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Today I went to my LFS because they had just imported a lot of VC fish from Columbia. I had been waiting for this a couple of weeks because I wanted to pick out Baryancistrus demantoides from the Hemiancistrus subviridis. These two species have previously been in the same lot.

Anyway..... There were no L200 in this import what so ever. The Columbians had none in stock.

One of the shop keepers (Rune) had told me over the phone, so this was no surprice. He told me they had some Hemiancistrus L128. I went to the shop to have a look. L128 is also a species I would like to have, although this was not a suitable time to buy them.

When I went into the shop and actually gazed upen the fish I felt sick. My face went numb and I instantly worried that someone would be the first to pick from the group of 18 LARGE specimens. This was not the right time to buy a new group of suckermouths. This was not the right time to spend a lot of money on something else then I had planned for .... I felt really sick. Physically sick I mean. I gazed upen the rather filthy looking thin and finn rottened specimens who had suffered so horribly in transit, and knew I had no choice. I felt robbed... The money had to be spent. I knew that I wouldn´t feel right if I let the opportunity pass.

Anyway....... I asked Rune to give me a fair price on a group of 4-6. He gave me a reasonable price as always. There is an important difference between buying one and buying four to ten. Also he knows that I don´t complain about my own losses in case fish die the first few days. I always blame myself for killing fish or buying weak fish. I know the risks, and I never blame anyone else for my misjudgments.

I asked Rune to borrow me a plastic tank to study the feminine and masculine features of he fish. About 30 minutes I spent catching and looking at the fish in the plastic container. I am confident I picked out 4 females and two males.

Had I waited to buy L128 I would probably have to settle for sub adults. I then would have to wait for them to become adults. This would have taken about 2-3 years from 6 cm to 16 cm. I don´t have any problem with the waiting, but i rather not wait if I have a choice. That´s why I had to buy the fish that made me sick. The fish were in a rather sorry state as often in VC, but they made me sick because I know how beutiful the are in 6 months.

So we have a good chance of getting to see a few wonderfull pics in a few months

I know how you felt, a group of very intersing fishes (2 m, 4 f) is offered here, (Astaheros calobrensae, a CA eartheater, behaving just as Geophagus) but I don't habve place for them, and no room for another big tank. It really hurts

The fish made you sick?

You're making me sick. There are 12 fish left in the store and I have no way of getting my hands on them.

Congratulations! L128 may be harder to keep than L200, but in my opinion its beauty largely pays the extra effort. Top choice!

The fish are rather sorry looking at the moment, but I will do my best to condition them in a 720 liter. If they survive the first week I think they will be okay. As an extra caution I only bought one of the really large males that measured 16-17cm. The second male I chose was only 14-15 cm. The smaller one might acclimatice better. As I mentioned I feel very confident about the gender of the fish and will try to make them breed some time in the future.

A large female was found dead this morning

I hope the rest of them will be ok, but i don´t feel confident that they will all survive. Buying traumaticed VC fish is risky.

I have bought many plecos on line and only one supplier has proven reliable. My point is that I am used to receiving fish on the edge of death but sometimes the low price gets the better of my judgment. I do my best and grin and bare the inevitable losses.

L128 seem to be about as hardy as L200 or B. demantoides all things being equal. All seem to me more delicate than many other plecos. Too bad California Black Worms are not available because they can get a starved fish eating when they otherwise are too weak to care about trying non-living foods. Getting them eating soon makes all the difference. Then they can handle the de-worming and other treatments that may be necessary better.
They are beautiful fish so I wish you the best in acclimating them.

So try feeding and feeding and feeding as apistomaster said...Personally i have found cucmber to be a very good food to start on plecos that have starved,it is readily accepted and although not very nutritious,it fills the belly quickly for the first time Also bloodworms are a very good start food,although not as readily accepted as cucumber by weak fish...But thats only in my experience with weak and starved plecos...

Thank you for your advice. I have fed them crushed peas, bloodworms, shrimp pellets and bosmider(don´t know the english word). I will give them cucumber too just to be on the safe side.

They don´t look very starved considering that they are wild cought. The fins are very scruffy though and one has a vound on its nosetip.

The English name for family Bosminidae is probably "bosmids", but I'm not 100% sure.

--
Mats

Hi Haavard,

They sound better now than when you first described them. Tattered fins are less worry than hollow bellies.
Once you see signs of healing of their wounds they are likely to be OK.

Theire bellies were a little hollow, but not as bad as I have seen previously in newly imported fish.

You mentioned deworming... I have never dewormed any of my VC fish. Should I deworm them?

A wound at the nose tip isnt something to worry about...It heals fast and well...But if its big you may want to put Melafix for faster healing and to prevent any complications due to the fact that these fish are still weak now...

Hey Haarvard

I have eight L 128 for a couple of years since juveniles. Great choice , these are great fish. I use a JBL product called Tabis, A Shrimp/Krill/spiriluna tablets, then grind in Broccoli heads with mortar and pestle-3 tablets to a couple of little heads, seems to be unresistable .Had one young male come back from death on this-or at least it helped.



[IMG:572:380]http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u3/f ... C_0072.jpg[/img]

Actually got these Nov 2005, at about 4-6 months I guess. Its spring here and am seeing behaviour I haven't seen before. They going to a 600ltr tank next year. I have 2 females and 6 males. Will have to decide if I'm going to reduce the colony.

Good looking fish you got there:)

The first pic. looks more lik an L-200. Maybe it´s just the white balance setting on your camera?

Thats my big female(13cms), she has slowly got more greeny/yellowy, but nowwhere near my L200 in colour tho..

I bougth from the same stock as Haavard. Hemiancistrus sp.128 is one of the most wonderfull loricaridae i think. I bougth 9 of them. I also have a 900 L tank for this fish. That will be ready soon. The fish is going in an other tank today. A 343 L tank with a aquaclear 110 powerhead one FX5 and one Eheim filter (I don't remember the name)



[img:502:376]http://nettakvariet.no/galleri/data/500/hemi_5.jpg[/img]

[img:502:307]http://nettakvariet.no/galleri/data/500/hemi_4.jpg[/img]

[img:503:252]http://nettakvariet.no/galleri/data/500/hemi_2.jpg[/img]

[img:503:413]http://nettakvariet.no/galleri/data/500/hemi_3.jpg[/img]

I must say it again... nice looking fish :D:D

Hi, is that a relative of the snowball pleco? Only it looks alot like the one I've got! How big is it?

The smalest i have is about 10 cm and the biggest one is almost 14cm total lenght. I don't know wath you mean about "Snowball pleco" never hear that name before.

I was told here that there's no such thing as a snowflake pleco and it was a snowball! It is in the Cat-aLog

DAWN, basically any plec with big white spots can be sold as a "snowball plec", but the most common species with this name are , and .

They are related to , but only to subfamily/tribe level.