Royal Panaque

[Perky]

Just got one and he is gorgouse. It is currently floating in a bag. I hope he is fine. Any info will be good and do they eat algae?

 

[ryan]

Royals once they have settled are very good and efficent algae eaters becoming more confident with age. Bogwood is a important tank furnishing as the fish feeds on it with its large rasping mouth, noticably taking wood off. They are slow growers but reach an impressive 12inches at minimum. As you have probably noticed Panaque nigrolineatus (Royal Plec) is a clumsy swimmer. It has three rows of bone plates either side of its body which make the body fairly inflexible and therefore swimming is difficult.

Good Luck

 

[sundog]

Congratulations......... hope your tank has plenty of algae as this type of plec are difficult to get to eat at first. I would deffinately have a piece of bog wood in the tank as they will use this to aid thier digestion. Have a close look at his belly and see if it is either swollen or slightly hollow...swollen bellies can mean oxygen starvation and a sunken belly means he will be starving .....feed him some spinach...what i do when i feed spinach is tie the storks with a piece of cotton and shredd the leaves removing any loose pieces..this looks more like a natural water plant, which he will rasp at to see if there is algae on it .....hopefully he'll like the taste

 

[Perky]

I went away for the weekend to Eastbourne and arrived home today and he is fine. It was a bit stupid to buy it the day I was going away but it was such a nice specimen (no I am not doing tests on it) and there was two. I really wanted this one and it took the man a couple of minutes to catch it. The other one is sold already and I am getting 3 Pictus soon. He is a real cute Plec. I had an algae problem, my Common Plec stopped eating it and it was a lucky find. I didn't expect to find a Royal Plec at my LFS and was gonna buy a Bristlenose or two. The Royal Plec is much nicer looking and I love their eyes. Seems to be settling good with his friends.

 

[waterwatereverywhere]

They do look like gorgeous fish, good luck with yours! I didn't know they grew as big as 12 inches, Ryan - how big a tank do you need for them?

 

[Perky]

Mine is in a 55 Gallon.

 

[ryan]

They do look like gorgeous fish, good luck with yours! I didn't know they grew as big as 12 inches, Ryan - how big a tank do you need for them?

Hi WWE,

Royal Plecos are very slow growers, a 30 gallon would surfice for a small specimen for a few years, when they reach 4-6 inches I would recommend a 45 gallon + tank and this will be ok for a good few years then a 50-55 will be fine.

 

[Perky]

I just noticed his stomach is in and have no spinach, lettuce or cucumber. What can I put in that he will love?

 

[ryan]

His stomach is sunken? This is a sign of an internal parasite.

 

[waterwatereverywhere]

They do look like gorgeous fish, good luck with yours! I didn't know they grew as big as 12 inches, Ryan - how big a tank do you need for them?

Hi WWE,

Royal Plecos are very slow growers, a 30 gallon would surfice for a small specimen for a few years, when they reach 4-6 inches I would recommend a 45 gallon + tank and this will be ok for a good few years then a 50-55 will be fine.

Ooh I'm tempted now, my tank is about 45 gallons. (UK gallons that is.) But then I haven't got any water in it yet so I suppose I'll have to wait a bit!

 

[Perky]

It is not sunken, just his stomach does not seem to be full like he has not eaten. My BN and Common Plec have stomachs that are bulging out but his seems to be flat. I was wondering what I could use to start him to eat and fatten him up a bit.

 

[Olive]

It is not sunken, just his stomach does not seem to be full like he has not eaten. My BN and Common Plec have stomachs that are bulging out but his seems to be flat. I was wondering what I could use to start him to eat and fatten him up a bit.

Mine **loves** plain 'ol algae wafers and shrimp pellets. Does he have his wood??

 

[Perky]

Yes he does have his wood. It is a four foot tank with a two and a half piece of bogwood in their