How about this tank ?

Beautiful L204..
You must be taking a lot of care on water parameter in order for L204 to show its nice color.

To clarify, I said that the color deepens, not darkens, and I use bright , full spectrum lights on my freshwater tanks (roughly 4 or 5 watts per US gallon) for the plant's benefit; I provide overhangs of bogwood and plants to filter that light, as in IMO, fish look better swimming though dappled ...

To my experience, P. nigrolineatus (aka a football with fins) showed much deeper and more intense color when I moved it to a larger tank with dark gravel (brown and black plant substrate). Also, Synodontas angelicus went from a dark gray to a deep, velvelty purple in that tank.

Main reason I use ...

Is that true to say, if I want to brighten up the Royal Pleco color and to have clear/well-marked strips, I need a white/lighter shade substrate and background? :?:

Also, the lighting need to be intense and strong, using day-light is the best. I plan to instal a 3 x 55 Watt light bulb to achieve ...

To me, Royal Pleco Xingu Platinum (L027b), is the most beautiful of all.

Is there a rule saying : 1" lenght of pl*co = 3 gallon of water ?

I have never heard of that rule specifically, but all length to gallon rules are bogus. 1) The single biggest factor is water changes. A 100 gallon tank with a fair anmount of fish that gets weekly 25-40 percent water changes will ...

I recently bought one of the Seio pumps. It's very good for distributing the flow, as it advertised. The only drawback? Noise from vibration. The fish and I were both bothered by the noise. I'm going to look at some of the other bracket configurations included with the kit.
Got the SEIO M820 model ...

Star-flog,
I would not say the tank is over filtered at all. Healthy Panaque make more of a mess than probably any other catfish. In fact, the only way I have found to keep their tanks looking somewhat clean is massive mechanical filtration for the "sawdust" they produce. I would strongly recommend ...

You do realize that Royal pl*co's Panaque Nigrolineatus grow to well beyond the 1 foot that is the biggest suitable size for your tank.

You need a tank at least 6-7 foot long, and about 3-4 foot wide, and two foot or more deep. Which is quite a big tank...

They aren't the fastest growers, so you ...

Recently brought a 4ft tank with the sole intention to keep Royals only. The tank size is 4ft x 2ft x 2ft (~ 120 gallon of water)

:idea: Filtration system:
- 1 TOM800 pump to drive the overhead filter (800GPH)
- 1 Eheim 2208 Pro II Canister filter (277GPH)
- 1 TOM400 powerhead for aeration and ...

Hi all,

In the planning stages of setting an old 3' tank that I have downstairs. What type of filter should I be using? Undergravel, outside (hanging off the sire of the tank), cannister or inside sponge filter?

Will be trying a few placos and maybe a few companion fish, planted of course ...

I learnt from another planted tank website. Instead of having separate tank as sump, could we build in an internal sump system back-to-back to the main tank.

For Example:-

Original tank size : 60"(L)x 18"(H)x 24"(W) = 424L/112G

Turn into (with a non-transparent glass partition):-

1) Main Tank ...

You've got a point there, too Durlanger. I think what you are referring to is using the plants inside the sump to soak up the excess nitrates, rather than using another form of chemical media. Just like a pond/plant filter would. Or a Refugium filter would. Please correct me if I've misunderstood ...

Thin shells in mollusks is a sure sign of a calcium deficency. If your water is fairly soft and acidic a snail can lose more calcium to the water than it can replace. There are two ways you can help this problem.

One is to add crushed coral or shells to the tank, this however, will increase the ...

I've 2 apple snail in 2ft Pleco tank and one female layed some eggs about 1" above water level this morning. I hope I would see some small snails in next 2/3 week time?

Also, I do notice that 2 apple snail, the shell is getting thin and soft. What should I do? If not, they'll surely die.....

A sump is an extra tank for added water volume used in conjunction with a "wet-dry filtration system." There are so many methods of doing this. Each manufacturer claims to have the best system, but each one just gets more expensive than the next. It's mostly an open filtration method, meaning it ...

Hi,

Anyone has any experience setting up a sump tank filtering system? whether it is suitable for Pleco tank and what are the benefits ?

For 5ft tank with water volume of 425L/112G, whether should I opt for Eheim external filter OR sump filtering system ?

Thank you.

Yes, with some consideration you can certainly achieve a good layout where the fish can hide and still be visible.

However, bear in mind that fish don't always do what you expect of it. For example, I had a pile of rocks that my gold nugget decided to hid within. I decided to change this into a ...

I think that is what Star-flog is trying to achieve: arranging the wood in such a fashion, such that the pl*cos would feel comfortable whilst they remain somewhat in sight so that you don't have to come home after a long day to stare into an "empty tank". It is not something which is impossible ...

Yes, it's a good recommendation for a 5ft. :lol: Why I didn't think about it? :!:

Actually, I was toying between Eheim 2028 Pro II and Eheim 2250.

This new Eheim Pro III 2080 has some interesting functions but it's very expensive. Hopefully it would come down a little in few month time.. Thank ...

If I plan to a 5ft tank [5ft(L) x 1.5ft(H) x 2.0(W)]with water volume of 425L/112G and plan to keep 2 or 3 loyal Pleco, which Eheim filter model should be consider? :?:

OR buy two smaller Eheim filter intstead of one can do a better job of cleaning the 5ft tank? :?:

Any user experience would be ...

I love L204 & Sturisoma panamense!

And L027C & L046..

I read the article in Shane's world a couple of times and very informative, indeed! Thank You.. :lol:

In Singapore, I would prefer to buy the woods from LFS. Most of the driftwood are Malaysian wood and has been treated (I think). Some fish farm in Singapore sell those driftwood by weight instead ...

Hello Helmut,

Welcome on board, like you I've been searching for a good Pleco's site to join and believe that we all come to the right place, this Planet Catfish Forums.

Since joining this forums in May 22, 2005 (I'm newbie too), I've already learnt a lot by posting all the novice questions ang ...

Certainly, I would try Zucchini/Courgette & Sweet potato this afternoon and hope they'll 'attack' the food as one member mentioned it. :!:

I wouldn't bet on the fish taking to the food immediately. It may take a couple of days of replacing the uneaten food before they pick up on the idea that it ...

I think the book Jools is referring to is the second edition of "Loricariidae, all L-numbers". The first edition has a lot of inaccuracies that the second largely addresses.

Yes, I was.

Jools

Thank You once again Jools, Silurus..

I guess this must be the book: Loricariidae, All L-Numbers ...

I think a river/bogwood tank is a fantastic idea, when I move I may just attempt something similar, keeping all current loving panaque and pekolita sp. It could be set up so that the bogwood provides a few calmer areas for respite. I just got two used 802 powerheads that would just about do the ...

Well, I fully agree with you in regards to specially designed pl*co tank with the end purpose in mind... :foggie:

Actually, I saw a beautiful Royal pl*co (L027C) at my friend's place some week ago. This Royal pl*co is so beautiful, its got the unique gold-line/green combination just 'strike' me ...

~ While trying to get more information on the 'art of driftwood arrangment', actually I found quite little of it! :egrin:

Anyone has got any opinion/source on this subject matter? what I mean is, you arrange the driftwood in such a way that you can see your Pleco easily yet at the same time ...