Golden Sailfin aka Hypostomus luteus

[thebiggerthebetter]

My first post in this section in 9 years on MFK.

Wesley Wong sent me this guy in error (or the SW Airlines mixed up Wes' boxes). TBH, pleco don't exactly scratch me where I itch (don't beat me up too badly). Yet this guy has been growing on me a bit. Has been with me for a few months. I almost never see it take pellets, forget thawed out fish. I hope and think it must be eating some occasional pellet, as it hasn't lost any weight. Its only competition for the pellets is a 3' African lungfish and the lung takes a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng time to eat them up.

 

[Hendre]

That's a pretty fella! The lung is super cool as well

 

[Linus_Cello]

Hope the other guy who got the other box ok with mixup. I would be disappointed- this is a nice luteus

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Hope the other guy who got the other box ok with mixup. I would be disappointed- this is a nice luteus

Hello there, Mr. Linus-Cello I met you on PCF 10 years ago. Never known you were here too. So it's a pleasant surprise. Although we almost never cross paths, an apparent result of a differing taste in fish / catfish.

Wes, the other addressee in Missouri, SWA, and me were able to figure it out in time for me to receive my target box that night at 11 pm. A second trip to the airport. Wes takes pride in valuing customer satisfaction over profits. Needless to say he took care of the error and told me to keep the pleco despite my numerous offers to send it back to him or to Missouri that same day while the pleco was still in a special heavy duty PVC bag and under oxygen.

 

[exodus1500]

Wow, that's quite a bonus fish!

 

[Linus_Cello]

Yup I’m on MFK. Need to read your threads on PC to catch up on your fish. Hopefully you can come to the Catfish convention in October.

 

[timtk]

That is a VERY nice fish to receive on accident. You have a phase II luteus (my personal favorite), it could turn more gold eventually but not more black. Keep us updated on him. These are a dream fish for lots of pleco folk and they've recently become more available...

I'm not an expert on luteus diet, but if you dont see him taking pellets, you might consider offering him some veggies like sweet potato or cucumber which you can weight down with a fork. Repashy food is also great for plecos since you can leave it in the tank for a long time without it breaking down and fouling the water.

 

[4wheelvfr]

I'm the guy that was supposed to get that fish lol. I've never had a problem with anything from Wes, and he made sure we were both taken care of this time. Between Wes and Jeff Rapps, I need no other sources for fish. Awesome guys both.
My luteus has been in a native community tank and has been kept pretty chilly this Winter. I think I had the water temp down to 56 at one point and have been slowly raising it this Spring. I'm at 64 now I think, but even at 56 he was still very active. As for diet, mine eats anything that falls near him, which is usually Hikari carnivore pellets and NLS algae wafers. I have to feed at night for him to get much food on account of my sunfish and bass being absolute pigs.

 

[exodus1500]

I'm the guy that was supposed to get that fish lol. I've never had a problem with anything from Wes, and he made sure we were both taken care of this time. Between Wes and Jeff Rapps, I need no other sources for fish. Awesome guys both.
My luteus has been in a native community tank and has been kept pretty chilly this Winter. I think I had the water temp down to 56 at one point and have been slowly raising it this Spring. I'm at 64 now I think, but even at 56 he was still very active. As for diet, mine eats anything that falls near him, which is usually Hikari carnivore pellets and NLS algae wafers. I have to feed at night for him to get much food on account of my sunfish and bass being absolute pigs.

From what I have researched, Luteus are one of the few fish that can actually take cold temps. I am guessing their price tag of them is the biggest deterrent to testing out the theory.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you all guys for the helpful input. Nothing much changed here. I have not still seen the pleco to actually make any recognizable move for the feed when it is laying around on the bottom, often all around it too ... while the lungfish slowly seeks it out and consumes. I probably saw it cover a pellet or two with its mouth by accident, it surely looked like.

I offered cucumber and lettuce on a fork, left for 24 hours each. The fish couldn't care less. I will try zucchini and as suggested sweet potato.

It doesn't look like it has lost much weight. If it did, it's not much but I almost never get to see its stomach. Whatever I see, the tummy is pretty flat, if not a tiny bit concave.

You say yours are active. Mine's quite inactive. Perhaps this is because of the lack of wood and almost any tank scape? Just a couple of rocks. What do you think?