pleco. She said that keeping the temperature at 70 degrees F would keep both fish happy, and that because they are both large and one is nocturnal and the other isn't, there wouldn't be a problem with them injuring each other. I currently have a 20 gallon tank but am getting ready to upgrade to something larger. However, I'm not sure if keeping the pleco is a good idea. I honestly regret the decision to get him, but also have no idea how I'd go about getting rid of him in a way that wouldn't kill him, because I do care about him.

If I decide to keep him I was thinking a 40-50 gallon tank would be roomy enough for both the goldfish and the pleco. If I don't decide to keep him, I'm think to call a 29 gallon cuts, (not sure why they don't sell 30 gallons).

My final concern is that I might be moving over seas in the next couple of years. It'd be heart wrenching for me to leave my goldfish behind, and equally heart wrenching for him to die on the way over. Any tips, advice, words of caution, etc? Has anybody tried to take their fish with them?

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Whie the common Pleco can be kept at the lower temp (70F) it is not an ideal tankmate for your goldfish as plecos are fond of sucking on flat or fat bodied fish. These fish can grow to well over a foot in length. There are smaller species of pleco but I'm not sure that they would tolerate the lower temperatures.

Ah, I see. Although my goldfish is currently larger than my pleco, (they grow to be also well over a foot in length, but you probably know that...), there could perhaps be problems in the future. Anything smaller than goldy will end up being dinner, so getting a smaller type of fish isn't a long tern option. XD
Any tips on returning him, or a new type of tank mate that will help with algae and the live plants I have? (I do like my fish to eat the live plants otherwise they clog up the tank x.x).

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Personally I don't see the point in buying a fish just to control algae. The best way to control algae is to keep the tank away from direct light and keep nitrate levels low in the tank. Unfortunately with larger messier fish this means lots of large water changes. I have a 100 gallon tank stocked heavily with large fish, to keep on top of this I am changing 40 gallons every Saturday and a 25 gallon change during the week.
In the meantime you could monitor the behaviour of the plecco, maybe he'll leave your goldies alone. Unfortunately though they are most active at night so may be hard to tell. Most reputable fish shops should let you return a fish.

The amount of waste that pleccos produce in my opinion counters the amount of algae they eat.

There are a few fish that I could recommend to eat your live plants. Problem is that they will do exactly that and leave you with no plants! It is best to manually remove dead leaves.

I've had them together for quite a while now, they both stick to their own parts of the tank and leave each other alone for the most part. I think that returning him is the best idea though, hopefully the shop will let me.
My tank doesn't have any artificial lighting and isn't in direct sunlight, but does get light during the day, for my other plants (which there aren't really many dead leaves to remove, I end up hauling ziploc bags of live plants out ever few weeks).
Pleco's are messy fish, but seeing as goldfish are too I have a strong filter anyhow. I think I'll go with returning him anyway. :|

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