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I am about to get my first aquarium. I want to get a
Pitbull Pleco. would they be a good beginner fish? Any info would be appreciated.

Cory67 wrote:I am about to get my first aquarium. I want to get a
Pitbull pl*co. would they be a good beginer fish? Any info would be appreciated.

They are fantastic fish. I have two and they have no idea that they are small. They have some very unique habits. One of these is grabbing a small piece of gravel, rolling it around in his mouth and then actually pitching it as far away as possible. They also like to almost totaly bury themselves and if you have natural rock, the camoflague is very good. Often I have to look for the tail sticking up to find the fish.

I put caves in the tank but they don't prefer them. I would use smaller or finer gravel. Mine dine on 1x weekly blood worms or brine frozen, algae wafers and OSI flake.

You won't regret having them but due to their small (don't tell them I said that!) size, you could lose them in a large tank.

Good luck!

I'm sorry to confuse you, but I never knew such a small fish needed such a large tank! I had a male and a female in a 15 gallon tank. The female died. They compete for food(food of preference-aufwuchs). They can get quite aggressive with each other, especially during breeding. I have the surviving male in a 20 gallon long, by himself. I wonder if that tank is too small! He does laps around the sides of the tank. The temperature needs to be below 75 degrees F. or else respiratory difficulties will ensue. Airstones or an airpump must also be provided, since they come from fast-moving shallow water, very rich with oxygen. I change 50% of the water once a week. If he's particularly messy with the zucchini, he gets another smaller water change during the week. He gets protein twice a week, such as brine shrimp or mysis shrimp. I keep some zucchini in the tank 3 days a week. Two days a week, he subsists only on aufwuchs.

In a larger tank, you can watch him skip over rocks. Whatever size tank you give this fish is whatever size he'll take.
Amanda

Check out the cat-t-log under LDA025 and see if that is what your "pitbull pleco" is. Bronzefry's photo looks a little like a Chaetostoma species which if I were dishing out common names I would give Chaetostomas the pitbull name but Paraotocinclus jumbo seems to have been already tagged as pitbulls.

...which is why scientific names are important. This guy was purchased as a "Pitbull Pl*co."
Amanda

Yes, the Pitbull Pleco and Chaetostoma sp. are two different fish and require differing setups. As has been pointed out, look at LDA25. That's a real Pitbull pleco.

Bronzefry,
You did get an interesting looking Chaetostoma , though, it's hard to tell if if it's the common "thomasi" or something else but in the photo is seems to be an attractive species. To make things more connfusing some Chaetosoma are sold as Bull dog plecos.

Larry,
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for more. I thought I had one, but the set up was too small and she didn't live long. Ideally, I'd like to have a group in a 55 gallon tank and give them multiple territories. I don't have much experience in this hobby. I imagine by the time I find a group of these, I will have a fair amount of experience.
Amanda

I bet you are right about that. Whenever we aquarists get a taste for some fish it all of a sudden becomes the rarest thing in the Universe. Perverse isn't it? I have a list of these fish but eventually we'll finally come across them in unlikely places and unpredictable times. I have come across albino Chaetostoma "thomasi" albino for only $5.25 but they only have 2 in stock so I don't want to buy them and have them turn out to be the same same sex. But if there are albinos someone is raising them so another opportunity will probably come up again. Generally I don't like albino fish but I do like and have breeding groups of albono bn reg and long fin. I would like to get the albino thomasi homely as they are. At least it shows they are'nt too hard to breed if the price is so low and they stay a nice small size. I like the big plecos but I only keep and try to breed small types. I've just recently( this past year got bit by the pleco bug badly). Most of my tanks are 20 Longs. Maybe I should go ahead and get the albino thomasi and pick more up later. I have a heat problem though and my water might be too hot for them to prosper. I do fine with the common bn and the Hypancistrus, Peckoltia with the warm water. I had to quit killies for now until I find a new place that stays cooler. I raise discus and am branching out to wild angels.
Been having a heck of a time to get altums but this is the week its supposed to happen after many deals have fallen through. If I get them I'll have all three known wild angel species. I have had them all in the past but never before at the same time. Well I hope you don't have to wait long if you have your heart set on getting more of the one you lost. It's hard to tell in the photos but do you think it is thomasi or something else? If its thomasi I know that http://www.petsolutions.com has them fairly cheap and they have suprisingly good fish and charge $25 for freight. If you order say $100 worth of fish that works out to be a good deal.
Larry

bronzefry wrote:Larry,
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for more. I thought I had one, but the set up was too small and she didn't live long. Ideally, I'd like to have a group in a 55 gallon tank and give them multiple territories. I don't have much experience in this hobby. I imagine by the time I find a group of these, I will have a fair amount of experience.
Amanda

In one of my local stores, they certainly have these... Unfortunately, I don't think it's worth the effort and money to attempt to ship them back across the Atlantic again...

They had a tank with about 30 or so mixed Chaetostoma. I could see at least three different species in the same tank...

Good luck finding some.

--
Mats

Thanks, folks. I hope people here see the value of these fish, too.
Amanda

Hi MattsP
I wanted to know what Chaetostoma do you think Bronzefry's fish was. I don't know them that well as I have only come across and kept the "thomasi" type most commonly sold in the USA shops. Also picked up 2 more male LDA025 yesterday so I have 3 pairs and 1 trio of P. spilosoma.
Larry

There's been some discussion on the subject, but I don't actually know what species (if it's even been identified).

Chaetostoma is a genus that contains MANY different species that are very similar, and almost every minor river in the region which the genus covers have it's own speices. To make matters worse, some of the identification details in the rather old scientific descriptions are not very clear (or indeed even correct - one species discussed in the aforementioned thread is depicted with something that looks much more like a Lasiancistrus or similar than a Chaetostoma).

I'll come back and give a link to the thread...

--
Mats

I have just set up a tank for the LDA025 "pit bull" plecos.
I used an inch of very fine white silica sand that they can dive into easily. Added a few thin sawed slices of petrified wood for cover. Now they will spawn in a few weeks like the breeding article, right?
It does let them do their thing which is to act strangely. They stop chasing each other around and stretch there heads up high above the sand as if to get a better view of the surroundings and to locate the others. Very peculiar little fish. Much more outgoing than the P. spilosoma in the next tank over, those guys hide or run for cover at the slightests of reasons.

Cory, Larry -

I believe this is the link referred to by Mats.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... haetostoma
IMO, this kind of exchange reflects some of the best efforts of PC to discuss, inform, brainstorm, and open new directions for further research.
It was a great thread.
Deborah

Definitely not the thomasii, are they? The bottom photo looks like a match, Deb. I need to pay PetSmart another visit.
Amanda

Amanda,
Get them wherever you can find 'em. I don't think, if they are thomasi sized as adults that you will have to dedicate a 55 to them. I kept 6 in a 20L for a year and they were not on each others butts that much. I gave them plenty of hiding places, caves and a powerhead sponge filter for a good current. That was in Seattle where the temps are moderate. In my part of SE Washington State we always have a week or two every summer where it get into the 100 teens.
I think our record is 118 of more. They don't call it Hell's Canyon for nothing. Come to think of it I found mine at a Petsmart, too. I had forgtten that.
Larry