Thinking about a Hypostomus (L233) - any advice?

[Mol_PMB]

I was at Pier Aquatics today and an attractive pleco, yellow with black spots caught my eye - in fact there were two, each about 5" SL and possibly one of each sex as one had more odontodes on the pectoral fin spines. After some discussion with Rachael and a quick search on the internet, they're

Hypostomus sp(l233)

. They've been in the shop for a couple of years but for some reason I'd not spotted them before.

Hypostomus L233 at Pier Aquatics

I left empty-handed, as I wanted to do some more research before committing to buying a potentially large fish, but so far I've not gleaned very much from the internet or my books.

Can anyone advise on preferred temperature, diet, aggression etc for this species?
The species datasheet is a little 'thin' but does list a few people with them.

If I did buy one, it would go into my largest (450L) tank which has soft acidic water at about 26C with a continuous drip water-change maintaining excellent quality, and good water circulation from two large external filters and a Gyre wavemaker. Existing bottom-dwellers in there are two 4"

Panaqolus sp(L397)

and about 10 6"

Farlowella vittata

, also a 2"

Pseudacanthicus sp(L427)

. All these are tank-bred, I bought the L427 in March as a tiddler but the others were spawned here. The tank has a very large amount of driftwood and slate giving many hiding places for plecos.

Is there anything incompatible here? I really liked the look of these

Hypostomus sp(l233)

but I don't want to give myself a future headache.

[Mol_PMB]

I wonder if these are the same two fish in Jools's video on the L233 profile page?
https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/im ... e_id=20825

[Jools]

Yes they are. I don't have much experience with this fishes, so I can't add much more than saying that they have a large oral disc, so likely to like a bit of current and probably are adaptable omnivores with a tendency to biofilm grazing.

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks very much, Jools. My big tank certainly provides current and plenty of biofilm as it is stacked full of wood and rocks.
Maybe I'll go back to Pier and get one or both of them...

[Mol_PMB]

I decided to buy a

Hypostomus sp(l233)

in the end. There was only one left in the shop but it's a lovely fish about 6" long and is making itself at home in my big tank.

[bekateen]

Wow! Nice looking!

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks - it's a very handsome fish and I love the spot pattern. It's more consistently patterned than L075

Peckoltia sabaji

, which is the common 'yellow with dark spots' species.

Actually the L233 is very similar in colouration and pattern to my palest of my three L244

Pseudolithoxus dumus

although the L233 is a considerably larger fish.