L-25 Scarlet Pleco feeding 12/9/07 Hello WWM crew, As always, greatly appreciate the services you guys/gals do. Very respectful. Anyhoo, quick question. I'm picking up a L-25 Scarlet Pleco for my 170 gallon tank soon and have read that they required meaty foods. The thing is, on another catfish site, it is stated that the meaty foods should be fully cooked, mainly mussels and shrimp/prawns. Is this correct? Or should I just blanch or feed it raw to them? My plan was to feed them Hikari Algae wafers, raw vegetables, and shrimp/mussels. Sounds like a good diet for these fellas? Thanks a lot in advance. Andy. <Hello Andy. First off, thanks for the kind words. And may I just say that Pseudacanthicus sp. 'Scarlet Plec' is a superb fish. Big Loricariids are terrific pets, and looked after properly last for decades. Now, Pseudacanthicus generally are less exclusively herbivorous than, say, Hypostomus or Panaque spp. So yes, you need to offer this fish a mixed diet. Alternating one night with the use of algae wafers with the next night offering meaty foods such as shelled mussels and unshelled prawns sliced longitudinally so they can happily scrape out the innards (even my Panaque loves these!). Mussels are cheap but highly nutritious, containing a gut-full of algae that provides additional vitamins and minerals, so make a very useful staple. If you can't buy them in your local supermarket, most Asian food markets will have them. Small Pseudacanthicus enjoy bloodworms. Pseudacanthicus tend to be a bit indifferent to vegetables, but by all means try things like courgette (zucchini), sweet potato, and tinned peas. Cucumber and lettuce are often recommended and eagerly eaten by Plecs generally, but have zero nutritional value. I'd also offer bogwood in the aquarium; while only Panaque seem to digest the stuff, most Plecs seem to consume a certain amount as a kind of dietary fibre. I hope this helps, Neale.>
Re: L-25 Scarlet Pleco feeding 12/9/07 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Once again, thank you very much for the useful info., but there is a point you missed from my question :) Should the meaty foods be offered raw, slightly blanched, or fully cooked? Another popular catfish site stated to offer all meaty foods fully cooked. What do you think? Feeding fully cooked prawns to the fish doesn't make much sense to me. Fully cooked mussels on the half shell is widely available here in CA. Are these ok? Please let me know. Anyhoo, thanks a lot for the info. Always good to learn more. Thank you very much and have a save and happy holiday season. Andy <Andy, glad the message was useful. Seafood can be used either cooked or raw. It doesn't matter. The main thing is (I hope obviously!) that it hasn't been cooked in some sort of sauce or fat. So plain boiled mussels and prawns, like you'd find at most grocery stores, are fine. My prawns in tomato sauce or mussels in garlic butter would be bad! The main thing is you don't overfeed your fish, and depending on the size of your catfish, chop the seafood up accordingly. An inch-long mussel or portion of a larger item of seafood should be ample for one day's meal for a foot-long catfish. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: L-25 Scarlet Pleco feeding, now sys. 12/9/07 Neale, Sorry for the multiple replies, but I forgot one quick question. My tank dimension is approximately 60"L x 24.5"D x 27"H, give and take a few. <Around 168 US gallons. Anyhoo, I have three Fluval 405 canisters evenly spread out along the back side (Length) of the tank. Do you think this is enough circulation for this type of Pseudacanthicus sp. (Scarlet Pleco) coming from the Rio Xingú? <Should be fine. Fluval 405 filters have a turnover of 340 gallons per hour (when empty of media and place at the same level as the aquarium, not under it, anyway). So 4 filters gives you a turnover of 1,360 GPH. That's about 8 times the volume of the tank. Comfortably in the "safe zone".> I was thinking about adding the Vortech MP40W powerhead to one end of the tank to create a river condition. <Not a bad idea at all. Loricariids appreciate extra water flow, especially those from major river systems. In addition, you do have the extra problem of Xingu fish needing slightly warmer water than other fish, while being less tolerant of poor oxygen concentration. While no filter or pump can compensate for overstocking, the more circulation, the better.> Or is it even necessary in my case? <Depends on the size of the fish and the stocking level of the tank. You should be fine with just the canister filters, but adding a powerhead or two is a cheap and effective way to improve conditions if you find water quality is good but the fish is still lethargic or otherwise unhappy. This said, Pseudacanthicus have proven to be adaptable, and provided your retailer has acclimated the fish to local conditions and "taken the hit" in terms of fish that didn't tolerate shipping, a well-fed, lively specimen is a sound investment and should do very well.> Thanks a lot once again. Sorry to be such a bother. Andy <Happy to help, Neale.>

L-025, the Scarlet Plec - 02/22/2004 Hi! <Hello!  Sabrina with you, today.> I just read your article and found they information very useful and the article well written. I just want to ask you if you know anything about Pseudacanthicus sp. (L025) if you do I would appreciate to know it, since you didn't mention that order. <Actually, there is a great deal of information on this fish here:   http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/pseudaca/188_f.php .  This is quickly becoming a popular Plec.> Will it be possible to keep a male and perhaps a couple of females in the same tank, if I provide plenty of hiding places and good feeding? <Mm, I suppose this would depend highly upon how large the tank is, especially considering the mature size of this fish.  Unless you plan on a very large aquarium, I would not try more than a pair - male and female - of them.  They can tend to be rather aggressive.> I will probably get the fishes directly from Brazil in a month. You suggest that I feed them with some anti parasitic Tetra product against the gills worm (its actually a crustacean). <Well, unfortunately, Tetra has discontinued their medicinal food line in the US.  Might still be available in Canada.  One source for medicated flake:  http://www.flguppiesplus.com/_wsn/page3.html .  Otherwise, you can consult certain fish health texts for dosages of how much of what to mix into foods.> About choosing healthy fish or getting ones I think is beautiful. I just have to wish for the best, since I don't have the opportunity to overlook the Indians. <I wish you the best, and hope you end up with some nice fish!  Do please quarantine the fish, and be sure to get them eating immediately to ensure survival.  Meaty foods, like supermarket shrimp/prawn, or frozen prepared foods like bloodworms or Ocean Nutrition's Formula One will do quite well.  It is not terribly difficult (but it is stinky!) to make your own frozen concoction using market fish, shrimp, etc., and if necessary, you can implement medication this way.> Even if you don't have time to answer my questions, I will think that your article have the basics covered enough for me to figure the rest out eventually :-)  Kind regards,  Jonas Thank you for your kind words - we are very glad Bob's article was of such great use to you.  Pleased to be of service,  -Sabrina>