L-25

wuvmybetta · Aug 12, 2003

Hiya
I finished setting up a 50 gallon blackwater river style tank today , it was prepared for 3 L200's which I'll be receiving later this week....a friend of mine bought me an unexpected tank warming gift....an L-25 plec, it's about 3 inches long and just adorable BUT.....will it fight with the L200's? I knew nothing about the L025's until just a few minutes ago when I looked them up on planetcatfish.com and it states they're territorial & aggressive, now I'm a little nervous...anybody have any experiences with them? I read a few posts on the forum over there and those guys claim thiers are quite timid but I'm beginning to think I should remove him before the other fish arrive, any suggestions?

cichlidmaster · Aug 13, 2003

WOW!!!!

What a gift!! A L025 or scarlet AKA scarlet dragon pleco. I have had these in before.

Great plecos if you have a large tank!! IMO a 50 gallon is just not big enough for a scarlet.

The L025 can attain an adult size of 18". They are carnivores, but not necessarilly predators although very aggressive in defending their territory (which is a very large area) against other nocternal fish.

Their diet should consist of chopped prawns or mussels with occassional vegetable matter to balance out their diet.

Plenty of large hiding spots should be provided, but keep in mind this is a large very strong pleco that can easily knock things over.

Water quality is a very important factor in maintaining this fish as it prefers slightly warmer water and therefore the water must be well oxygenated. Ph is not a problem as it can tolerate a wide range of between 6-7.4.

IMO not suitable to house with L200 as the L200 are a more peaceful species and attain an adult size of about 6" or so.

If you scroll thru the members pics back to around 5/9/03 I had posted a few pics of a 10-11" L025 I had available.

Hope this helps a little wuv.

CM

wuvmybetta · Aug 13, 2003

that helps a LOT CM!

He is really beautiful but I'll just have to have her take him back , I don't want anything disturbing the L200's, my intentions were to have them in there alone and after she gave me this L25 I didn't have anywhere to put him so... :crazy:

I put it in the 50 gallon, luckily she works at my lfs so maybe she can sell it and make some cash or something, I also know she has a 100 gallon cichlid tank so maybe she can put it in there, either way I can't deal with him right now (and hopefully she won't be offended :huh: