PlanetCatfish.com

Bought as L168 but could it be a L 398, or is it yet another l number?
The color on the picture is correct.
He is about 4,5 inches.

Do you have a picture from a side angle, to me it looks like an L397, side angle will give a better view to confirm this, if it is you're very lucky, these are very difficult to obtain in some countries , that depends on how much you paid for it of course, and it is a male.

I'll try again tomorrow to take a photo. Today he moved to another tank, and I do not want to bother him again.
What is the difference on the side angle, is it at the head?
I think that both species, L 398 and L 397 are rare in Belgium.

You get a better view of the stripes. It seems the pics you took are close up the lines on the head are very clear. I will attach pics of mine in next post.

Look alike?

It is not L398 as there are too many striations on the face/snout area.....

Im not sure an L397 either, mine appear to have thinner lines on head/snout, it appears that the lines go across the eye partially, they dont appear to in L397. I dont have close up dorsal view photos of mine. The colouration is very similar though.

New photos are successful. He is quiet and happy in his new aquarium.

I would now say it resembles more a L002/L074. But you said the fish you had was 4.5inches, is that the total length, you stated. The CateLog (top left hand corner of the page), states the standard length at 3.9inches. Was that the total length you stated. Definitely appears to be a Panoquolus sp. Not sure that its L397 after all.

It sure can be that he is 3,9 inches. It was a gamble, I count in cm.

I think the dorsal fin of the L002 looks a little bit different, with the stripes, it seems like subdivisions.
But the drawing on the head is the same as my fish.

The total length is from the tip of the nose to tips of tail, the standard length as on the species info page, as here on the site, in the CateLog, is the length from the tip of the nose to base of tail. Plecos, even of the same species, can be hugely variable in differences. You may want to also have a look at Google images of L002 and L074.

I try tomorrow to measure correctly.

It is this picture that I see that the top fin is different from my fish:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/ima ... ge_id=1764

When I caught him to put in another aquarium, I also took a picture of his belly.


The belly does not correspond to this:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/ima ... ge_id=1762

Hi, try not to get too concerned about getting photos, measurements ect, probably best for him to settle in. I think you have enough photos to go on. Hopefully someone else can give you an idea or confirmation. Its probably fairly quiet here on the forum over xmas time, but its highly likely that there's someone who is able to confirm an ID. From what i make out, It definitely appears to be a Panoquolus sp. because of the hair like growth towards the tail, this confirms also most likely, a male, i would estimate him to be an adult. These eat wood and it is a necessary part of the diet. As well as algae wafers, pleco foods and various veggies such as sweet potato, courgette (zucchini) is what I feed my Panoquolus sp L397. As long as these are provided for him. He should fare well.

I will do that.
He now live alone in a tank, before that there were corydoras with him and I think that they were too busy. That's why I've put him today in a new tank.
He has a lot of wood and plants, and his own piece of wood where he is hiding in.

I grow several species of fish and make my own food. So I can be specific make the right food for the different types.
Today he has been a mixture of peas, broccoli, green beans, spirulina powder, dried nettle and garlic. That he prefers the most.
And of course he also gets pleco waffles.

They sounds ok in terms of food, and also wood for him, I agree re the corydoras, as i had some with the L397s and the cories regularly breeding was definitely unsettling for the L397s. Hopefully you will get an ID confirmation for him.

Peach fuzz on the tail makes me lean towards it being male, what ever it is

and are the two I would be looking into.

The L169, has wider head markings.

So still no definitive answer on what it is? One thing I always look to do when I have a pleco that seems hard to identify is I count the spines in the fins, especially the dorsal. Because minor color variation can occur.

I am very curious what pleco ultimately he is going to be. To me, he looks at the moment most of the L 002.

Perhaps helps his behavior even in the identification: he is always hiding in the day.
He has a piece of wood and underneath he makes a hole in the sand where he lies in. tomorrow I can take a picture how he lives.
I've never had a pleco that makes a hole in the ground to live in.

Hopefully the Christmas break is over now, there will be a final solution which L number I have.
Here photographs of the cave he makes. However difficult to photograph.

Do you have a pleco cave or something that can be used as such, in the tank, he definitely is a male because of the hair like growth towards the tail, and would be the reason why he's created for himself a cave, though nothing is wrong with this. Caves are usually provided for breeding purposes. It seems he's happy with this as a hiding place.

I've put a special pleco cave in the previous aquarium, but he continued to live under that piece of wood. That's why I also have put it in the new aquarium.
There are now also other places to hide but he stays where he is.

Id put money on it being

Not a 398