Snowball Pleco - Hypancistrus Inspector (l102)

[Bobtastic]

Hi all,

I was having a look round my LFS and saw that they had a couple of Snowball Pleco's in. I quite like the pleco's but I'm always a bit fearful that they'll grow into hughmongous monsters that out grow my tank (80cm ish long). They are quite expensive at nearly £30, but they are very pretty!

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them? Prefered temp/pH, temperament and maximum size? Would it be ok in my community tank (6platies (2fry), 3 albino corys)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[star4]

Dont have one myself but a very nice fish, grow to about 6 1/2"

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/speci...?species_id=204
this link should tell you all the info on them.

 

[Bobtastic]

Carnivore!!! I thought most pleco's were algae eaters?! I think I will pass on the Snowballs. Back to saving my pennies for a Zebra!

 

[Davo86]

hardly any plecs are algae eaters, (Zebras are carnivores)

 

[indigoj]

Have a look on planet catfish and you will see that there are hundreds of plecs with a wide variety of dietry requirements. Most hypancistrus have more meaty requirements while panaque need wood.

 

[Bobtastic]

Huh... everydays a school day!

A little off topic but are there actually any fish that choose to eat algae as their main food source?

 

[Liam50]

Huh... everydays a school day!

A little off topic but are there actually any fish that choose to eat algae as their main food source?

yes your scraper sponge, tbh a pleco is not what your after if you want algae eaten ottos or golden algae eaters are better.

 

[skippy_49nz]

Bristlenoses are supposed to be a far better choice than chinese algae eaters. Any algae eating fish will only eat certain types of algae so you will still need to be out scraping periodically. I love the look of the inspectors. I know a guy with a couple and they are soooo territorial towards their own kind. He put his two together to try to breed and within 5 seconds it was a deathmatch. They remain separated today. Personally I think the better looking plecs tend to be carnivorous with the exception of some panaques which are kind of cool.

 

[CTlovesKS]

Very Pretty pleco. I would spent £30 on him... He lovely colours... Good one mate for getting him lol

 

[JenCliBee]

I would say it was an LDA33 (big white spot) personally which isnt a hypan but a baryancistrus, gets to around 9-10 inches and more omniverous , but i could be wrong but i doubt its a L102