l201 questions

[Perentie1]

I saw this pleco online and was planning to purchase until i came back to my senses. I did some research on them, but i still have a few questions:
1. Do they need driftwood, as i really don't want much? I saw on Planet Catfish that it is optional. I can make some caves for them but other than hiding places, do they need it?
2. Do they have a tendency to rip up/ eat smaller plants, particularly carpets?
3. Will they be able to get enough food with my active rainbows, (and soon) hatchets? I heard that the smaller plecos don't do well when there is a lot of competition for food. But they are nocturnal, so that might help.
That's all i can think of for now,

 

[Gillie]

Hypancistrus species typically lean toward a meaty diet so they don't really need wood for anything more than a hiding place. I feed mine medium carnivore pellets and a few peas twice a week.

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[Perentie1]

what about ripping up plants? i really don't want to spend 60 dollars only to find out that it will tear through my plants?

 

[Bichir Bro]

what about ripping up plants? i really don't want to spend 60 dollars only to find out that it will tear through my plants?

With a meat eating Pleco you're more likely to be dealing with plants being uprooted rather than eaten.
I don't know about the act of literally ripping them, maybe a possibility..(?)

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[Perentie1]

if the roots are established, then will they be easily uprooted?

 

[Mebbid]

Good choice! That's my favorite pleco. I've had mine for 2 years now and he's still a tiny little guy. He has never done any damage to my plants. He was actually the first fish I bought for my tank, only cost me $20 rather than $60 though.

When I feed mine I feed the tank flakes and then bust up a wafer into bits and drop it all over the tank. Either that or use small sinking pellets. He has never had a problem getting food that way with a tank full of praecox rainbows.

 

[Gillie]

if the roots are established, then will they be easily uprooted?

I wouldn't worry about it I have a full grown hypancistrus sp. Lower Xingu and he's never uprooted any plants, even newly added ones.

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[Perentie1]

okay, hopefully the pleco i receive likes the look of carpets (and is healthy).
also, when i looked them up, i saw them as hypancistrus inspector and as a snowball pleco, yet it still had l201?
??? is this a common misconception or something i missed, as last time i looked, hypancistrus sp201 and hypancistrus inspector are different

 

[Mebbid]

The L201 (Orinoco angel) and the Hypancistrus Inspector had the same number until they were eventually differentiated. They look a lot alike so it's not surprising that there is some confusion on which one it is.

 

[Perentie1]

i think i can tell the difference after looking it up.
Do you think i should ask the seller (if online), if they could email a picture just to verify?