raeburter
Fishaholic
I have a thought of keeping royal plecs..Are there a few species cause i kinda like eddie's colouration(one of the royal plecs posted b4.Can they live with cories too???
Royal Plec
- Thread starter raeburter
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raeburter
Fishaholic
any pics?? and can they liv e with cories
KathyM
Fish Herder
Then L190 (the "original" Royal), L191 (Dull Eyed), etc etc.
Royals grow to about 16", but more commonly 12" in the home aquarium. However, at 12" they are miles more of a beast than other fish of a similar length because they're so broad and their head is huuuge. They need lots of bogwood to eat, supplemented with vegetable. Preferably no meat in their diet, but obviously sometimes that's difficult to attain with other fish in the tank. Their growth rate is slow (an inch or two a year apparently), and they poo for England. Very, very messy fish. Still love 'em though.
Here's ours (the L190):
Yes they can live with cories by the way
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
KathyM has basically covered everything, but I'll add a few observations of my own. I've kept a royal plec for 11 years or so, and in terms of general care, it couldn't be an easier fish to own. It has lived in a hard and alkaline water aquarium with mbuna, and right now it's in soft and acid water with tetras and various other small fish. I haven't kept it in brackish water, but I have seen specimens that have been kept in very low-end brackish for many years without problems. I wouldn't recommend doing that myself, but it is indicative of the fact that these are basically tough fish.
Royal plecs are most delicate (i.e., liable to die) during the first few weeks of ownership. Make sure you buy a healthy specimen. Good indicators of overall health are the eyes (which must not be sunken) and the belly (which should not be hollow, i.e., concave). While it is possible to nurse these fish back to health, some simply don't recover, so it's perhaps just as well to pick a specimen that is in good condition.
These fish swim about as well as hippos, i.e., they don't swim at all. They merely barge through whatever they want, propelled by a gigantic tail fin but encumbered by massive body armour. In planted tanks, they destroy anything not firmly rooted. Talking of plants, while they will eat "crunchy" species like Amazon swords and giant hygrophila and destroy some plants like Anubias simply while grazing algae. Only keep these fish with soft plants large enough to resist distrubance but bendy enough not to be attractive to a royal plec looking for somewhere to graze. Examples of good plants to use with them are Vallisneria and water lillies. In my experience, Java ferns are uprooted when the royal plec eats the wood, and Java moss is simply destroyed.
As KathyM mentioned, diet for these fish is very specific: they need vegetables, algae discs, and wood, and only rarely things like catfish pellets. They can live indefinitely on a diet of wood because they digest the stuff, so provided there is wood in the tank, your fish won't starve. That said, they love courgette, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, carrot, and so on, and these should be provided 2-3 times a week. Once a week throw in some algae discs (there are various brands, specificially designed for algae-eating plecs). High-protein catfish pellets are a treat not a staple. Royal plecs given a high protein diet appear to die young.
You need a fairly decent filter for these fish, but that said, most of the "poop" is simply sawdust from their grazing of wood, and has zero effect on ammonium and nitrite levels. Simply arrange the water current to that the faeces get washed towards one of the front corners of the aquarium where you can siphon it out every so often.
Behaviour-wise, these fish are essentially shy but become quite tame. They are nocturnal, but in a tank with some shade (floating plants are ideal) they will forage during the daytime. If you put vegetable slices in the same part of the tank every day, the catfish will learn to feed there, and you can train it to come sit at the front of the tank while you are watching. They ignore other fish totally, with the exception perhaps of other plecs. Being heavily armoured and quite bullish when harassed, even aggressive cichlids leave them alone.
Lifespan is said to be at least 20 years.
Cheers,
Neale
Royal plecs are most delicate (i.e., liable to die) during the first few weeks of ownership. Make sure you buy a healthy specimen. Good indicators of overall health are the eyes (which must not be sunken) and the belly (which should not be hollow, i.e., concave). While it is possible to nurse these fish back to health, some simply don't recover, so it's perhaps just as well to pick a specimen that is in good condition.
These fish swim about as well as hippos, i.e., they don't swim at all. They merely barge through whatever they want, propelled by a gigantic tail fin but encumbered by massive body armour. In planted tanks, they destroy anything not firmly rooted. Talking of plants, while they will eat "crunchy" species like Amazon swords and giant hygrophila and destroy some plants like Anubias simply while grazing algae. Only keep these fish with soft plants large enough to resist distrubance but bendy enough not to be attractive to a royal plec looking for somewhere to graze. Examples of good plants to use with them are Vallisneria and water lillies. In my experience, Java ferns are uprooted when the royal plec eats the wood, and Java moss is simply destroyed.
