Rio Negro/ Candy Striped Pleco

[Man of fish]

I'm looking for a good, relatively small algae eater and found the rip negro/candy striped plec. Any comments? Should I get one? Good idea bad idea just a comment?

Thanks!

 

[xingumike]

Do you mean P. vittata?

To go in the 29g?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Peckoltia vittata is called the candy stripe. There is also a Peckoltia sp. "Rio Negro" but two sites I checked show no registered keepers indicating its rarely available.

My Guess is the name is off a list and has no real relevance. Contact the seller and ask for either an L number for the fish or the name if it has been described.

In either case, Pekoltias are not algae eaters. They are omnivores with a preference for meat.

Look into a bristlenose for a small pleco that will eat algae.

 

[Man of fish]

http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+837+1040&pcatid=1040

L135

 

[xingumike]

Interesting.

L135 is P. braueri as far as I am concerned.

The fish in your link doesn't even look like a Peckoltia, but a Panaque, akin to P. maccus.

If you end with one of those then they are wood eaters, limit protein.

 

[Man of fish]

Rio-Negro Pleco (L 135) (Peckoltia sp. platyrhyncha this is what it says it is?
It does say color will vary, but I don't think it looks like P. Maccus the clown pleco.

 

[xingumike]

Rio-Negro Pleco (L 135) (Peckoltia sp. platyrhyncha this is what it says it is?
It does say color will vary, but I don't think it looks like P. Maccus the clown pleco.

I would put a sizeable virtual internet wager that the fish in your link is a stressed P. maccus.

I wouldn't put much faith in anything that site says based on that page, certainly not compared to I know to be true and the sites I use for reference, PlanetCatfish, L-Welse.

 

[scatz]

The pleco in the link above is 100% panaque maccus.
L135 is as mike says peckoltia braueri, It is from the Rio Negro so the site linked to does at least get that bit right.

heres a profile for L135/L121
http/www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1753&highlight=L135

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I posted in this thread last night. part of the post was links showing the difference in the mouths of Pekoltias, Panaques and then added an Ancistrus to show what an algae loving fish mouth looked like. I was unable to complete the post as PC went down before I grabbed the 3rd picture URL, so I did not make the post. But the mouths make telling the difference between similar looking Pekoltias and Panaques easier. This is way more reliable than coloration or patterning which can be variable and similar, especially when the fish are stressed.

In that post I commented that the site selling the fish is notoriously bad on its pleco labeling. When they first expanded into the live fish business I emailed them several times about this problem for several different plecos. They did not respond, they did not correct their mistakes and, clearly, they continue making them.

 

[Man of fish]

So what's a nice algae eating pleco other than a bn or a pitbull that stays relatively small? (no larger than 8 inches)

 

[xingumike]

A Chaetostoma may work depending on your tank temp and flow rate.