flatfish
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Posts posted by flatfish
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All Brazilian royals are banned from export by Brazils environmental protection agency IBAMA, due to concerns with over fishing. So most 27 varieties are unlikely to available in New Zealand in the immediate future, and even if the ban was lifted in the future they are likely to be to expensive (given their recent banning) to be imported into New Zealand. There was an importation of what were called gold-line royals a while ago and while they do look a little like them they are not quite right and may well be something else. As Firenzenz says there are the odd dull-eyed royals (L191) around. The current royal plecos in the shops are a great looking fish and likely L190, the 'real' royal pleco Panaque nigrolineatus with a reddish eye.
Regardless they are all great looking fish and if you have a large tank they are a stunning feature fish when large. Mine come out often particulalrly when food is put in the tank. They can be stroppy when large if you try and keep more than one in a tank but generally they are peaceful although the big ones do create a lot of waste, move things around a bit, and will likely take a shine to your more edible plants with disastrous results.
Heres a couple of photos of my two. The first one is a small juvenile and was brought recently. I believe it is an L190. The second one was brought as a juvenile goldline royal and is now an adult fish about 25 cm long, and I'm not sure what it really is ... although it does have a different coloured eye. The royals are all a bit confusing which is not suprising given that the taxonomists have not sorted them out yet. Also the juvenile patterning is very different to the adults.
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Not my cup of tea either but they are sure to be a hit in the Aquarium trade. I agree with Alan a $2 glow in the dark plastic one has just as much appeal.
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nice red spot. They are a great looking pleco but in a large tank with good feeding they can grow to 45 cm so your tank layout may eventually change quite a bit. Big ones will move things around, destroy any edible or fragile plants, and they can be stroppy towards similar looking plecos. It will be fine for a while though as small ones are generally well behaved.
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great photos
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very nice fancy plecos FuglyDragon.
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thanks for the pics Caryl. It looks like a great time was had by all.
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what if i just leave it as it is, dont plant it, just leave it dangling?
will it keep growing larger and fed by the original mother plant?
I've never let the new plants grow large before removing them but I assume it would continue to be fed and also photosynthesize and take in its own nutrients.
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this might help. This is pretty awful pic of an Echinodorus cordifolius marble queen flower. You can see that there more flowers on the way and a plantlet. Each node on the flower spike can potentially produce a new plant so you can have a stalk of plants. Just wait until each plantlet has a few leaves and a few roots and gently remove it from the stalk or you can just move the stalk to the substrate and the plant(s) will start growing in the substrate.
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leopard cactus (L114) are available (there's two at the Hutt Pet Centre) but they can be stroppy, grow reasonably large, and as with goldie plecos they are carnivorous.
There are a number of smaller species of Pleco that would be good options (several have already been mentioned): the smaller Panaques (clown plecos, Flash or Peru striped panaque, tiger pleco), Hypancistrus (chocolate zebras, king tigers), and the so-called 'big band tiger pleco' (a Peckoltia). While they are not quite as colourful as gold nuggets, they are all small species and easy to look after. If you've got a large tank I like royal plecos. They often come out to feed and look great but they do grow large. As for coming out often, based on my experience, if they are comfortable in their surroundings, which ususally means plenty of cover and lower lighting they will come out more. I agree with Jamosfish, its hard to predict what an individual pleco will be like. Avoid the stroppy or difficult ones, and go with what you like. Hopefully they'll come out. For value for money and good looks, chocolate zebras are pretty hard to beat.
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Welcome back.
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Looking great Henward. I also have my plants (tiger lotus and swords) in pots (plastic hydroponic pots - they allow the plants roots to grow outside the pot). It saves the plecos from knocking them about and I can pull them out easily if necessary. Looking forward to more pics.
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thats great news. congratulations :bounce:
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congratulations.
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awesome shots. congratulations
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great photos of some very nice fish
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congratulations. thats great news
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Hi Phoenix44. Yes, the next article is on Hypans, and includes some great photos, including one of yours. Thanks for taking the photos
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Almost finished.
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Just got my copy. It's a great read. Thanks Carol for another great issue.
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very nice. Great looking setup, killies, and photos.
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great shots
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Awesome shots Phoenix44 of a great looking pleco.
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in Aquatic Plants
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I just brought a broad leaved, fairly compact sword plant labelled as Echinodorus parva with numerous pups attached. I tried looking it up on the net and although there is an Echinodorus parviflorus which looks very similar there doesn't appear to be an E. parva. I'm assuming this is simply a mislabelled Echinodorus parviflorus? Any thoughts? I note there is a Cryptocoryne parva.