As KathyM mentioned, diet for these fish is very specific: they need vegetables, algae discs, and wood, and only rarely things like catfish pellets. They can live indefinitely on a diet of wood because they digest the stuff, so provided there is wood in the tank, your fish won't starve. That said, they love courgette, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, carrot, and so on, and these should be provided 2-3 times a week. Once a week throw in some algae discs (there are various brands, specificially designed for algae-eating plecs). High-protein catfish pellets are a treat not a staple. Royal plecs given a high protein diet appear to die young.
You need a fairly decent filter for these fish, but that said, most of the "poop" is simply sawdust from their grazing of wood, and has zero effect on ammonium and nitrite levels. Simply arrange the water current to that the faeces get washed towards one of the front corners of the aquarium where you can siphon it out every so often.
Behaviour-wise, these fish are essentially shy but become quite tame. They are nocturnal, but in a tank with some shade (floating plants are ideal) they will forage during the daytime. If you put vegetable slices in the same part of the tank every day, the catfish will learn to feed there, and you can train it to come sit at the front of the tank while you are watching. They ignore other fish totally, with the exception perhaps of other plecs. Being heavily armoured and quite bullish when harassed, even aggressive cichlids leave them alone.
Lifespan is said to be at least 20 years.
Cheers,
Neale
raeburter
Fishaholic
Thanks for the advice i think the original L190 is the best.Is it veri expensive compared to bristlenose??
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Royal plecs (in the UK at least) are fairly expensive compared with bristlenose plecs. The reason is, of course, the latter are commercially bred. Specimens around 6 cm or so go for anything up to £25, and larger specimens significantly more (typically £50 or so for a 15 cm specimen). As a general rule, young fish adapt more easily to aquarium life, but they also have smaller energy reserves, so you must get them feeding quickly.
As to varieties, I think I'd worry more about finding a healthy specimen that getting a particular sort. My royal plec has been positively identified by Panaque scientist Hirofumi Nonogaki as one of the Columbian/Venezuelan population of P. nigrolineatus, which are known to adapt very well to aquarium life. By contrast, Brazilian Rio Xingu, Tapajos, and Tocantins populations seem to be less adaptable and more prone to the "fat around the internal organs" problem.
Also bear in mind the colours change somewhat as the fish mature. So what a fish looks like as a baby isn't a perfect indicator of what the adult will look like. That said, the colours on mine have stayed wonderfully bright.
Cheers,
Neale
As to varieties, I think I'd worry more about finding a healthy specimen that getting a particular sort. My royal plec has been positively identified by Panaque scientist Hirofumi Nonogaki as one of the Columbian/Venezuelan population of P. nigrolineatus, which are known to adapt very well to aquarium life. By contrast, Brazilian Rio Xingu, Tapajos, and Tocantins populations seem to be less adaptable and more prone to the "fat around the internal organs" problem.
Also bear in mind the colours change somewhat as the fish mature. So what a fish looks like as a baby isn't a perfect indicator of what the adult will look like. That said, the colours on mine have stayed wonderfully bright.
Cheers,
Neale
puddle_inc
Fishaholic
not an expert in plecos, but have had them before, just not the royal ones. they should be able to live with them, but a male may get territorial, may, like i said, no expert. i have had one with goldfish before, they were fine.
KathyM
Fish Herder
My L190 is apparently of the Llanos population - have no idea how folks tell the difference though *lol*. He was about 3.5" when he came and cost me £25. I've seen similar and smaller ones go for more, but I think it depends on where you live too. Trimar are selling Royals for £25 at the moment, so I assume they'll be of similar size.
The most important thing when seeking out a Royal though is it's health. I would put that above what type you get. Find a shop that's willing to hold on to one for at least 2 weeks after they get it, so you can watch it and check it's eating well and doesn't have sunken eyes/belly. I thought before I got mine that that was a bit OTT, but ours had been in the shop for 3 weeks when we got him and was lovely and fat - we haven't had a single problem with him. As a contrast, an online friend of mine bought an L191 that had just come into his LFS, and on closer inspection he wasn't in as good nick and he died the next day. They really don't do well when they're skinny and haven't had a chance to recover before being sold - the shock of a new tank seems to tip them over.
The most important thing when seeking out a Royal though is it's health. I would put that above what type you get. Find a shop that's willing to hold on to one for at least 2 weeks after they get it, so you can watch it and check it's eating well and doesn't have sunken eyes/belly. I thought before I got mine that that was a bit OTT, but ours had been in the shop for 3 weeks when we got him and was lovely and fat - we haven't had a single problem with him. As a contrast, an online friend of mine bought an L191 that had just come into his LFS, and on closer inspection he wasn't in as good nick and he died the next day. They really don't do well when they're skinny and haven't had a chance to recover before being sold - the shock of a new tank seems to tip them over.
Crossfc
Fish Fanatic
I've only had my royal for a few months. But what nmonks says is true. He murdered my hygrophila and nibbles on my java fern. Ignores my Angels pretty much. My softer plants like the water spirte and vallis are untouched. Here is a picture of the little dude. I dunno which L# it is. He looks different from Kathy's and nmonks.
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