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Not in Colombia they don't. The highest part of the Andes in the country doesn't break 19,000, and in the midwest range of the rubbernose, the Cordillera Occidental, the mountains are a countinuous, unbroken wall of peaks around 12,000 feet high.

There's several mountains in the Andes range that are over 20,000 feet, so I wouldn't be suprised to see streams at half that elevation.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Many of the rubbernosees that come in are, I believe, "millseed" (C. milesi) rubbernoses. These guys are NOT coldwater, and live in the mid-Magdalena river basin, where the temperatures are usually around 21-27 C. Like all of the genus, these rubbernoses are alost entirely restricted to the streams and basins of the Colomdia. Thompsoniis, I believe, are also from the same general vicinity of the milesis, and require temperatures similar to those of their cousins (in fact, they are found in the same locations river-wise). Also, 10,000 feet seems to be pushing it, as most of the mountains feeding in to the river are only about that high, give or take 2 thou. I highly doubt that the fish live right in the mouth of the feed, or even, as some might say, on the ice itself.

I am starting this thread off talking about some of the cold water plecos. What? Cold water plecos? Cold water South American fish? LOL.

First let me say, that we would be foolish to not think there are any cold water fish in South America. They have mountain ranges, and their southern parts have a habitat very simular to that of North America, as they are a simular distance from the equator. And actually they have some of the more harshest winters than North America has ever seen. Most of these areas are scarcely populated and have not really been researched as for fish and such. Many scientists and ichthyologists, actually believe there to be thousands of different new undiscovered species and even families of new fish. Now with that said, it would also be foolish of us to not think that there would be plecos from those environments.

Those that I am talking about today, come from the family Chaetostoma. These fish are better known in the aquarium community as the rubber, or rubber nose plecos. And these even prefer the cooler temps over elevated ones.

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.
Here is the green;


Here is the spotted;


TFH (Tropical Fish Hobbyist) magazine, April 2003, has a great article about these fish. As well several other undescribed species of other families of plecos are stated to have been found there as well. The one of interest here, is those of the Chaetostoma family. As they found males guarding eggs in 13C temp waters of fast flowing streams, at 10,000 feet above sea level. 13C is equal to 55F. Now if this is their high breeding temps, what is the low temps of the region? This I do not know, but imagine it would be quite low.

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