Hypostomus lapatae...cool water?

[jjohnwm]

I'm not much of a pleco guy; had a couple of large gibbiceps in the past, and currently have a few Bristlenose who seem to breeding without any special attention on my past. My local dealer currently has some Hypostomus laplatae, apparently originating in Uruguay. What little I have found on this species is fairly vague in terms of required conditions, but I am assuming that they would be a cool-tolerant species?

My Bristlenose seem to become fairly sluggish if temps drop much below 68F, and I would love to find a pleco that would be comfortable with a winter cooldown to somewhere in the region of 60F, with summer temps in the 70 - 75F range.

I'm not looking for a fish to perform slave labour as a cleaner or algae-consumer, and am not overly concerned with the high bioload of these fish as I keep my tanks quite uncrowded and do a lot of water changing. I am just hoping for a pleco-type monster for one or two of my tanks, and ideally one which can be placed outdoors in a stock tank for 5 months yearly, give or take. The fish that are available are only a couple inches in length, and I would likely get 4 or 5 and hope to get at least one pair out of that for possible breeding.

Any thoughts or comments on this species, or suggestions for another possible choice?

 

[Midwater]

Bristlenose may get to breeding size fairly quickly, but some one inch giant Hypostomus may take many years to get to breading size.

 

[jjohnwm]

Bristlenose may get to breeding size fairly quickly, but some one inch giant Hypostomus may take many years to get to breading size.

Fine by me; no instant gratification required. Breeding them is not a Quest for me, just something that would make me smile if it happens.

I'd love to get a small number of a slow-growing species, spend a few years feeding them and changing 1000's of gallons of water and lavishing 100's of hours of general attention, and then produce a small handful of fry worth close to zero in trade...just so I can say to my wife "See? It was all worth it!"

 

[jjohnwm]

I see this question did not gain a whole lot of traction.

I bumbled about on the net and found a few more pages discussing the fish's requirements. Many were retailers' sites, but a few were somewhat more scholarly; not much to be had on the typical hobbyists' go-to sites like Seriously Fish. Unsurprisingly, just about every site that mentioned the species suggest a temperature range of 75-84F, and a pH range of 6.5-7.5, i.e. the parameters that they seem to suggest for virtually every fish in the hobby...despite the fact that the source for most of the H.laplatae specimens seems to be Uruguay or the Buenos Aires region. I found the most interesting info on the ScotCat site; they list the parameters of the source water in the collection point river as being pH of 7.8-8.1, with a temp range of 15-20C (59-68F)...and then if one scrolls down a dozen or so lines, one is recommended to keep the fish at 75-84F and 6.5-7.5pH!

I hate to learn by experimenting on living fish, but...I feel safe enough about the idea of cold-tolerance in this species that I picked up a couple youngsters in the 4-inch size range. They're currently in an outdoor stock tank, will come indoors later in the fall along with everyone else. At least one will go in with my goldfish in an unheated basement tank that may bottom out around 60F; not certain where I will put the second one for the winter if not in that tank. Will probably keep it a bit warmer, say 70-ish F, and see which one seems to do better.

 

[tlindsey]

I see this question did not gain a whole lot of traction.

I bumbled about on the net and found a few more pages discussing the fish's requirements. Many were retailers' sites, but a few were somewhat more scholarly; not much to be had on the typical hobbyists' go-to sites like Seriously Fish. Unsurprisingly, just about every site that mentioned the species suggest a temperature range of 75-84F, and a pH range of 6.5-7.5, i.e. the parameters that they seem to suggest for virtually every fish in the hobby...despite the fact that the source for most of the H.laplatae specimens seems to be Uruguay or the Buenos Aires region. I found the most interesting info on the ScotCat site; they list the parameters of the source water in the collection point river as being pH of 7.8-8.1, with a temp range of 15-20C (59-68F)...and then if one scrolls down a dozen or so lines, one is recommended to keep the fish at 75-84F and 6.5-7.5pH!

I hate to learn by experimenting on living fish, but...I feel safe enough about the idea of cold-tolerance in this species that I picked up a couple youngsters in the 4-inch size range. They're currently in an outdoor stock tank, will come indoors later in the fall along with everyone else. At least one will go in with my goldfish in an unheated basement tank that may bottom out around 60F; not certain where I will put the second one for the winter if not in that tank. Will probably keep it a bit warmer, say 70-ish F, and see which one seems to do better.

If I remember right duanes mentioned a cool water pleco possibly the same specie.

 

[jjohnwm]

I know there was some mention somewhere about multiple pleco-types from Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina...don't recall who posted...

 

[duanes]

I don't know about the species here, but Uruguayan species can handle cooler temps, you'd just need to source theses location variants.
You might want to check with member Ken Davis who regularly makes collecting Trips to Uruguay.
Edit
I just Google H leptosae and it appears its from as far South as Argentina, this would indicate, its a cool water tolerating species.

Above is a photo of an Argentine river in winter.

 

[jjohnwm]

I don't know about the species here, but Uruguayan species can handle cooler temps, you'd just need to source theses location variants.
You might want to check with member Ken Davis who regularly makes collecting Trips to Uruguay.

Thanks! Do you know his MFK handle?

 

[duanes]

I believe he went by fishfarm, and is from Georgia.
He also has a presence in the American Cichlid Assn FaceBook page.

 

[jjohnwm]

The two laplatae that I snagged in May spent about 5 months outdoors in a stock tank; literally never saw them even once. When I drained the tank a couple weeks ago, they were found to have doubled in length and are now about 6 inches total length. They look fat and healthy, and have been installed into my 360-gallon plywood goldfish tank for overwintering purposes. Temps are expected to bottom out around 60F and I hope they do well, considering their place of origin.