Pleco and catfish questions

[CrazyPhishMan]

l095 can be sourced in Peru and Brazil- are there noticeable differences in the collections?
Size, color- does the Peruvian type also have an orange cheek?

Raphael catfish- will they school in a group of 6?
If yes, can it be a mixed school?
Say 4 striped, 1 chocolate, 1megaldoras?
Thanks for your help and experience

 

[Aqua_Bankie]

Cant help on your pleco query.

I used to have four striped Raphael's ( Platydoras armatulus ) ,originally started with one and like most keepers hardly seen it, I added three more of similar size and it seemed to give the first one more confidence. It added a competitive element between the cats for caves etc. but nothing nasty

I wouldn't say the school, but they do appear to like having company from the same species it made them more confident and active.

not sure if or how the different Raphael species would interact with each other as mine were all the same species.