PlanetCatfish.com

Hi Guys,

Yes it's a miracle I'm posting a message about something other than Hypancistrus zebra!

There is a 6" L27a in my LFS for £70, he's been in there for about 6 months and there is no interest in him. I'm tempeted but, have lots to learn about him, I'm not even sure if he's suitable for my set-up.

I'm thinking about him for my 4 foot community tank, which contains

3 Cobalt blue discus, ( this is my main worry for compatability due to the water conditions)
5 Clown loaches,
the usual array of cardinal tetras, harlaquiins
a mix of agazizzi,and albino cory's.

My temp sits at around 80 (for the discus), ph6.5

There are some plants in the tank, i.e. a few amazonian swords, java ferns etc.

1. Is this a good price?
2. Are my water parameter close?
3. Will it be aggressive towards the other bottom feeders, ( I do hate that expression)?
4. Will he disturb all the plants?

cheers guys

rob

Hi,
Diskus water contitions are ideal for royal plecos but they have a tendency to suck on slow moving flat bodied fishes(like your diskus).Also he will make nice holes on your plant leaves (except for java fern)but he will not be agressive with your bottom feeders.Hope that i helped a little.

Cheers Kostas

So they like a little discus fodder!

Doesn't sound like I should buy it, or is that quite rare. Will I end up coming down one morning to find the panaque lying on his fat belly with a discus welded to his mouth!

cheers

rob

Hi,
It depends on the size and the particular fish.One royal may do that from baby while another may never do that.But as a general rule royals start dong that when they pass 20cm.My royal unfortunately found live fishes tasty from baby and one day he decided supply his food with fish protein and sucked on my P. costatus and on my gouramy.

The tank he is in at the moment conatins about 10 dwarf gouramis, and there isn't nay sign of aggrovation. He just sits behind the filter and comes out when it's feeding time.

So maybe he's a non-sucker!

rob

Hi!

I just had the chance for a 10 cm P.nigrolineatus and after a chat with Rusty i decided not to get it for 10 euro...
1. A 120 cm tank is way too small for a fish that will reach over 30 cm.
2. Filtration cant be strong enough with a massive woodeater
With the waste being the main issue here. Rusty told me that had/have a 18 cm spec and it requiered round the hour cleaning of filters...not thx

The filtration on the tank is v. high. A pro ehiem breather and a fluval 4 plus, althtogether over 2000 l per hour, turning the tank almot 10 times an hour.

I suppose it may be more the size aspect , and is it fair to keep a fish of that size in a four foot glas box

cheers

rob

doctor zeb, I've got a 6 inch royal with my discus, have for a year or 2 and never had any problem at all. I have heard that it happens, I have not seen pictures of the damage, nor of the attacks occurring, and other than maybe 2 or 3 people I've talked to no one who's done it has had it happen. I wouldn't make that your deciding factor.

Hi,
I agree with Caol_ila,final size is also an important factor.
S. Allen,its time to see a picture of the damage from Royal plecos.
http://www.corydorasworld.com/planetcat ... ry/albun32
Note the beautifull scar that Panaque left on the dorsal fin.Very good sucker.

Ok .....so now I'm confused. I'll have a close look into his eyes and see if he looks like an evil bugger.

I think I might be best forgeting this one, unless there is anyone out there that can identify a physochotic pleco.

rob

As you can see from the replys you have so far there are many different answers. the fact of the matter is that all fish are individual and whilst you may have an out and out fish killer you may also get a placid whimp. What I have found is that if you do get a slime sucker it tends to be smaller more agile fish ( up to 7") once over this size they tend not to bother free swimming fish. What they will do is hammer any other large 'bottom' dwellers if there is not enough space to flee. I have never been able to put more than 1 big royal together. On one occasion I had a group of 6 L27's together that used to gang up on other fish including tetras and kill them. I have never seen this since although I only keep them in species tanks now. The Colombian royals do not appear as big or aggressive. The largest L27 we had was in excess of 18" so beware! I know many people that have kept them with discus and had no problems, and in fact they condition up superbly with the high food supply for the discus.


http://www.tropicalfish.co.uk

I have two L27 together in a 6 foot tank and they do fine. They don't chase any fish, they stay away from each other too. One lives in a cave on the far right and the other to the far left. They both have cozy caves that they never leave except to eat some zucchini for dinner. One is 10 inches and the other is almost 7 inches. Cleaning keeps you busy but I have found that a few minutes two times a week will do wonders!! My tank has two sponge filters and two Fluval 402 canister filters with two powerheads on each end of the tank. The canister filter intakes are positioned where they are close to each cave and they do so much of the cleaning for me. Of course they require a change of floss material every week, which is only a 15 to 20 minute task, and well worth it to me! I have never seen them suck on any of the other fish, perhaps if they are well fed they will be lazy and not "hunt"?