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Ok heres a ? for you. Does a bristlenose plec have to have wood it is diet to survive

The first thing i checked was the profile so i got that. Never seen anything around here and unfortunately i can no special order.

well, he takes care of the glass and bottom, but i give him algae wafers too. tried zuchini but he didn't go near it and when i tried to pull it out the next morning it disentigrated into a big mess.

Not atm, we could probably special order them though if I wanted. We have a profile on them here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/pitbullpleco.xml[/link] but you might wanna check out [link=planet catfish for more information on 'em and possibly a picture.

Last edited by FerretFanatic at 05-Dec-2004 09:50

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Forget it. THeres no point of having a plec in a tank that small anyway and right now its being used. I dont think i've ever seen a pitbull pleco any way?? Are there some at your store liana?

The only thing I would even consider would have to be a pit bull...

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Is there any type of plec i could put in a six gallon tank?? Its filter 12x an hour and i might even and another filter for more current??? thanks fish1

Divertan, he will adapt well, just make sure he has plenty of food to eat, like veggie type foods.

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There is always a bigger fish...

I have a nice little striped rubbernose that I call petey, in my 30 gal community tank. the water in there is a constant 76 degrees farenheit, and he seems to be doing just fine. I did have it at 78, but lowered it a bit for petey. He's a pretty cool guy. I'd like to move him to a cooler tank, but that probably won't happen for a while. gets along great with my rasboras and blue dwarf gouramis

Cup_of_Lifenoodles; "and have kept this species personally"
You have kept which of the species? Or you have kept the genus of Chaetostoma?
I've kept both milesi and L-187.

Cup_of_Lifenoodles; "Like all of the genus, these rubbernoses are alost entirely restricted to the streams and basins of the Colomdia."
Wrong! The genus of Chaetostoma are not restricted to the streams and basins of the Columbia. For example; L 276 is from Peru, one unnamed Chaetostoma sp is endemic to the Lake Valencia and its drainages, and L335 comes from the Rio Huallaga drainage and the Rio Yurayacu in Peru, L334 comes from the Rio Yurayacu of Peru, L336 comes from the Rio Utcubamba of Peru, L348 comes from Peru, probably a few more yet. And personally, I believe they will be finding many more in the near future spread out all over the mid and southern regions of SA. As these areas have scarcely been studied about fish.

I said almost, which is true. C. fischeri, aburrensis, alternifasciatum, the aforementioned two, anale, brevilabiatum, among others (the list goes on, I can't bring myself to look more of them up), are endemic to the area. Many more are found within the region, but are not restricted to it.
The other major group of rubbernoses resides in Venezuela.

WOuld a little bit of wood in the tank be fine?? or does it need a lot of it? Does it just suck on the wood or does it really eat it?

it doesnt have to have wood to survive, it will do find without wood.

But it is MUCH better to have wood in the tank.

I started this thread, as there is many differences as well as many different plecos. These differences range from habitat requirements, body decoration, body armor, ect. Hopefully, many people can express their knowledge and experiences here, in an open thread, and thus not get off subject or highjack someone elses thread.

Please feel free to discuss anything about plecos here

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There is always a bigger fish...

I just read an article published about some of these guys from Ingo, it is on Plant Catfish, under the ICOSA (Ingo's catfish of South America) section. In there he states,

"Similarly they shouldn't be kept at too high temperatures (22-25 °C)."

That is just slightly higher than I quoted above, and his statement is about the higher levels of temp. The fish he is talking about is alloacated the L number of L277. He also states where they come from,

"they come from the streams of the Andes in South America"

.

Cup_of_Lifenoodles;

and have kept this species personally

You have kept which of the species? Or you have kept the genus of Chaetostoma?

Cup_of_Lifenoodles;

Like all of the genus, these rubbernoses are alost entirely restricted to the streams and basins of the Colomdia.

Wrong! The genus of Chaetostoma are not restricted to the streams and basins of the Columbia. For example; L 276 is from Peru, one unnamed Chaetostoma sp is endemic to the Lake Valencia and its drainages, and L335 comes from the Rio Huallaga drainage and the Rio Yurayacu in Peru, L334 comes from the Rio Yurayacu of Peru, L336 comes from the Rio Utcubamba of Peru, L348 comes from Peru, probably a few more yet. And personally, I believe they will be finding many more in the near future spread out all over the mid and southern regions of SA. As these areas have scarcely been studied about fish.

Burgess, W.E., circa 1989; "An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes: a preliminary survey of the Siluriformes", interestingly enough, also circulated by TFH.

This is a very good book, but as for talking about new species and such, cannot be used in reference to this discusion. It's last publish date was 1993, and thus does not contain anything about new discoveries since that time.

As for books and literature, I would never knock at them, dis them, or flame them. However, they are only as good as their timeframe they where written in. In other words, new discoveries after that time would not be in them. Thus, the books prior to the discovories, cannot be used in discussions of newly found species of fish.



Last edited by ACIDRAIN at 04-Dec-2004 10:49

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There is always a bigger fish...

