Pleco Moment : Pseudacanthicus hystrix

[quix]

Beautiful finnage and juz simply look big black and mean. It's supposedly the pleco with the largest potential size. (>100cm ?)
This is one pseuda which is very much neglected compared to species like L25, L24 and the lots. In certain variants, you can see a nice shiny sheen on the head.
There are several L numbers and variants for this fish..from Rio Tapajos, Xingu etc..

Just some pics of my fella here which is ard 45-50cm.

A variant with golden eyes and reddish finnage

 

[Vitaliy]

Awesome fish and awesome tank, great job!

 

[sandtiger]

HOLY CRAP...thats an awsome fish. Post more pictures of it please!

 

[He_Man_81]

i thought most plecos were pissy and territorial towards each other!!! how did you manage to get that many in a tank, don't they fight?

 

[nick]

i saw one of these as "black adonis" in a lfs the other day for 100 bux for a 6-8in specimen, i can honestly say ive never seen such a beautiful pleco

 

[Miles]

I think my LFS is selling those at 3" as 'common plecos'.. They have a tank with a bunch in them for real cheap, but they dont look like any 'common pleco' I have ever seen, they all look like that.

 

[quix]

i thought most plecos were pissy and territorial towards each other!!! how did you manage to get that many in a tank, don't they fight?

Aggression from plecos is often overhyped in my opinion. Alot depends on individual fish temperament and also the way you decorate the tank and balance achieved by having plecos of differing temperaments and sizes. Most of the time, they will just pick a place for territory and will only engage in some fights n pushes when another fella step into the boundaries. Few will seek trouble for nothing. And many of the big plecos actually do not give a hoot about bullying plecos that are very much smaller than them. I see small 3-4" fellas eating happily by the mouths of fellas that are more than 1foot. But put 10" and 13" together, there will be a good chance of fight. It is also a good thing to avoid having one overly dominant plec over the others, resulting in extreme stress and probs like thinning, refusal to eat, hiding all the time etc. Having a few fierce fellas who can slug it out with each other actually help achieve a balance..kinda like cichlids. At the end , it's all trial and error until u achieve the balance.

Miles, selling as common plecos!!?? go grab one now!!!!

Glad u guys like this fella, many pleco hobbyists do not have much interest in it becos of the lack of colors...

 

[sen_jie]

that is holly nice!!!! u got a potential monster!!!