ID wanted for 1.5' brown leopard skinned Plec (juvenile)

[newcastlelas]

Hello there,
Am fairly new to this whole underwater world!, so please be gentle ...

I recently bought a plec, and well I don’t know what species it is or how big it can grow to. I have had alot of people tell me that it's a Common plec but I don't know what to believe. I have gone back to my LFS and asked and they said they stock so many it’s hard to tell but when I bought it, they said it would only grow to 2-3 inc 4-5 At most.
I only have a 7Gal tank and am getting concerned that if it will grow big I would rather give it a better home sometime in the future.

So here is some picks and please let me know what you think, thanks

Leann,

[Silurus]

Looks like

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

.

[DutchFry]

I'd say

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

, because pardalis has a light brown base color with darker spots on it, and joselimaianus has a dark brown base color with light spots on it, just like the one pictured above.

it's a juvenile and colors don't say everything, so i might be off here, but i really think it's L001

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

[NewFishKeeper]

either way it is gonna get too big for the tank its in now sadly.

I hate how these shops sell them as small fish it really iritates me.

Sorry i cant be of more help but either of the ids above will yeild the same results ie fish will get rather large

[DutchFry]

i understand your frustrations NewFishKeeper, i guess we all think alike on this matter!

pardalis or joselimaianus, either way this fish will grow to a length between 35 and 60 cm (total length), and they grow really fast, 15 to 20 cm in the first year is normal, given the right circumstances.

another thing i forgot, the shape of the head is also an indicator it is in fact

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

(L001)

[newcastlelas]

hey thanks for all your replys,

am already on the case to find it a new home . i have asked my friend if she wants to take it from me in a few months time. she already has a plec so she will be a better carer for it i suppose. i just hope she says yes as we sort of had an argument over this subject. Also i havnt seen her since we were in school (5 years ago). she is the only person i know with a tropical tank .. ... (so anybody in newcastle upon tyne , england. just let me know!)

Leann

[NewFishKeeper]

Leann any decent LFS would take this fish back as it was misold to you, i know its not ideal as they will just resell with the same info to some other unsuspecting buyer

Speak to the store, explain you have searched online and this fish grows to a huge size and this is not what you were after, cant see them making a fuss about it.

If you like the algae eater type you might want to look at the ancistrus sp ( dunno how to make this clickable) but just search the cat e log, they are a much smaller species and are quite lovely

gl with it all

[loachy_406]

ancistrus sp ( dunno how to make this clickable)

Use clog tags -

Picture 20.png (6.42 KiB) Viewed 3479 times

You can do the whole genus -

Ancistrus

, or an specific species -

Ancistrus cirrhosus

.

[newcastlelas]

hey every1.. just to let you know. that my friend has agreed to take my plec from me when it gets too big for my tank, she cannot wait to get another plec as hers is really big now and she will be looking foward to having another to join it.

Leann

[loachy_406]

Just as long as it won't outgrow her tank as well.

[racoll]

Looks like Pterygoplichthys pardalis.

I'd say Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus, because pardalis has a light brown base color with darker spots on it, and joselimaianus has a dark brown base color with light spots on it, just like the one pictured above.

I agree with Silurus here.

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

if you ask me. Looks identical to all the baby P. pardalis I have seen at this size.

Either way, it gets pretty damn big.

newcastlelas, here is lots of info on this fish.

He looks pretty skinny. Feed him up well with vegetables and algae wafers.

[DutchFry]

Newcastlelas, i would love to see a picture of this fish in about a year from now!

[newcastlelas]

I probably wont have it by then! haha i am going to give it to my friend in a couple of months time.. maybe less.. Do u want to see it in a years time because it will be big?..

[DutchFry]

Yes, and because when they are bigger, the difference between P. pardalis and P. joselimaianus is very clear! i still think it's P. joselimaianus, but only time will tell...

[newcastlelas]

your probably right but i have another few snaps now since its settled in now, i will be giving it a new home so, in the mean time here is a couple of pics;-











Leann,

[MatsP]

I'd say that's a pardalis.

