New fish. The best day ever.

[SirMinion]

I am an oddball and catfish fanatic and have, for quite some considerable time, had a 180L tank set up with a few guppies in it, ready for the fish on my 'magic list'.

I've had this list for a while, and so far only managed to find a Tetrodon Palembagensis (Dragon Puffer) and an L114 (Red tailed sternella)

Yesterday, I finally tracked down a small Panaque nigrolineatus (Royal Pleco) about two and a half inches long, I was pleased with the £27 price tag. At the same time, I was able to put an order in for a pair of L034 Ansistrus ranunculus (Medusa bristlenose), that's two from my list!

Today.. I went loking for plants to add to my 180L in preparation for the arrival of the Medusas.

I went to a LFS that I don't often visit because although he's good for plants, his fish range is usually limited to livebearers, tetras & other 'bread and butter' species.

Not today.

Today I walked away with two more 'magic list' fish - another Royal pleco - but this one is over seven inches long, and a Panaque cochliodon (Blue eyed pleco) at eight inches.

The best bit? both fish were £30 each. £30!!!!!!!!

But it didn't end there, oh no.

Later in the day we went to another LFS for live food...and there in the tank was a pair of another 'magic list' fish.. two gorgeously hideous Chaca chaca (Frog mouth or square head catfish)- the pair for £28. bargain.

What a day.

Here's some photos...

Panaque nigrolineatus (Royal Pleco)

Panaque cochliodon (Blue-eyed Pleco)

Chaca chaca (frog-mouth catfish)

The only thing that remains to do is twice daily monitoring of the water, because although the tank is well matured, it's gone from having a handfull of guppies in it to several large, and messy catfish.

 

[digital_run]

WOW!....that plec is awesome.....Royal plecs are around $60 canadian here...And i've never seen one of your frog mouths except in pics....wicked pics ...FOTM nom for the second pic of ur plec..

 

[DXG]

Wish I had days like that....AWSOME.

FOTM for frog mouth.

 

[smithrc]

FOTM for the "royal with net"

Sounds like a great day

Glad you mentioned water checks, havent checked ours today (4 chocolate zebss added together) best go check.

 

[SirMinion]

Awww, thanks guys

 

[coconutman39]

wow....wow, how are yea gonna get enough algae going for all those plecs?

 

[Max]

isnt a frog mouth catfish also known as a banjo catifsh (i cant tell from the picture but thats what it looks like) and be ready not to find him... they like to burry in the sand and you may not see him for day/weeks at a time.

 

[SirMinion]

isnt a frog mouth catfish also known as a banjo catifsh (i cant tell from the picture but thats what it looks like) and be ready not to find him... they like to burry in the sand and you may not see him for day/weeks at a time.

No. Chaca chacas are Asian, where as Banjos are South American.
Chaca chacas are a fair bit bigger and have larger heads, shorter tails and considerably wider mouths. They are a Different species entirely. (chaca sp.)

I do have a pair of banjos (Bunocephalu sp.) as well, and yes, they spend a lot of time buried in the sand with just their mouth showing.

That's one of my Banjos in my sig.

 

[Dwarfs]

Awesome

 

[SirMinion]

wow....wow, how are yea gonna get enough algae going for all those plecs?

Actually, only the Blue-eyed Panaque is a herbivore.
The Royal loves his invertibrates and the Chaca Chacas swallow whole guppys and shrimp (in the wild their primary food is bettas!)

However, my LFS sells sheets of dried algae should I need it!

 

[rvm]

Wow, that Royal is simply STUNNING!!! I can't wait for mine to get that big!! and £30 what a bargain!!! FOTM for the 2nd pic of him.
Don't know if I missed it, but are you keeping the panaques in the same tank? From what I've been told, you can't keep 2 species of Panaque together as they will fight to the death! You may want to watch that if they are together!!
Great fish though, Once again I love that Royal!!!!

 

[SirMinion]

From what I've been told, you can't keep 2 species of Panaque together as they will fight to the death! You may want to watch that if they are together!!

These two came from the same tank at the LFS and were even sharing a cave. The lfs bought them of a customer who'd had them from tiny but outgrew his tank, and they've always lived together. So yes, I have put them in my tank.

I will however keep a close eye on them.

 

[G_Sharky]

Wow those are awesome fish... I'm sure your aware that the blue-eyed pleco is an almost impossible fish to have on this hobby, I read somewhere that they are almost extinct....That's a great find for you and it didn't cost you too much money....I see royal plecs in my LFS all the time but the blue-eyed plec as well as the infamous zebra plec are very rare in toronto....

 

[Arashi]

Those are some AMAZING fish! I love the plecs! You are so lucky to have a Panaque cochliodon...I would kill to get one of those. And those Chaca chacas? Those are so cool looking.

What an amazing day you had! Wish I had could have one of those!

 

[SirMinion]

Are Panaque cochliodon really all that rare? There's another fish know as the 'blue eyed pleco' which is Panaque suttoni and is almost never seen in the hobby, maybe that's the one you mean.

Am I wrong?