Sorta Mottled, sorta striped Plecos

[gerwen]

I got these two lookers when I bought this 55 gallon used. I'd like to know what they are and how big they're likely to get. I know many plecos get way too big for a 55.

Contestant #1 is about 5+ inches already:


Contestant #2 is about 3-4" long


Thanks for lending your expertise.

[bekateen]

Hi Gerwen,

I'm not sure about this, but contestant #1 somewhat resembles (to me, anyway) a calico/piebald common bristlenose, http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/spe ... cies_id=49. However, the eyes don't quite look right to me for that identification.

Contestant #2 looks like a clown pleco,

Panaqolus maccus

.

Cheers, Eric

[Narwhal72]

Contestant #1 is L168 Dekeyseria brachyura aka a Butterfly pleco. Contestant #2 is Panaqolus maccus. Both of them stay fairly small and would do well in a 55.

[bekateen]

Contestant #1 is L168 Dekeyseria brachyura aka a Butterfly pleco.

Thanks, Narwhal72. That's so much better an ID. From that color pattern I doubt I ever would have gotten it, except perhaps by the eyes and body flanks. This also highlights to me how difficult it can be (for me, anyway) to see photo details when viewed on a small smart phone screen; I should restrict my ID attempts to when I'm on a computer with a big screen! LOL (dang presbyopia!)

Cheers, Eric

[Borbi]

Hi,

Just for the sake of completeness: number one could also be L52.
Pretty difficult to tell apart on pictures.
Good thing for you is that there's practically now difference in keeping L52 and L168.

Cheers,
Sandor

[gerwen]

Fantastic, much appreciated. Based on the info it looks like they're already pretty much full grown, which is a relief compared to some of the monster plecos I've seen. Any tips on getting them out where they can be seen? They just hide under driftwood all day right now which I expect is typical.

[bekateen]

My clown plecos are very secretive. They rarely venture out into the open, and mostly at night. The best I can hope for in terms of seeing them is to position the tubes I use for caves in such a way that I can have a direct line-of-sight into the tube. All I'll be able to see is the clown's tail dangling out of the opening of the tube. The moment my clowns become aware that I'm nearby (even though their heads are inside their caves), they dart quickly deeper into the cave so that I can't see them.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Cheers, Eric

[Narwhal72]

Hiding under things is what small plecos do. Hard to overcome that natural programming.

[gerwen]

That's what i thought. Probably can't even coax them out with some yummy treats like lettuce or cucumber.

[Mol_PMB]

I can usually count my plecs by the number of tails I can see! But sometimes they come out properly to say hello!
My panaqolus are some of the more outgoing ones, apart from my L24 who is a right character and a proper 'pet' fish

[bekateen]

That's what i thought. Probably can't even coax them out with some yummy treats like lettuce or cucumber.

Treats are good, but I don't think they will coax the clowns out of hiding like you might hope.

The clown pleco's main food preference is wood. For my clowns, I decorate the tank with 2-3 kinds of wood (Malaysian driftwood, Manzanita, and some random wood washed up from the Pacific Ocean on a beach). I add a couple of spirulina pellets once a week, and fresh veggies (yam/sweet potato, cucumber, beet) about once every week or two; my clowns only touch these "treats" late at night, while I sleep... and yet my clowns are very well-rounded, not lean at all. So in my experience, it's hard to coax a clown pleco into the open in daylight with treats that typically appeal to plecos, unless perhaps you deprive them of the wood they like so much (which they should be having all the time). And I wouldn't recommend withholding wood in order to make it a treat; it should be their staple food.

Cheers, Eric

[gerwen]

I've got a good hunk of driftwood in there already, and a few more pieces I'm preparing for the tank, so they should be happy hiders at least.