mega clown pleco (L340)

[papa_bear_21]

I saw one of these guys at the LFS the other day, and thought he was really cool lookin. I have read that they only get 4" long, and have the same diet as my current plecs, so diet is no issue. I guess my question is this, what would be a good price for such an animal? They have him listed for 29.99, and I dont mind paying for a lil guy like that, but I also dont want to get swindled. I am also looking to save money for an angelicus plec, but he's gonna be a little ways down the road.

I appreciate the help in advance,

Bear

 

[theotheragentm]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcatfishp&1185738309

No bids on it yet, but the price tag is higher than you have for yourself.

 

[papa_bear_21]

Are these guys really that hard to find? I've only seen them at the one LFS, and none of the other "chain-type" lfs's. I like them, and they look awesome, I'd love to get one of them...will keep doing my research on them...thank you for the quick response

Bear

 

[Blazeherd2306]

What's the difference between a mega clown pleco and a clown pleco? They both get around the same size...is there a difference in coloration?

 

[papa_bear_21]

I wasnt aware that there was a clown pleco and mega clown pleco...

Did a quick search, and from what I can tell, the clown pleco's (there's 3 titled clown pleco), the color pattern is different. They are more of a black body with whitish stripes. The Mega Clown Pleco is more of a black with brownish stripes...

Mega Clow Pleco

Clown Pleco Panaque cf. maccus

Clown Pleco Panaque sp cf. maccus

Panaque maccus

 

[papa_bear_21]

Well, picked up the L340 for $30 at the LFS about 1 week ago, he was one of 2 left. He's doing great, color looks awesome, he's pretty fat looking, so I know he's been eating. He gets sinking pellets 2 times a day, cucumber most nights, and a frozen worm cube once a week. The other Plec's seem to be doing good as well, even though Spot's (my gibby) color fades in and out. He's done this since we got him, like he's getting stressed or something. None of the others really do this, so I am not sure...

Will try to get some pictures soon, hopefully tonite,

Bear

 

[black hills tj]

pics please

 

[papa_bear_21]

working on that...Camera's been out of service due to batteries for the past week, and he just started coming out of hiding here recently. Hopefully tonite, there will be pictures...one way or another I think there will be pictures...

 

[papa_bear_21]

Well, finally got the camera up and running, as well as my laptop...so here come some pics, they are not the best, as the lighting in the tank is not all that good. Will try to get some better ones tonite, if he's out and about again...

 

[piranha]

I hate to have to tell you this but I paid 7.99 for a clown pleco just like the one in the picture. Don't know if you were ripped off or maybe certain fish cost more in the midwest. I just picked up a rubber-lip pleco that does a great job with algae on the glass. He also grow only to 4 inches.

 

[papa_bear_21]

Not sure, but I know that there are several plec's looking similiar to this one, I discovered them during my research. If I paid too much, its no biggie, I think he's worth it. I saw prices of 55+ for the L340, so I considered 30 a decent price...

 

[black hills tj]

I like the last shot. Neat looking little guy!

 

[Lance M.]

Looks good. I have two clown plecos and they look similar to your pleco but they aren't the same as yours. Yours is "flatter" then mine lol. A lot of times pleco's are miss-marked becuase they can look so similar but are different. I dont see much of mine maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

I love my L333's though. King Tigers are awesome.

 

[papa_bear_21]

I'm beginning to think that I need to start buying 2 pleco's to begin with. It started with my gibbi, as the first one died, and the second one lived. My common, first one died, second one seems to be doing great. Now, my clown has died . I think I know why, as I believe I am experiencing a mini cycle, as my ammonia spiked to 1, and nitrites are beginning to spike. Can not having enough gravel be the cause of this? we did not add any additional gravel when we upgraded to the 55 from the 29, we have some to add tonite when we do a PWC. I know we dont want to do too much at once, as that can only make matters worse, we have a total of 10 pounds I believe to add, which is not enough as of yet. We will continue to slowly add more and more gravel until a good depth is reached. Once we get the tank stable again, we will then begin to decide on our restocking options, as we have lost many fish.

 

[Lance M.]

Yes I would go ahead and add the gravel. When I upgraded to my 54 gallon, I took all the gravel from my 20 gallon, 10 gallon, and 5 gallon along with all the plants so there was no cycle. Sorry to hear you lost your pleco and some fish.

 

[papa_bear_21]

such is life in the aquarium world, I will track down another clown pleco to complete my tank again. or track down the Angelicus pleco we want...we'll see, My Gibbi is getting big, so we gotta watch who we bring home anymore, dont want to over crowd the plecos...we will be adding the gravel during the partial change tonite, hopefully no one gets buried...

We have ~25 pounds in there, going to be adding ~10, putting us to ~35 pounds, will another ~20 pounds be good, or will 15 do? how much gravel is good in a 55 gallon tank?

 

[papa_bear_21]

Gravel added, putting us up to about 35 pounds, roughly a half inch above the black on the bottom of the tank. we will likely add another 20 pounds in the next week...