My Pleco Obsession Continues...

[Borbi]

Hi,

your "Mustard Pleco" is actually a deformed Hypancistrus sp. "L 201" (or close relative).
These short-headed mutants sometimes appear among Hypancistrus fry and should (that´s my opinion) not be sold.

Cheers, Sandor

[nvcichlids]

I would suggest cutting a hole in the hood if you feel nessecary for the other filter to be added, or the powerhead will work too. I know with one of my 20 gallon L's, I cut the "heater" spot larger to incorporate another filter, and it works great. It also has a powerhead too, so I know the water is moving! I will have to start up either a 5 gallon cool water or do a 20 gallon L once I move into my appartment for some native madtoms, and some dace/minnow sp. Now time to start the blueprint drawings for that tank lol.

BTW, if your interested in US native fish, i would suggest http://aquaculturestore.com/ They are very knowledgeable and great to work with! Not to mention shipping is included in the price!

[L number Banana]

Here's another link for collecting native fish. Really helpful!
http://nativefish.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

[ahodge84]

Thanks for the comments (and congrats), folks.

Regarding the "Mustard Spot," I am not entirely convinced that that is what it is, but I believe it is closer to one of those than a 201 for a couple of reasons: 1) I have a 201 and they don't look too similar. The pictures that I have seen of Mustard Spots are closer, but not a perfect match. 2) The Mustard Spot is a type of Panaque(sp), no? Well, this little guy spends considerable time seemingly munching on driftwood in my tank. My 201 does hang around the pieces of wood, but never indulges. While those are far from pieces of concrete evidence, they give me reason to doubt that my "Mustard Spot" is a 201 or a relative. At the same time, as I said before, I am not sold on it being a Mustard Spot, either.

As for the crab, as soon as I can get a good picture, I will post it. He's big into burrowing and hiding, lol.

[nvcichlids]

I am wondering if it could POSSIBABLY be a mustard 201 cross? I mean i have a friend who has been trying to cross L18 and longfin bristlenose (which I doubt will happen and I hope doesn't, but he is sure trying.) I would love to find a group of mustards. I think it would be a neat tank with Mustards and Contradens (but if this IS a hybrid, then I would stratch that idea.)

It is awesome no matter what. Good Find!

[MatsP]

I doubt that

Panaque albomaculatus

and a Hypancistrus (whether contradens or other species) would cross at all. Within a genus, yes. But "mustard spot" is not in the same genus as L201.

L201 and some of the similar species do have a variation in yellow vs. white spots, so the colour of the spots is not a good indicator of the species.

Panaque and Hypancistrus have differnet body shape, and more importantly, have different types of mouth/teeth, so a clear close-up shot of the mouth [posted in a new thread in the "What's my catfish?" section] would help a lot.

--
Mats

[mod edit: Jools: Fixed incorrect clog tag]

[ahodge84]

I doubt that

Panaque albomaculatus

and a Hypancistrus (whether contradens or other species) would cross at all. Within a genus, yes. But "mustard spot" is not in the same genus as L201.

L201 and some of the similar species do have a variation in yellow vs. white spots, so the colour of the spots is not a good indicator of the species.

Panaque and Hypancistrus have differnet body shape, and more importantly, have different types of mouth/teeth, so a clear close-up shot of the mouth [posted in a new thread in the "What's my catfish?" section] would help a lot.

--
Mats

[mod edit: Jools: Fixed incorrect clog tag]

Thanks. If/when I can get a good mouth picture I will post it. He's always out and about, but never on the glass.

EDIT: BTW, I was basing my "it's not a 201" on two facts: overall body color difference (black as opposed to the 201 grey- but I may be wrong on this) and the fact that the "mustard spot" appears to enjoy munching on wood. That suggests, to me at least, that it's a Panaque.

[ahodge84]

As requested, a couple of crab pictures. It was tank-cleaning day, so I was able to get a couple of decent shots:






And a couple of photos of the updated 5 gallon coolwater tank. I added a few live plants to accommodate my community: 6 white cloud mountain minnows and 3 hillstream loaches. I also added a power head - that's what is causing the white swirls in the pictures.

[Birger]

Is this http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/0 ... ween-crab/ the species of your crab?

Interesting little things.

Birger

[ahodge84]

Is this http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/0 ... ween-crab/ the species of your crab?

Interesting little things.

Birger

That would be it! They are affordable, very entertaining and very easy to keep. And VERY hardy. Mine likes to dig itself under things and get buried. Not too long ago, its burrow collapsed and buried it underneath several inches of sand and stone. Fortunately, I checked its tank that night and found it nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes of careful digging around, I found it, lol. So, I recently re-did the tank and it's only sand as a substrate. No stones anymore.