Need a panaque that my WIFE will approve of! :(

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L-066? King Tiger pleco's I think have really cool patterns. I picked up one of those, a green phantom and a royal this weekend.
 
My wife like gold plecos best (Xantos and Luteus phase 3). She can tolerate green L200 and blue L128. My other 30 kinds she thinks are ugly or disgusting (including 6 kinds of Panaque).
 
Um... green? That's gold/yellow, not green. That's as bright a color as panaques come. If you like to cheap out on food and only feed your panaque wood and nothing else, I'll definitely advise against getting that one... that fish has nothing to do with "budget"

Girls will mostly like Goldie/Xantos/Luteus. The cheapest of those 3 starts at $200 for a decent sized fish. Again, cannot cheap out on food regarding those fish.

I have yet to see someone that does NOT like this one. Again, nothing to do with budget.
HypostomusLuteus_zps9539beec.jpg
 
Um... green? That's gold/yellow, not green. That's as bright a color as panaques come. If you like to cheap out on food and only feed your panaque wood and nothing else, I'll definitely advise against getting that one... that fish has nothing to do with "budget"

Girls will mostly like Goldie/Xantos/Luteus. The cheapest of those 3 starts at $200 for a decent sized fish. Again, cannot cheap out on food regarding those fish.

I have yet to see someone that does NOT like this one. Again, nothing to do with budget.
HypostomusLuteus_zps9539beec.jpg

Ok I'm a bit confused by this. Like I said before I have a l191 that only eats wood. If I throw any pellets or pieces of tilapia they are totally ignored by the pleco. The only other foods I seen it eat was chopped potatoes and zucchini


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Um... green? That's gold/yellow, not green. That's as bright a color as panaques come. If you like to cheap out on food and only feed your panaque wood and nothing else, I'll definitely advise against getting that one... that fish has nothing to do with "budget"

Girls will mostly like Goldie/Xantos/Luteus. The cheapest of those 3 starts at $200 for a decent sized fish. Again, cannot cheap out on food regarding those fish.

I have yet to see someone that does NOT like this one. Again, nothing to do with budget.
HypostomusLuteus_zps9539beec.jpg

Where can I get a hypostomus luteus under 800 bucks?


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Ok I'm a bit confused by this. Like I said before I have a l191 that only eats wood. If I throw any pellets or pieces of tilapia they are totally ignored by the pleco. The only other foods I seen it eat was chopped potatoes and zucchini


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panaques mostly ignore meaty food/pellets. They'll get by with wood only for a while, but they do need additional nutrition from other veggie matters. In a closed system like our tanks, there aren't enough organic matter growing on the wood to sustain panaques, especially as they grow larger. The op is looking for prettier panaques. As many here knows, even the prettiest fish with the best genes needs a variety of top quality food to achieve and maintain their color potential. That's why you hear stories of goldline thunders losing their pattern or panaques losing their whiskers afterbeing kept for a while.

hoping a panaques will do ok solely on wood is like trying to raise a child purely on protein powders. Yes they need wood and a human child needs protein. They birth will do ok for a while. But what'll be the ultimate outcome?

would you risk a $600 fish (the "stripy royal" I posted) by giving it only wood to eat?
 
OP: I'm not sure if there is a fish that will meet your demands. Since you are doing this on a budget, why not go with an albino sailfin pleco. One would be great for the set up you are planning, they are bright, hardy, and you can throw in "cheap vegetables" to for food.

As for luteus, put me down for one when you find them around $600. I don't care the size or phase. (sorry op for the derail)
 
Thanks for all the input. I was honestly just hoping to make wife happy, but I guess I'll have to cut her out of the equation. I'll throw some angelfish in there for her, that should make the cut, lol. She loves golden pearlscale angelfish...

Now to pound the web for info about L191, since that's pretty much the standard pet shop royal pleco around here, and I DO like them. Grew one out from 2" to 7" a few years back, too much sawdust for my 75g tank at that size.

Mega filtration, bare-bottom, sump with filter sock are all in order here. Thankfully I have a few years to plan for this...
 
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