Advice on keeping L66

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 09 Feb 2012, 18:05

I am relativly new to the pleco world, but have had success with my common which i bought at an inch long and is now 9 inches long. A few days ago i purchased an inch long L66 for $40. he is my most expencive fish so far and i really want to keep him alive. any advice?

setup
20 gallon tank
Emporer 400 filter
plasic plants and natural plastic ornaments (have never done a planted tank)
gravel bottom
5 Zebra Danios
5 baby Tiger Barbs
4 Panda Corys
1 Eclips catfish
1 L66
1 Bamboo shrimp

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 09 Feb 2012, 21:45

Ornamental plecs like Hypancistrus I consider intermediate mostly because of their cost. They are relatively simple to keep otherwise as long as they are eating, you keep the water clean, and you give them hiding spots (in which they will spend most of their time). For feeding Hypancistrus, I buy Ken's Fish earthworm sticks and spirulina sticks for mine (these can be ordered online).

I would reconsider keeping the Eclipse catfish (assuming it is ), they have a voracious appetite and quickly find food, and may easily outcompete the Hypancistrus. I used to have one, but eventually removed my eclipse catfish when it was able to swallow the algae wafers that I fed to my Panaque entirely whole. These fish also get quite large, and will outgrow the confines of the 20 gallon tank.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 10 Feb 2012, 03:29

the eclips is small for now and eventually he will get moved into my 29 gallon. unfortunitly i have had the l66 for 2 days now and this morning he was kind of swimming a litle wierd. he settled to the bottom and i thought he was fine just hiding out for the day, but i just got home from work and the fish was still there and when poked was dead. do they play dead? note: the pleco is only about an inch long if that, so i would have to assume he is very young. im wondering if shipping him from florida to rhode island was just to much for him. but either way im not very happy. any thoughts? and any ideas on other plecos besides the l66 that stay small and are easy to keep?

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 10 Feb 2012, 03:35

btw, im trying to keep the theme of the tank to things like tiger and zebra, hence the other fish in the tank. so somthing with cool striped or a pattern. i know the L02 tiger plecos stay small. and obviosly a zebra pleco is way out of my grasp. (then again isnt it for most everybody.)

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 10 Feb 2012, 03:37

or lepord spots maybe?

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 10 Feb 2012, 04:16

Plecs do not play dead. If it's not breathing it's dead. Unfortunately, at that size they can be a little more delicate.

There are plenty of striped types of plecs that are fairly easy to keep. Hypancistrus and most Peckoltia would do fine in a 20 gallon.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 10 Feb 2012, 17:09

well thankfully the guy at the shop said that given a water sample that checks out he will just order me another one. i really think that my water is ok and the problem is temperature.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 10 Feb 2012, 18:13

Wow! A nine inch L66 is a goliath.
I thought they usually grew to about six inches in captivity.
I had a dozen wild L66 before the export restrictions were enforced.
Mine thrived on a diet of mainly earth worm sticks, frozen blood worms and the occasional live black worm treat.
This is my standard diet for all my carnivorous leaning Hypancistrus and Peckoltia.
They breed well on this diet.
I have not found water chemistry to be as important as water quality.
I keep all mine at about 84*F and provide plenty of currents, filtration and aeration.

I would recommend a 40 gal breeder for a breeding group of six L66.
I sold my L66. I decided to specialize in the smaller species and L333 is the largest pleco species I keep and breed.
They usually remain between 4-1/2 and 5 inches TL. Like L333, L66 is a pretty good choice as a first Hypancistrus species to try breeding.
They are among those I consider to be the easier species to breed.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 10 Feb 2012, 19:08

my common pleco is 9 inches, the L66 was only about an inch long. i keep hearing about these earthworm sticks, will the L66 not do well on bottom feeder tabs?

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 11 Feb 2012, 04:27

MrGT500 wrote:my common pleco is 9 inches, the L66 was only about an inch long. i keep hearing about these earthworm sticks, will the L66 not do well on bottom feeder tabs?

Your L66 will do well if all it gets are the carnivore food tabs but they also should be fed frozen blood worms regularly.
Earth worm sticks are an especially useful food. I feed my plecos and wild Discus these two foods as their staple diet.
As a fish breeder with diverse interests it is always helpful to be able to rely mainly on only a few types of food which seem to deliver all the fishes required nutritional needs. I go through over 50 pounds of earth worm sticks and 50 pounds of frozen blood worms annually so being able to buy only a few types of fish foods in bulk helps me save a money. I also buy about 40 pounds of live black worms a year and those are expensive. Sadly they are 90% water by weight. These become more expensive with every passing year mainly due to excessively high overnight delivery freight rates. Live foods are often the key to inducing many of the more difficult fish species to breed a bit easier.
Earth worm sticks are useful for feeding new fry to my breeders. Versatility and utility are important factors for many fish breeders

If you ever become a breeder of L66 I think you will learn why I have come to rely on the foods I do.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 11 Feb 2012, 04:41

as much as i would like to i dont have the time or gallonage to breed. i know this is not the forum for it, but how hard are discus to keep? i have heard horror stories and then some say its not as bad as people make it out to be. i have a 20 gallon tank that i would like to put maybe 2 in, but a my 29 with gouramis and angels might be an option.

Suckermouth · Post by **Suckermouth** » 11 Feb 2012, 04:57

MrGT500 wrote:as much as i would like to i dont have the time or gallonage to breed. i know this is not the forum for it, but how hard are discus to keep? i have heard horror stories and then some say its not as bad as people make it out to be. i have a 20 gallon tank that i would like to put maybe 2 in, but a my 29 with gouramis and angels might be an option.

They are easier to keep than they have been in the past, but a 29 gallon isn't big enough for them.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 11 Feb 2012, 05:06

Even the popular 55 gal show tank is not really well suited for Discus.
They are not difficult to keep. In fact, they are quite sturdy and the domestic color varieties are very easy to keep but I recommend using a 75 gal and up for a group of six or more.
Never buy fewer than six Discus.
I use Hypancistrus L333 and Peckoltia compta(L134) extensively in my Discus display tanks as my primary bottom feeders.
L66 are also well suited tank mates for Discus.

Wild Discus are more challenging and I do not recommend them for first time Discus keepers.
I am the admin/moderator of our new "Discover Wild Discus" addition on www.finarama.com forum which previously specialized in wild Angelfish husbandry but many of us keep both.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 11 Feb 2012, 05:23

well i guess that rules them out. the other fish im really interested in is a Synodontis Petricola.

Advice on keeping L66

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