need guidance please...different size panaque's compatible?

[theunytedone]

Good Morning everyone (0750hrs Hawaii Time)

Well, there are some 6" + L330 in stock with LFS(upplier), and i reallllllly want one.

Here is my dilemma...
-in one tank i have a 5in regular Royal with some other fish
-in another tank i have 3 baby royals, by themselves...
-i want an L330.

...Will there be aggression issues in the event i mixed any of the panaques? i was thinking maybe to put the L330 in the tank that the babies are in, while putting the babies into the tank that the 5.5in royal is in, while moving that 5incher royal along with all its tankmates to the tank the babies are from. That way, despite there being 2 panaques (i generate this thread because i do know that there are aggression issues between alike species) there would be all those other little fish to buzz around. There will of course be ample driftwood and hiding spaces for all fish... I thought about mixing the babies with the bigger royal, but i dont feel comfortable about that really. A friend warned that the larger one would try suck on the babies. Definitely DO NOT want that.

Both 30's are pretty well filtered IMHO, the 30T has a penguin 330 (old but still has worked throughout the years) and the 30L has a penguin 250 with an AC20...

Ive not made any decisions yet, so dont flame me too bad please ...

 

[matubula]

IME all Royals will be aggressive towards each other, I've had ones between 3" and 16".

A 5" and 6" Royal will at first fight but soon enough dominance should be established and only occasionally after that. Other things like having space for them to run, braking lines of sight and feeding in different areas will help.

A 6" Royal shouldn't other baby Royals, and they will be too small for anything serious to happen. The only problem should be the larger one outcompeting for food.

 

[theunytedone]

Sweet, thanks a lot Matt.
These are the first pleco's ive ever really taken interest in. Before this, anything other than common plecos were exotic.

I suppose then, a good plan would be to basically (and carefully of course) switch tanks/stock...then throw in the L330 (give i do indeed grab one) in with the larger royal...i feel safer just letting my babies grow separately for now. I dont want them to have to compete with the big ones for food...i think i'll leave the small convicts i netted in the stream in there with them for their first tankmates.

I wanted the bigger panaques to be in the longer tanks, having more of a horizontal swimming area rather than a taller one. the littler ones can find hidey holes with altitude in the 30T...

Thanks! i'll keep you updated!
Hopefully the next update will be that ive got a 330