Hey guys, at a dillemma here. Thinking of getting a new pleco and not sure whether to choose the xingu pleco (L27b) or the royal pleco (L190). What do you guys recommend?
For me I'd go L190, the difference between the two just doesn't justify the price difference, well at least here in england, a 3-4" L190 is around £25 pounds around $35 USA dollers where as a 3-4" L27b your look at around £70 pounds around $95 USA dollers, but the prices could be vastly different on your side of the pond, having owned both I'd definitely wouldn't pay the price difference there is honestly not enough difference, most of my friends couldn't even tell the difference between my L190's and L27's, for that reason I'd go L190, still totally stunning and much better for you wallet lol.
I see... yeah over here the 190 is much much more wallet friendly. So they barely have any differences. What about their growth rate and max size?
In my experience there growth rate and max size are the same, around 1" to 2" max per year in really conditions and eating well, they are all really slow growers in general but that's just panaque's they do grow SLOOOOW lol, as far as I know all L190/L27 variants max out at around the 15"/16" mark, but obviously would take a large tank and a lot of time, about your question on differences, yes they are some small differences L27 tend to have slightly longer body's and heads and obviously slightly different colouration, but in my opinion the price difference is just not justified, this is mainly down to the fact there considered to be the same fish just collected from different locations in Brazils, rio xingu, rio tapajos ect...... if your looking for something slightly different to a L190 why not take a look at L90 Ojo Chico papa panaque or a L418 Peru green shamper panaque, there both like L190 but a bit different, well more different then a L27 if you know what I mean, in England both are around the same price as a L27 but not sure about the USA, hope this helps you a bit
the prices are about the same over here I paid $40 for my L190 and $80 for my L027a Xingu. I say go with the L190 I actually had to look at the angle of the teeth several times to figure out which was which when they started not hiding all the time. The biggest difference I noticed was how bold the lines were on the xingu. Unfortunately a couple weeks ago I lost my Xingu and almost my L190 to a very aggressive common pleco that came into the rescue that also took out another small common and almost took out yet another common. Now that aggressive common is the smallest in the tank by a couple inches even though he is about 11"
SLOW GROWERS?! So are L191 an exception then? Mine grew almost an inch per month. I just bought an L190 and assumed he'd do the same.
I've never had any panaque grow anyware near that fast and don't no anyone that has, and I've had literally hundreds over the coarse of 15-20 years,but with everything you will get and exceptions I suppose, never had many dull eyes L191 to be honest so they could grow faster I'm not sure I'm far from an expert just speaking from experience, all the L190/L27/L90 etc... that I have now and have had in the past have grown very slowly, my blue eyed panaque (Suttoni) has also only grown around 2" in 2 years as well, maybe L191 just grow faster
maybe they only grow fast when there small? Like below 6"-7" or so, that would make sense to me as I very rarely get them smaller then that, as I personally find the price difference between 4" and 6" not so bad, it's only like £10 pounds or roughly $15 dollers, it's when you move up to the next size like 8"-9" the prices start to get steep in the UK, probably due to the fact it takes way longer to get to that size maybe.
Yeah, he was about 7 inches when I had to move him on due to my biggest tank being a 75g and THE POOP.
