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Went to my LFS today, and saw a quite large <I>Parancistrus auranticaus</I> (apx. 12 cm, 5 ") and I've wanted this fish ever since I first saw pictures of it. So then, how big do they get? Are they aggressive? Will if fight with my <I>Panaque sp.</I> L-191 which is apx. the same size?

The tank he will be housed in is 250 litre (66 gallons) and is 1 (40") meter long and 50 (20") cm wide.

There are allso three L-260 and two LDA-33, plus some <I>Ancistrus</I> in the same tank. Allso some <I>Corydoras sp.</I>.

What is your advice? Will the tank be ok (or preferdely, good) for him (quite sure its a male)? Will he have problems with the other inhabitants?

BTW, the tank is getting a 2000 l/h powerhead soon for some extra water movement. It allready has a Eheim 2224 biological filter.

So then, how big do they get?

About 30 cm.

Hi!

The fight with the Panaque can sure be an issue, especially after they will have put up some more length...
250 liters is a bit too small for long term housing for these 2 fishes.

By the way what colour does he have?
If he is yellow, I would not bother buying him for an enormous price...
You will make a better deal if you find it much cheaper when grey...
When this fish is the dominant in the tank, he seems to get his yellow colour.
Strong current and good oxygenation....
Cheers
Yann

I think I will buy it. It's grey and costs 400 NOK (57 $, 50 EURO) which i think is reasonable for a plec of this size (gonna try bartering a bit anyways). If a problem develops between the two, I'll simply sell/give away one of them. From what i can understand, neither of these fish grow very fast, and at some point in the next few year, I will aquire a larger tank than the ones (allso have one 85 and one 40 litre tank) i have now, no doubt.

Unless someone advises otherwise, i will buy him tomorrow, but I'll make really sure he is not ill and that he is feeding properly.

don't worry, Parancistrus auranticaus is grow very very slow. 50 EURO is very good price, but Parancistrus auranticaus is not easy to keep, I've one but I never saw him eating any food. he love Strong current and need very good water quality.
my Parancistrus auranticaus :

Hi, tkp

Your "Parancistrus aurantiacus" is the good fish, is very attractive.

Now the color still is Super Golden?

Tkp said to, that fish is the growth slow, can let it look for food to maintain the health is a key point.

I see the input build approximately 30 centimeters.

Parancistrus aurantiacus (Super Golden, 12cm) 50 euros are an extremely good price.

Parancistrus aurantiacus

http://www.aquajapan.com/encyc/catfish/ ... cus_e.html

Bought it today. Got a discount at the store, so i payed 350 NOK, that is 50 $ or 44.5 Euro. As you can see from the pictures i got, he is not "super golden", but from what i understand, if he does really well, his colour will change to something like TKP's <I>aurantiacus</I>. His size is apx. 11 cm (4-5") and looked healthy and well fed. BTW, can someone confirm that this is in fact a <I> Parancistrus aurantiacus</I>?

Pictures:

Hi!

Superb!
He sure looks like a male and seems pretty healthy!
Keep us update in case of colour changes!!!
Cheers
Yann

hi nyc parancistrus.. Wish I have one.. Its quite hard for me to order cuz parancistrus doesnt have an L no. and my supplier doesnt know anything bout plecs. execpt for there L no.

Actually, they sort of have an L-number, L-56. This is not the "official" number for this fish, Aqualog put pictures of P. aurantiacus together with the number L-56. So i suppose that if you order a L-56, there's a good chance that you get a Parancistrus aurantiacus.

Ah i see... Thnx! Ill try

I bought two L 56 two weeks ago. They are about 4 cm long. I´m searching for information about this catfish. Anyone who knows? Links, information etc.

Thanks, Thomas

After all these years is there confirmation that gold and dark aurancistrus is the same fish or not, and whether or not all gold ones are males? Info on these fishes are still confusing

Hi!

Yes it is the same species, and only males show this yellow coloration
Cheers
Yann

Thanks. So I guess the reason there are claims that dark ones never change to gold are probably that only well conditioned males turn gold? Maybe that contributed to the lower of price in recent times?

In this case just at what size do males start to turn gold?