small pleco native to brazil/peru/colombia?

rcl · Post by **rcl** » 20 Apr 2004, 16:36

I am looking to set up a small (likely 15g tall) tank. I am trying to make this a tank that gets all of its species from the same native environment, to try to recreate nature at least somewhat faithfully in my bedroom

So far I'm thinking of going with 6 or so neon tetras, plants with probably sand substrate and some rocks, and some frogs (haven't figured out which of these I want, but I think I am going to pick a type that goes above water too, so the upper 2 gallons or so of the tank will likely be dry)

Anyway, I want to try to add a catfish to the mix. For some reason it feels like a lot of the corys might be suitable for this environment, but to tell the truth I really don't like the looks of corys at all (SHH! DONT LET THE OTHER FORUM HEAR) so I'd rather just get a dwarf-sized pleco that natively lives around these fish/in this environment.

Anyhow I'd appreciate any suggestions (the more the merrier) and if anybody thinks this tank is just too small for that or that this is a poor idea, please also chime in.

tia for your help,
Robert

Elspeth · Post by **Elspeth** » 20 Apr 2004, 17:16

Ancistrus claro (LDA 008, AKA "gold marble bristlenose) comes from the Rio Claro in Brazil. Adult size is just under 2", definitely a small fish for a plec! Since they are bristlenoses, I think that you will also be able to sex them easily at maturity.

I have two of these, still juveniles, in quarantine with a mess of other loricariids and some cories. I have been seriously considering a 10 gallon in my kitchen as their permanent home. So I'm all ears (erm all eyes?) attending to this thread to see what responses the suggestion gets.

Oh, and according to the Cat-eLog, A. claro is active in the daytime for your viewing pleasure.

rcl · Post by **rcl** » 20 Apr 2004, 17:52

that is an interesting suggestion, I actually have an lda08 in my 120g right now (the only pleco I have atm actually!) and I had no idea it was from this area. It sure is a fun fish to watch, perhaps I will get another one for this tank, or capture this one and put it in the other tank when its set up (yeah right, good luck catching that sucker in a tank that big!)

I'm still open to other suggestions anyone might have too!

Robert

Elspeth · Post by **Elspeth** » 22 Apr 2004, 03:58

To be fair, all I know about A. claro (other than it's cute as a button, but to my eye they almost all are) I read on the internet. Mostly here on planet catfish!

When I went to the local AS auction earlier this month, I was looking for some bristlenoses; someone had several bags of 2 A. claro each. I didn't know which bristlenose that was but I liked the coloring (plain jane wild type; the other ancistrus I got were albinos) and figured I couldn't get into too much trouble with "a bristlenose". Yep, confession: I bought a fish I hadn't read up on first!

Once I got everyone home and ensconced in the Q tank and started reading up, well, I'm wondering why this fish isn't prominently displayed in every fish store in town. I'm feeling positively evangelical about this. Here is a suckermouth who eats algae, won't outgrow the tank, and even comes out to be seen during the daylight! Plus, as a bristlenose, it shouldn't be hard even for a newbie like me to sex them when they get old enough to grow the bristles, and they ought to be easy to breed.

I personally am looking forward to the slow transformation of my common plec from cute lil' critter into tank-filling Fishzilla, but I have a 120 gallon tank to house the eventual end product of years of growth. Most people with community tanks really want something smaller... Gosh, golly, and my goodness, why isn't there an A. claro in every fish store tank? I think they'd suit the "average aquarist" much better!