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Oh Cup_of_Life....where art thou? I'm doing some shopping for my new 55 and would like a another Hypancistrus for this tank too (I love my L-316 in my 29). Would an L-333 be good. I see that this one gets a little bigger than other Hyapncistrus (bigger might be a little better for my 55). I've also got my eye on the King Tiger and the Queen Arabesque. What would you recommend? This is a SA type set-up with some platies (I know, not SA, but they were about to overrun my 29 ), and some angelfish...fOr now. I'm going to be adding some rams and a school or two of tetras (probably green fire, rummynose, or Cochu's blue).

The pleco would be a future purchase so give me words of wisdom and knowledge oh pleco guru.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

With all that kowtowing, you may as well just make a sacrifice.

If you want a larger Hypancistrus, the king tiger pleco could also suit you well. I've always liked the patterns on these plecos, it's just too bad they still enjoy hiding. It seems to me king tigers are a little bolder than queen arabesque plecs, but this is from observing them in store conditions and doesn't count for much.

If you can provide slightly high (79-ish) water temps along with good current and oxygenation, you should be in good shape to keep most Hypancistrus. Just make sure that tankmates can tolerate these conditions, especially the temperatures. The rummynose would be the best species of the three tetras on your list, and the Cochu's should do okay (but they are often mean, and may go after the angelfish), but I'm not sure the green fire tetras would appreciate the higher temps. It's worth looking into.

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

That is too funny sirbrooks. I'm puckered up here.

Yeah, I'm looking at the temps. So far, my tank is sitting right at 79 and the platies and angels don't seem bothered, and rams definitely like it warm. Good tips on the tetras. I'm also looking at the emperor tetra or possibly some black neons. My heart's not set on the green fire and the blues look better in the pics then they do in the stores. I think the rummies are a definite go...they have them at my LFS, thereby avoiding the shipping issues.

I'm also liking the King Tiger plec. He's a sweet looking fishy. I would like for whatever plec I go with to come out more, but I understand the reclusive nature of the Hypancistrus.....I guess I'm partial to the genus because they stay smaller, and their diet makes them a little less of a "poop factory" than most plecs. My L-316 is messy, but not as messy as other plecs, IME.

On the current in the tank....I have a Penguin 350 HOB and an Eheim ECCO 2233 on my 55. There should be no lack of water movement there. Hopefully, it's adequate....perhaps a little filtration overkill (seeing as how each filter individually is rated for a 75 gallon tank), but I'm a firm believer in plenty of filtration.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Waste amount has only to do with diet. Herbivorous/limnivorous plecs eat all the time, producing more waste, more often.

Ummmm....yeah, that's why I want a Hypancistrus. They're primarily carnivores and theoretically produce less waste than other plecs right??

I'm leaning toward the L-333http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/hypancis/1024_F.PHP or the L-66 http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/hypancis/174_F.PHP

Wow what good looking fishies!

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Be careful of the L333.

Plants are welcome but not neccessary, will sometimes be eaten

From the link. You don't want those plants you worked so hard to arrange to get eaten up. It does say sometimes though...

They are both very cute though!

*Kristin*

It'll be difficult if not impossible to differ between the two numbers. We'll just say; "go with an L-333 group fish". . Happy hypancistrusing.

Thanks Kristin! I did see that the L-333 might eat plants. I would think that with Hypancistrus, being the meat eaters that they are, it would be a stretch (maybe the person that wrote that description just thought their pleco was doing the damage). They just don't seem to care about plants....at least, my L-316 doesn't. I would keep my eye on him, though. The L-333 is supposed to attain 6 inches in length while the L-066 stays a little smaller.

You're probably right Cup, very little diff.....except for $5 in price at Exoticfinds. I think the L-066 was $30 and the L-333 was $35.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."