--
Mats

[DutchFry]

Only by looking at the belly pattern, it can't be P. pardalis. pardalis has distinct spots on the belly, this one doesn't. another option might be P. disjunctivus, just looking at the belly. (see the pdf file in the catelog page of P.pardalis)

the color of the markings on the pectoral fins (and on the dorsal fin also) is another point that makes me doubt it's a pardalis. i'm pretty much convinced it's P. joselimaianus.

i don't want to be stubborn or anything, but i keep P. pardalis myself for the last three years now. i bought it as a little guy, only 3 cm, he's now 25 cm so i've witnessed the development of this particular species.

these common pleco's are bred in huge fishfarms in singapore and florida (and maybe other places as well). they are being kept in very large bassins, these bassins hold a lot of different species including P. gibbiceps, P. pardalis, P. joselimaianus and the odd Hypostomus as well. The fish in question could be a hybrid of two of these species as well, maybe that's why opinions are divided on this one

[newcastlelas]

hey thanks for the feedback, but i cannit find that pdf* file you are talking about is it possible you could write it as a link for me please ? cheers

[racoll]

Only by looking at the belly pattern, it can't be P. pardalis. pardalis has distinct spots on the belly, this one doesn't. another option might be P. disjunctivus, just looking at the belly. (see the pdf file in the catelog page of P.pardalis)

the color of the markings on the pectoral fins (and on the dorsal fin also) is another point that makes me doubt it's a pardalis. i'm pretty much convinced it's P. joselimaianus.

I don't think these characters are reliable at this age. This fish is still fry!

The eye of

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

is very distinctive, with four "spokes".

This seems to be apparent even at a young age. newcastlelas' fish lacks this.

Young P. joselimaianus:

[DutchFry]

hey thanks for the feedback, but i cannit find that pdf* file you are talking about is it possible you could write it as a link for me please ? cheers

here you go:

http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/zt01109p068.pdf

[newcastlelas]

hey every1 . the person who i got the plec from says it is a Gibbicep plec. he says i am welcome to take it back next week (or when it starts to look uncomfatable in my tank), and i will get it replaced for a smaller breed or maybe a loch am not sure yet but thats nice of him but i would rather give it back to him while its still young so he has a better chance of selling it himself. thanks for all your help though

Leann

[newcastlelas]

hey thanks again for that link,

I gave up in the end and i returned that plec today and demaned an exchange or refund. the guy was pleasent and gave me a pair of loach's/plec? :s am not sure what they are because they look like plecs but they are under the name as loach.

Chinese butterfly loach's,
Av included some picks but they are not settled in yet and are very shy still ... they were fast when i first put them in the tank but when i was re-aranging the orniments they were very still i could even stroke them! they were still alive tho, twitching a bit(well i think thats the way they move actually). haha. Does anybody have any info on these breeds?. i know they will grow a max of 4''. so i don't have to worry about size now.
thanks again,
Leann

[Martin S]

Definitely not a catfish, it's a Chinese Hillstream Loach (Beaufortia kweichowensis), often seen as a Hong Kong Plec or Chinese Butterfly Loach.
They are a cool-water fish, more happy at late 60-early 70s temperature with clean highll oxygenated water. More info on these can be found HERE
HTH
Martin

[newcastlelas]

hey thanks for the info, am a little worried now ! my tank is 26C at the moment as i have molly's and platy's in there to, I heard that molly's min temprature is 25c and i also have plat'ys which min is 18C. Could it be possible that i could turn it town to 24.5C and that would keep all the fish happy?( i also have baby fry). I wont turn it down in 1 go i will turn it down gradualy

thanks,

[MatsP]

It's quite likely that the fish will be "reasonably happy" with a few degress above or below their ideal range, but just like we get bothered if the room temperature is lower or higher than what we like, fish will suffer if the temperature is outside of the ideal range.

It is further complicated by the fact that fish being cold-blooded (they keep the same temperature as their environment), and the metabolic rate of all living creatures is related to the temperature, out-of-range temperatures cause the metabolic rate to be out of range too - too cold, and the fish will stop eating, too warm, and the fish can't eat enough to keep up.

--
Mats

[Bas Pels]

Combining a hillstream loach with mollies and platyfish just will not work. Hillstreams come from the higher mountains, with cool, clean, pure cold water, mollies come from the coastal areas, with warm, murky, salty, often dirty water. Platies life just above the molly zone, in stagnant pools, most of the time. The requested water is 100 % different.

I'm afraid Mats is a bit too optimistic

The shop should have warned you, but I think they did not. Well, therefore they failed in providing you needed information and should take the fish back

Unfortunaly, hillstream loaches sufffer a lot in ahops, and many die there. Still it is better to let the poor beasties die there, than thake them with you and have them die at your place: Because the shopkeeper will in the first case say: "hillstreams cost me money, I'll have them never again" and in the second case "hillstreams are good business, I'll have them again"

Obviously, for hard to keep fishes the second is most often the reaction we, responsible fishkeepers should look for

[newcastlelas]

Sorry its took a while to get back on here.. I lost intertnet for a while..Just to let you all know the loach's are fine.. av got a few more pick's which are much better than the last one's..
Thanks for you help too,

Leann,