Crazy Pitbull Plec....

[-germ-]

Ok i'm in a fair rush...
Went to the LFS and took ages to find it, decided such effort deserved a fish...
I've got a pitbull plec, i'm not the best at catfish but i researched them a fortnight ago or so, am i correct in think mainly herbivore and temp from 20-25 celcius?
Also any extra ssp specific info i should know?

 

[-germ-]

He's acclimatised and in, he's stunning, theres an element of metallic green to his scales and i can't check on planet catfish to confirm I.D.
Pic; poor quality, but if you can help confirm I.D. from this, it is much appreciated;

Edited to add pic, done some more research and looks like a pitbull to me

My hillies are a bit unsure, theres alot of dorsal raising between the two, i expect the loaches want to challenge him for rock space.

 

[smithrc]

yep - looks like a pitbull to me

ours love most dry foods and algae wafers - veg too

 

[-germ-]

Thanks very much smithrc
He appears a littlelethargic now? Is that most likely due to the inevitable stress IYO?
Sorry stupid question, i'm sure it is.
So 20-25 celcius for pitbulls, he's in my not-quite tropical tank and theres a load of water movement...
Humour me, just tell me he'll be fine...

 

[smithrc]

I tend to keep ours a little warmer as they are in with other tropicals - They even had a spell at 30deg with our zebs and were fine...

I know it might not be ideal - but they are a small plec and if you could get a few more you will get more out of them - they are very social fish...

I know myself and other owners only normally get pictures of them in groups - they don't normally hang round on their own...
That might be why he's a bit subdued..

 

[-germ-]

I know they only had the one though, maybe when my GF (she's here reading this ) realises what lovely fish they are and how much they deserve to be kept in a group she'll take me to an LFS (tomorrow maybe love.... ow, punch probably incoming) and let me get some more...
GF says no.
I'll work on it.
Cheers Smith

 

[Egmel]

Would agree with the getting more if at all possible.

My gold spot dwarf plecs (which are v similar) are kept in tropical as well, about 26C, glad to hear they can stand 30C as I do have worries about keeping the tank temp low when summer finally arrives!

As to what they eat, mine will go for almost anything! Veg and algae wafers are a must but they'll also help themselves to flakes/granules that make it to the bottom. Never seen them go after the frozen blood worms or daphnae which suggests to me that they're more vegetarians than true omnivores.

@Smithrc Any idea if the different Parotocinclus species are happy to group together or whether I'm going to have to hunt out some Parotocinclus spilosoma to enlarge my group?

 

[smithrc]

Would agree with the getting more if at all possible.

My gold spot dwarf plecs (which are v similar) are kept in tropical as well, about 26C, glad to hear they can stand 30C as I do have worries about keeping the tank temp low when summer finally arrives!

As to what they eat, mine will go for almost anything! Veg and algae wafers are a must but they'll also help themselves to flakes/granules that make it to the bottom. Never seen them go after the frozen blood worms or daphnae which suggests to me that they're more vegetarians than true omnivores.

@Smithrc Any idea if the different Parotocinclus species are happy to group together or whether I'm going to have to hunt out some Parotocinclus spilosoma to enlarge my group?

I seperated our dwarf gold spot from our pitbulls for a while as he was always hastleing them...
but they actually seemed to miss each other so I've put them back together and its going a lot better

 

[Egmel]

I seperated our dwarf gold spot from our pitbulls for a while as he was always hastleing them...
but they actually seemed to miss each other so I've put them back together and its going a lot better

Cool, I have a car at the moment so thought I might pop out this weekend and see if I can find a couple of friends for my two

 

[-germ-]

Smith, do you know of anywhere i could order or obtain some more pitbulls?
I've tried everywhere in manchester and its hopeless....

 

[smithrc]

they dont come up very much

how much did you pay? - I'll see if my LFS still has some and we could sort out postage or something...

 

[-germ-]

Its sorted, maidenhead near me has about 20 although they're still in quarantine.
Ended up coming home with some oto's
Need a new tank!!!
Edited to add; thanks very much for the offer though, extremely kind of you

 

[-germ-]

Umm... another addition, does anyone regularly see their paras hanging around outside the water....
My new pitbull seems to enjoy throwing himself into the area where the water movement from my filter collects (way over filtered) about an inch above the water line, and just hanging around letting the bubbles bounce of him?
Have i got another confused pleco? Is this normal?

 

[Egmel]

Umm... another addition, does anyone regularly see their paras hanging around outside the water....
My new pitbull seems to enjoy throwing himself into the area where the water movement from my filter collects (way over filtered) about an inch above the water line, and just hanging around letting the bubbles bounce of him?
Have i got another confused pleco? Is this normal?

Never seen that before...

 

[-germ-]

He's relaxed a bit now, if he does it again i'll get a pic/vid....
Very odd!