Spawning Pseudacanthicus sp. L025, the scarlet cactus pleco

[CanadaPleco]

Pseudacanthicus sp. L025, otherwise known as the scarlet cactus pleco has always been a favorite fish of mine. I was dreaming about having a pair of them since 2001, from when I began this crazy fish keeping odyssey. It's not that easy either, because it's a difficult fish from the point of view of its large size and bad temper. Moreover, as it comes from the Xingú River in Brazil, it's not easy to find several mature individuals. The idea, of course, was to be able to sex them, to obtain a pair with already a dream in the back of my head about a captive spawning! So, from February 2008, I spread the word around me: I'm looking for mature, wild caught L25. Finally, in late August 2008, a friend of mine called. "Listen, I'm in Germany and I have 10 mature L25 right in the front of me… still interested ?", I was asked - my reply was simply, "you bet"! I had, of course, a few questions, did they look healthy? Was it possible to sex them ? And finally: how much? I'm always reluctant to buy fishes without having seen them. Anyway, I decided to trust my friend (who has a certain experience of Loricariidae) and decided to let him choose three individuals for me. In the late afternoon, we met on a motorway near my work, when my friend was on his way back home. The deal was struck and in the same day, the plecos were in my 1600 litre tank at home.

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Please read the full article at Planet Catfish. View full article... (http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=405&title=Spawning+%3Cem%3EPseudacanthicus%3C%2Fem%3E+ sp.+L025%2C+the+scarlet+cactus+pleco)
Written by Christophe Girardet (http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/contributor_articles.php?contributor_id=295)
Photo by Jkhuu (http://www.canadapleco.com/members/jkhuu.html)