PlanetCatfish.com

Hi

I live in a hard water area and have a 15 tank fish room in my house.
Most are furbished with assorted cats such as various Synos, Ancistrus and Corys but I would like a nice L number with attractive colours (such as a gold nugget etc etc)
I have 3 70 litre tanks that are just waiting for a suitable guest but all the decent fish I find in these parts seem to be on soft water.
Are there any that you guys know do well on hard?

Well, this one isn't so colorful, but my has done well in my exceptionally hard water and high pH. Same with my . Sorry, those aren't black/yellow/colorful, but they are striking in my opinion. (I couldn't keep my "Gold Nuggets" alive.)

PS... edited to add a "Welcome" to the forum.

Most plecs actually come from soft water habitats, so its no surprise most of them thrive in soft water. How hard are you talking? Many plecs are actually pretty tolerant of some hardness. Back in the day my L330 did live in water that was fairly hard; I've since brought down the hardness after I realized there was coral gravel in the tank...

There aren't that many plecs that have bright yellow colors like . A few off the top of my head I can think of are , , , and .

Panaque sp. actually comes from slightly hard water.

Jools

MR Flash Plecco looks lovely.....

All Ive got to do now is track one down..

Any idea on a good price and if they cam be kept together?

Depending on size, L204 usually retail around £20-40 in shops. Private sale can be a bit lower.

I have four together, but they are still fairly small. I believe males can be a bit territorial when they become sexually mature.

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Mats

Would a pair be ok in a 60 litre if furnished with sand/gravel and lots of bogwood etc?

I'd say no. For two reasons: They produce a huge amount of waste, and they grow a little bit too large for a 60 liter tank. They are OK in a 60 liter for some time, but eventually, I reccon 100 liter so is needed. And very good filtration. My four are probably moving to a 200 or 300 liter tank in the future.

In my experience, many plecos do fine in hard water, as long as it's otherwise good water. Common bristlenose certainly does, and my Pseudacanthicus almost doubled in size in a tank with water from the waste on an RO system.

Oh, and welcome to Planet Catfish (only just realized you weren't a member here before now).

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Mats

Thanks Mats
Thought so about the 60 litres- its just I have three of them sitting on a rack waiting for my next project(s) and wanted some fancy coloured plecos....Probably better with some different than the norm Corys then...

The Synos that I rescued from the guy in the shop that was going to release them into a river are doing great...living in their own 140 litre tank and fattening up nicely- seems they like algae wafers!!!
Theyve got 3 caves,2 Led lights that give diffused lighting and a massive chunk of bogwood with anubias and java fern on and are going crazy...loving their new home.
Just introduced 6 melon barbs today too and the display looks great.
Will post a pic soon

I've had no problems keeping Gold Nuggets in hard water. I have had them for over a year now. They are still small. When they are mature, I will soften with RO to induce spawning. They will live in hard water, though. I did notice a growth spurt when I moved them to larger tanks (40+ gal.).