mr pleco

i believe they are STURISOMA PANAMENSE (ROYAL WHIPTAIL ) they have a distinct hook at the top of their dorsal fin and are at present around 25cm long trio of two females and one male male being larger

i disagree about the parents eating them as for the babies feeding . Sturisoma seem to like to perch on a high point in the aquarium. Keep them with fairly mellow tankmates. My specimen seems to like the company of a Farlowella that is in the same tank. They hang out side by side much of the day. Of course, feed lots of veggies such as cucumber, green beans, and squash. These fish do not bother plants in the slightest. The males possess a thick growth of head bristles. Adults usually stay on opposite sides of the tank, but will start swimming together when they are ready to spawn. They will clean several possible spawning sites. They usually spawn on the tank glass, but will also spawn on leaves, slate, and the side of flower pots. The majority of spawnings have taken place in large, heavily planted, aquariums. The female lays 3-4 eggs at a time and the male fertilizes the eggs as they are laid. Then the female lays more and on and on until 80-100 eggs are laid. The male guards the eggs which hatch at about 8 days. The yolk sac is consumed in two days and then you must feed the fry with infusoria and soft veggies. The fry can be very tough to raise. hope this helps

well theres one rule in fish keeping "dont rush anything unless is in the interests of the fish " so on that note if after a week you did a water test and the nitrite /nitrate ammoinia levels and ph where in line with recommendations then yeah start to add a couple!of fish your tank water may be cycled but all that tap water has chlorine and you dont state what filtration you are using or if that has cycled from a previous tank or not , i have set up a tank in the past and put fish in within hours but and the big but was yes the filter was cycled from a previous tank and yes after the previous tank split down the middle i do feel it was in the best interests of the fishes i rush things a little look at it this way we all want and dream of the final look to our tank but you have obviously invested time and energy and WAITED up till now a few more days of testing and double checking wont hurt you and more over wont hurt your fish ..

finally found this site after a while of looking it was either procrastination(being male )or a blonde moment (needs no explanation ... except to other blondes i fear ) well anyway bit about meself , ive been in fishkeeping for a few years bred quite a bit of various fishy things looking for a good club to join out west somewhere (holdens are expensive on gas now you know )and looking to pick a few brains and hopefully help a few . At present i have a 35 tank set up, downstairs and have decided to specialize in pleco's at present i have L260,L144,LDA33,L18,L213,L100,L226,L10a,ABN & BN port hoplo's albino catfish, rhino whiptails, royal whiptails, discus (go figure ,there the wife's ) white cloud minnows in the past i have bred angels , catfish ,firemouths,simese fighters,dwarf gouramis,keyhole chilids serverums ,discus ,kribensis,swords ,guppies,zebra dainos,white clouds,and a few other things that elude me or its alhiemzers anyway hope this gives you a little info on me and in time i can get to know all of you