Looking for advice on L455

[bekateen]

Hi All,

I have a chance to get some

L455

. Can anyone give me some advice on how to care for them (in addition to standard Chaetostoma care)? There is little information about them in the forums, except for early references to some well cared-for specimens and then some queries about ID:

• Chaetostoma sp. L457 - any tips? Pix & vids....
• Unidentified rubber lip pleco
• L455, L456, L457: Are they the same?
• L455 - sexing id

I'd like to replicate this level of care and I'd really like to make a breeding project of them, but I don't want to go in blind.

@Shane? @Lars Jamne? @HaakonH? @Jools? @kamas88?

My first and only prior experience with Chaetostoma did not go well:
Mystery Chaetostoma, impulse buy at PetSmart.

I don't know how much of that failure was due to me or due to the health of the fish on arrival, since I bought them at a chain store and they came in with ich. I learned a lot from that experience, but I don't want to come anywhere close to an equal experience. I'd really like to raise these and provide for them in such a way that they want to spawn (As I always say, "A spawning fish is a healthy & happy fish"). Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Eric

[Shane]

Eric,
I have collected, kept, and even spawned several spp but have never come across this one. As you have already learned make sure the fish are healthy and eating something before you buy them. Chaetostoma ship rough and many individuals simply fail to adapt to captive foods. I strongly suspect that each sp fills a micro habitat and exploits a very specific food source. Why else would we find 3 or even 4 spp living side by side in the same small stream?
-Shane

[bekateen]

@Shane, thanks for the perspective and advice.

If I have one specific concern, it's temperature. Elsewhere, Lars advised me to keep them below 25C. Jools reported keeping them around 25.5C. I don't have a chiller, and I don't really want to go down that road if I can avoid it, so I will place the tank in a room that should never exceed 26C (my thermostatically controlled office at work - a much more stable thermal environment than any of the rooms in my house). Do you think a constant 24-26C temperature will be okay for long-term healthy care and potential future spawning? I realize this is a species-specific question, and since you haven't kept L455, maybe you're not able to speak to it, but any further insights would be appreciated. I regard you as the guru of Chaetostoma.

Cheers, Eric

[Jobro]

Hey Eric,

I have no experience with these species, but with any problematic pleco that has trouble to start eating I would make sure to put some dull plecos in their tank. Panaqolus, Peckoltia or maybe best some simple common BN. The fish usually tend to start eating when they see others do. And the bacterial flora from the BN "stomache" should help them to recover and to adopt faster to artificial foods. Some echinodorus are usually a welcome food to most plecos as well. (Though you might lose the plants in the process )

[Jools]

This species is shipped out of SA by a different route than "chain store chaetos" and is a higher value per fish, so you typically see them in better condition. They are pretty adaptable in my experience, temperature is secondary to DO. They are adaptable feeders too.

Jools

[bekateen]

Thanks Jools for the extra info.

Cheers, Eric

[Shane]

As Jools said DO is probably as or more important. The hard part is that DO and temp are linked in so many ways. One of my issues has been ensuring that devices added to increase DO (such as powerheads) don't accidentally have the opposite effect by raising temp so much that they actually decrease DO. Air driven devices are your friend here.
25C seems warm to me, but keep in mind Jools has kept these and I have not. I try to keep my Chaetostoma tanks under 75F (24C) and find 73F (22.7C) ideal for many spp. My fish room is in the basement and we have a good AC unit so maintaining these temps is not hard for me.
-Shane

[bekateen]

Thanks Shane. Indeed, the relationship between powerheads and water temp is direct, and inversely related to DO. I'll make sure to use air-driven aeration (air stones) rather than powerheads, A grated hood allowing water evaporation may also be my friend in this case, to drive down temperature further. I may have to look for a chiller, but as I said, I'd rather "keep it simple" than make it more complex.

Yeah, I wish I had a basement right about now.

Cheers, Eric

[Shane]

Rather than a chiller, if you are ok with open top, just run a clip on fan blowing over the water surface. Like blowing on a cup of coffee:)
Drawbacks are higher humidity, which may actually be a boon in Stockton, and the need to top off the tank every day or two to compensate for evaporation.
-Shane

[bekateen]

Rather than a chiller, if you are ok with open top, just run a clip on fan blowing over the water surface. Like blowing on a cup of coffee:)

The evaporation is what I have in mind with the open top. Yes a fan would be an easy supplement. Thanks.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

One more question please- How do you sex L455? I've read the males are more colorful than females.
But what about other traits? Are L455 like joropo with the thick fold on males' pelvic fins? Or do they have oversized pelvic fins like L445?

Thanks, Eric

[bekateen]

Dang, just found out supplier is out of L455... I guess not this time.