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The
Royal Pleco
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Scientific
name: Panaque nigrolineatus
Minimal tank size: 55 gallons Max growth: 18 inches to 2+ feet Special requirements: Requires driftwood and algae wafers for long-term health. This fish is a shit factory. |
I originally kept my royal pleco in a ten gallon tank.
At the left, you can see him gnawing on the piece of driftwood in the ten gallon. After one month, my little Penguin filter was overflowing due to all the pleco waste as well as wood shavings. And I had installed a new cartridge and cleaned the filter the very day I put him in the tank.
Though royal plecos are slow growers, I'd never recommend keeping one in a ten gallon for the sheer volume of waste produced by these fish alone. Your best bet would be a 55 gallon or larger.
Royal plecos are much more interesting, body pattern-wise, than the common variety. They are also much more expensive. I purchased mine at 2 inches from a pet franchise. The price tag was $20.
These guys also get huge, larger even than the common variety. As said above, they are slow growers and can be kept in smaller tanks when young. In Hong Kong fish markets, one can see these fish at nearly 2 feet in length. However, most will never come close to reaching this incredible size.
One interesting tidbit is their red eyes that sometimes blink at you while you're watching the fish graze driftwood or algae.
