Starlight pleco

LFS had these in stock again yesterday and I just couldn't resist.

I was at a fish store yesterday that is about 120 miles from my home. I saw one of these in a tank and thought how beautiful it was. You are so lucky as I wish I had room for it. I have one of the other variaties that is now about 4" long.

ooooo, nice kittie fish

Hi Eddy.
We picked up a pair of those beauties a couple of months ago (the lfs had them labled as "Blue fins") unfortunately both of them perished within a week...the rest of the tank was fine (Cories, mollies, platties, Upsidedown cats)...we suspect a bad shipment to the lfs, but no proof. Beautiful fish, keep us posted on how yours make out.

Don

nice looking fish. How big is it in that picture?

That is a beautiful pleco I have to have one are they hard to keep I dont care if they are I got to have one I have never seen one of them before they golden nugget is pretty but they dont hold that one a light to see by.

PufferPack - Unfortunately mine went the same way as yours. They didn't seem to acclimatise at all (lethargic, etc) and were both dead on the substrate within a couple of days They were very small (and b****y expensize) so that might not have helped. In some ways it was better that they went quickly as I didn't have time to become too attached to them.

Steve-O - they were just over an inch or so long.

Thanks Cryosi - shame that they passed on. Found a very similar looking ancistrus in a different LFS which were over eight times cheaper. I have had those for nearly a fortnight and them seem to be a lot better. They have settled in OK and are much more active than the starlights.

Fish Keeper - I don't think they are hard to keep but, as you can see from PufferPack and my experience, some types can be more fragile - and a lot does depend on the source. There is one LFS that I will only ever use for dry goods as every time I go there I see a LOT of dead fish in their tanks. If you get your fish from a good LFS they will have much more chance of acclimatising to your conditions and surviving. It is also worth checking with the LFS what their parameters as fragile fish are more susceptable to changes in PH, hardness, etc.

Cheers, Eddie