flatfish

Cool. Nice pics :thup:

Happy new year.

try zebra danio. They should be easy to get hold of from your LFS

+1. I agree they are a really neat little catfish and they are on the list under Erethistes hara.

There is some good information online. From memory much of it is based on the size of the spot at the base of the tail. I think O. macrospilus is the less common of the two.

Not sure but there is more than one. The most common overseas are Otocinclus macrospilus and O. vittatus. I have something very similar if not the same as O. vittatus and I have seen what I believe is O. macrospilus. O. affinis is often mentioned but it apparently this species is very rare in the hobby.

thanks for the clarification Geoff.

To me the second yellowish one looks just like a young L270 or something similar, say L129. I'm not so sure on the first whiter one as it may be starting to get the squiggly lines so .......... At this size it is really hard to tell. Maybe Geoff can add his expertise.

very nice :thup:

and in the not to distant future a very large dam http://amazonwatch.org/work/belo-monte-dam

Yep I agree it looks like a 'chocolate' or 'chocolate albino' pleco which is an amelanistic form (i.e. it lacks melanin (black pigment)) of the common pleco (probably Pterygoplichthys pardalis, but possibly also P. disjunctivus, or P. multiradiatus). So under good condtions it will get to 40 cm+.

Might be tempted. Sounds like an awesome trip so far Geoff. Where are the pics. A scarlet pleco would be nice for a start.

Sounds like a great trip. Good luck and make sure you post us some pics . I hope you've been improving your German.

Cool chart. Yes its amazing what a bit of natural and unnatural selection can do. Its also worth looking up the lightning maroon clownfish. Yet another cool looking clownfish sport. The first ones of these to be bred in captivity sold for a small fortune on ebay. http://lightning-maroon-clownfish.com/

Nice :thup:

Awesome. They look really neat at that size. Good luck. :thup:

I thinks you mean Peckoltia sp. L140 yes you're quite correct Geoff. Must have been having a blonde moment :lol:

You might want to keep feeding algae wafers as well. Your still dealing with mainly largely herbivorous plecos and your goldie will also eat a few. Good luck and keep us updated with pics of those cool plecos as they grow.

If they have plenty of cover (bogwood, rocks) you could keep a small group of either species in a four foot tank. The key would be plenty of cover so they feel save and can hide from the stroppy cichlids and possibly your sailfin.

Hi David, you're quite right in saying that vegetarian plecos are not completely vegetarian. However if the literature is to be believed then phantoms and gold nuggets are specialised Aufwuchs (algal biofilm) feeders in the wild, i.e. omnivores at the vegetarian end of the spectrum. I personally have no issue with you keeping those plecos together and you are feeding them a great balanced diet. However you could have problems if the protein levels are to high in what you're feeding (which i think you've mentioned already). I lost my large royal pleco a while ago and I suspect it was due to the wrong diet. Although I put plenty of green matter and algal wafers in the tank the royal showed a preference for Hikari carnivore tablets which I put in for the goldies and leopard cactus plecos. It would spit out the algal wafers and only eat the carnivore tabs. Its very hard to stop that from happening when they are in the same tank together. It died a few months later with a very bloated stomach. I have also seen a very skinny goldie pleco being kept with healthy royals which were fed largely a vegetarian diet. So its a balancing act if you want to keep largely vegetarian omnivores with largely carnviorous omnivores.

The phantoms might work but they are rather specialised vegetarians and you'd have to be careful with feeding, same with gold nuggets or magnums. I agree Hypancistrus (king tigers, chocolate zebras) or big-band tiger plecos (Hypancistrus sp. L140) might be good options.

done

Nice Liam. Hopefully you can breed a few.

Cool. You should contact Liam. You might have a pair between you

Sorry to hear about your losses. I'd say you're right about the heater. At such low temps you plecos would likely not feed and you may also have problems with excess food fouling the water. If its a big tank you might want to go for two heaters so you have a backup and your heating will be more even across the tank.