Oh, I see. My apologies then, Pete and Marc.

Many fish in the Chaetostoma genus live in and prefer colder water, but there are a few tropical ones. It of course depends on what area they hail from. There are quite a few peaks of 10,000 feet or more in Colombia, each one having coldwater streams, lakes, and/or rivers. Therefore, there are quite a few places that these plecs could be hiding.

Untrue. Most of the peaks along the river valleys produce little runoff, as 10,000 feet above sea level is not nearly high enough to produce ice, therefore, runoff in the region is usually supplied through rain. The river usually flows from the higher altitude southern peaks. While it is true that most rubbernoses live in colder waters than many other trops that we're used to, they are not cold water fish, per say (when was 20 degrees centigrade considered coldwater? All of these fellows are found in the narrow basins stretching up to the llanos in the east (and eventually the Atlantic). The faster, cooler climate of these regions allow rubbers to be kept without heaters, and actually prefer it that way.

EDIT: Spelling and added some content


Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 18-Nov-2004 15:36

I would love to get my hands on a coldwater Chaetostoma. It is unfortunate that few people venture up into their mountain homes, because they would probably be quite popular in the fishkeeping hobby.

Many fish in the Chaetostoma genus live in and prefer colder water, but there are a few tropical ones. It of course depends on what area they hail from. There are quite a few peaks of 10,000 feet or more in Colombia, each one having streams, lakes, and/or rivers. Therefore, there are quite a few places that these plecs could be hiding.

I see.

Last edited by sirbooks at 18-Nov-2004 16:04

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Cup Of Lifenoodles,
"Chaeostomas are definitely down there, and like their waters between 22-25 (est?), but they aren't consistently found in the extrememly cold temperatures you say them to be found in"
Acid didnt say they are all found in cold temperatures, in fact the 2 he posted pictures of he said were the only 2 members of the family (that he knows of) that preferred warmer temps. "Now not all rubber nose plecos are cold water. The thing is, that only 2 of the 40+ described species of Chaetostoma are regularly available to the hobby. And these are the warmer water species, and more correctly tropic species, as they prefer temps in the range of 20-24C. And they are usually reffered to as the green and spotted rubber nose. They are of the species Chaetostoma thomasi."



Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Well, as always in this hobby, you can believe what ever you want to believe.

And vice versa.

But for me, I research, and I read the books and articles. And usually lean towards the belief of them, over what someone just "says" or what some unknown person "says" over the net. And I have stated the research article my info comes from.

I too, have researched (haven't caught up with TFH lately, so I dunno), and have kept this species personally, and looked around the web extensively as well as consulting many books. The aforementioned info on the thomsoniis comes from a manual written about them by Burgess, W.E., circa 1989; "An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes: a preliminary survey of the Siluriformes", interestingly enough, also circulated by TFH.

And, with the estimated 100s of undiscovered and undiscribed species of plecos yet out there, it would be foolish at this time not to think this is true.

I never said there wasn't. Many species of whiptails live in 20 C degree water, as well as Lepto and certain Hemi ancistrids (and many more that I don't personally know of). Chaeostomas are definitely down there, and like their waters between 22-25 (est?), but they aren't consistently found in the extrememly cold temperatures you say them to be found in.


Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 18-Nov-2004 09:49

[font color="#800080"]The environment in South America is quite different from that of North America. I have seen slides and photos in Anthropology classes. The land starts at the ocean at a very low level in the west coast countries, an oceanside plain, and then moves dramatically upwards in elevation into the mountain ranges. About 10,000 feet up there is a plateau, where many people in the countries of peru, argentina, and chile make their homes (the ancient civilizations like the Inca) and todays current populations in cities like Lima, Peru. As you progress further inland, the mountains rise up again, even higher, reaching well into the 20,000+ elevations, then drop off stiffly to the east and become north and become warm tropical jungle as we know it. This is why the countries of Bolivia, Columbia, etc are hot and wet. This continues until again at the east coast of the continent where the semi-arid oceanside plain-plateau area begins again, with the exception of the Yucatan Peninsula, which is essentially, a massive chunk of rock with very little standing water- this is where most of the ancient Mayan Civilizations built their massive pyramids in the jungles of the Yucatan. They also built huge cisterns to capture water, as their are no large rivers in this area, and only a couple small streams.
As Acidrain said- There is definetly many Cold Water mountainous streams and rivers in the higher elevations (10,000+), I mean where do you think the sources of the Amazon, Columbian, and other major rivers come from?
I have also heard of another Coldwater pleco from the Southern Andes region that is a lemony yellowy green color with white speckles and a "sailfin", I do not know the genus, it was profiled in one of the TFH Magazines.
[/font]

Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Well, as always in this hobby, you can believe what ever you want to believe.

But for me, I research, and I read the books and articles. And usually lean towards the belief of them, over what someone just "says" or what some unknown person "says" over the net. And I have stated the research article my info comes from.

And, with the estimated 100s of undiscovered and undiscribed species of plecos yet out there, it would be foolish at this time not to think this is true.

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There is always a bigger fish...