My Pterygoplichthys Parnaibae (?)

[Miles Green]

Hello everybody,
I'm new to the forum and new to fishkeeping, but i'm really loving this new-to-me hobby.

One of my fish is a Pterygoplichthys Parnaibae. I posted on the fishlore forum to get an ID here, do you agree with the ID? There are 2 pictures when you follow the link. I think it's a boy...

The tank is set up as a planted blackwater south-american tank, with RO water pre-treated with peat granules, 26 degrees celcius, fully cycled with nitrates between 15 and 20 ppm. dGH=7 and dKH=5 pH pH=6.8 according to the test sticks. I add discus trace, discus buffer, seachem prime, DIY CO2 and liquid fertilizer. I've added active carbon filtration too as it keeps the water clear (yet tinted). I removed the peat for a while and all the fish seemed not to apreciate the change, so back in it went. The 2 fiters i use are rated for 200 liters combined.

I have a cave, 3 pieces of driftwood and 8 live plants in there for him, and 8 tetras, 6 cherry barbs, 2 panda corys and a male betta, all still juvenies. The tank will be getting a big upgrade at the end of the summer, going from a currently cramped 60 litre to a 350 litre.

He is doing very well, he's grown about 4 cm since i got him in May, he's 11 cm now. He's very active at night, but also in the day. Most plecos i have seen are much less active in the tank. I'd like to know more about the behaviour and diet of the Parnaibae, as i can't find anything specific online. He likes his pleco disks, and his cuccumber. He's good at eating algae too - i don't have any, except where he can't reach. He'll eat his cuccumber from my hand. When i feed the other fish (floating fish-based food), he'll swim up to the surface, doing a backstoke, and suck in some of their food. He's cool to watch, but i haven't seen other plecos do that, should he be eating fish-based food? Is he more omnivoorous than other pleco species?

Thank you for reading and any info you can give me on my pleco!

Miles

[Jools]

It's

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

.

Jools