sidguppy wrote:the small eyes, the broad head, the small adipose and the tiny eyes....

I can only see two eyes.

Maybe a half-grown ? It would help if you had a pic showing a side view of it.

I think (the first pleco on that list) would be a good choice. They're reasonably peaceful and you can keep more than one together. Also they're very nice looking and not too expensive (at least here). Of course there are a lot of other possibilities.

I used to have an all-black syno in that size range, but I never did know what species it was.

That's right, and here's proof:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/catfishes

Note that it says: "especially referring to two or more
kinds or species."

Mbuna need hard, alkaline water, which isn't ideal for plecos, but that said, common plecos () are hardy enough to cope with it. Keep in mind their eventual adult size of over 12 inches.

"Catfishes" is used when referring to a lot of different species, as in the phrase "catfishes of the world." This is not incorrect. "Catfishes" = different types of "catfish."

I would think, given how physically inflexible they are, that lima shovelnoses would need a larger tank than most other fish of their length, to be able to turn around properly.

They aren't really predatory by nature (and they aren't very fast). It can't be ruled out altogether, but I think it's unlikely.

It's very interesting to watch their behaviour with corys. Sometimes they seem to "herd" them like a sheepdog.
And when a group of corys dashes up one after the other to swallow air, the Brachyrhamdia will mimic this, but without actually swallowing air, since they have nowhere to store it.

I think it's , in which case foot-long monster is an understatement.

When you click on it on the species page you get a "fatal error." I tried different several species and it happened with all of them.

You might be able to answer a question I have: Why, for some fish (e.g. Synodontis decorus) are only males above a certain size allowed in?

It gets stranger: "only non-albino form of Mesonauta festivus" is allowed. Why?

I thought that, in China, saving the panda from extinction was a matter of national pride, and therefore a high priority.

There's a case for letting the cheetah go extinct. They are inbred to the point where it impairs their fertility, due to a genetic bottleneck sometime in the past.

Chrysichthys - do you not get the "males only" reason yourself? Males can not reproduce without females, so they are "safe". As to why they choose males rather than females, who knows. At least Synos are supposedly easy to sex... ;) [Not that I think S. decora are particularly r...

Why, in some cases (e.g. ) are only males allowed to be imported?

If the I.D. is correct, as it seems to be, Jools might like some pics of your specimen for the Cat-eLog.

I would be surprised if he doesn't like prawns. You could try confusing him by mixing a small amount of bloodworm with a larger amount of minced prawns (or some other food).

I have known euptera to eat the inner flesh of cucumber, pleco-style.

Martin S wrote:

Chrysichthys wrote: Sounds lovely, but sadly way out of my price range at the moment

Me too, unfortunately. No, I don't know the sex, I'll ask next time I'm there.
And yes Mats, sorry about hijacking your thread.

Is he still looking to get more? This is, to my mind, an exceptionally nice one, and very big.
The Maidenhead staff want it to go to a good home. It's the best catfish they have in the shop
right now.

They all looked genuine to me, definitely not the Valentine hybrids, at least. I waited until they were big enough that I could be reasonably sure. There's one oddball hybrid in the tank, but it's not a decora hybrid. Incidentally, they have a beautiful big jaguar cat (L. oncinus) for £65. I seem to...

I think they're the same ones, but they've grown a lot since I was last there and the bigger ones now have the dorsal filaments. I'll let you know how I get on with them and try to post some pics. They were out feeding yesterday, for the first time (that I saw, at least).

But I am wondering if I am missing something key. If I knew what he was maybe I could work that out and make him happy. Do you think he needs a friend of his own kind? I think he's a Synodontis schall . Possibly he just doesn't venture out when the lights are on. You could try adding food to the ta...

I asked the price, and I just couldn't say no - I had to promise to not tell HOW good the price was, but it was a better deal than any of the other three I had bought so far. Coincidentally I bought three juvenile decora that same day at Maidenhead, Wheatley. They're about 5 inches long and cost £2...

You can eat them, here's a recipe for Jamaican-style pleco:

http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/arch ... t-4420html

Borbi wrote:if you nettles is the stuff we in Germany call "Brennessel", then yes, I do feed it

Is that a stinging or non-stinging nettle?

This is suggested in the Wikipedia article on Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps . I know humans can safely eat nettles once they've been boiled, as with nettle soup. Does anybody on Planet Catfish have experience of feeding nettles to plecos, either boiled or raw? There are some other problems with the art...

MrC wrote:"ugly" fish

I prefer the politically correct term "morphologically challenged."

I don't know about catfish affection, but I used to have a which 'hated' me, judging by the number of times I got bitten by it.