We have received fantastic leopard cactus plecos L600. They are german bred ones. One specimen is as beautiful and flawless as the other! We are extremely enthusiastic about the quality of the animals. They are currently 6-8 cm long.
For our customers: the fish have code 26480-L 600-2 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
The cactus plecos (Pseudacanthicus) are popular with owners of large aquariums. L185 originates from the Rio Xingu and is also called Belo Monte Cactus Pleco, because this catfish used to be caught there. We do not know if the species still exists there, or if it was wiped out by the construction of the Belo Monte Dam. This species was never very common in aquaristics. It is said to reach lengths around 40 cm.
For the first time we can now offer some German offspring of this rarity. The fish are at a length of 8-10 cm very dark, almost completely black, colored. Only in the fins you can see some dark spots. Mood conditioned the body coloration can lighten later and numerous black spots cover the whole fish, but one and the same specimen can be colored sometimes like this and sometimes like that even as an adult.
For our customers: the animals have code 26480-L 185-4 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale. Only available in small numbers!
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
The magnificent cactus catfish L273 Titanic, up to 30 cm long, originates from the Rio Tapajós. Its first import in 1998 was a sensation. Interesting about the animals, which are allowed to be exported from Brazil again since some time, is the very individual body pattern. All cactus catfishes are carnivores; towards non-species fishes they are usually peaceful, but against conspecifics they become more and more quarrelsome with increasing age.
This is the main reason why cactus catfishes are still quite rarely bred. The mating behavior is – to put it mildly – very rough and the poor females look like they have been treated with a wire brush after a mating. This heals quickly, but a breeding attempt can be fatal to the female if she is not truly ready to spawn.
We currently have L273 in various sizes in the stock.
For our customers: the animals have code 26480-L 273-2 (5-7 cm), 26480-L 273-4 (9-12 cm), 26480-L 273-7 (18-22 cm) and 26480-L 273-8 (20-25 cm) on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale. Only available in small quantities!
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
This very flat Pseudacanthicus from the Rio Tocantins belongs to the rarest L-catfishes on the market. Even before the export ban by the Brazilian authority IBAMA, which was lifted only recently, the fish came to us only very sporadically. L79 certainly grows over 20 cm long, but exactly how big is unknown. Our animals are currently 10-12 cm long.
The care is not different from other carnivorous Loricariid catfishes. L79 is somewhat shy, but you have to keep a close eye on them if you want to keep several animals together. If there are any incompatibilities, they can hurt each other badly. Otherwise they are very pretty and interesting keepers for a large aquarium.
For our customers: the fish have code 26480-L 079-4 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
Species of Pseudacanthicus are also known under their popular name “cactus catfish”, for the species are very spiny and it is no good idea to catch a larger specimen with bare hands. Some species of Pseudacanthicus can reach one metre in length, but there are other species that grow up only to 25 cm. As a rule one must be aware that Pseudacanthicus become bigger than many other common aquarium fish. Larger specimens are quarrelsome against congeneers and so spacy tanks with a lot of hiding places are needed for Pseudacanthicus. On the other hand there are reports of successful breeding of some species in the aquarium. The fish are typical cave brooders. Male are more robust than females (they have especially a broader and heavier head) and have more spines during breeding season.
One of the most popular Pseudacanthicus is L114 which originates from the middle Rio Negro basin in Brazil. This cactus cat was thought to represent the described species Pseudacanthicus leopardus for a long time. However, the real P. leopardus originates from the border region of Brazil and Guyana. There are only very few catchers of ornamental fish in that region and so we are very proud that we were successful in importing a good number of the real P. leopardus in different sizes now. They were collected in the Takutu river that belongs to the system of the upper Rio Branco.
Compared with L114 the fish are much flatter and have a slighly different coloration.
Almost simultaneously the numbers L114 and LDA7 were given for the same fish in different magazines. Both numbers refer to the Pseudacanthicus from the middle Rio Negro. However, when the „real“ Pseudacanthicus leopardus appeared in the ornamental fish trade, the number LDA7 was used for that fish from then on. Despite this is „technically“ wrong, the number LDA7 as a popular name is very well established among hobbyists for Pseudacanthicus leopardus to distinguish it from the similar L114.
For our customers: the fish have code 26480-LDA 007-3 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply to the wholesale market.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
The L-catfish L 114 is a close relative of Pseudacanthicus leopardus (please see our entrance on LDA 7 for that); currently we have different sizes of the beautiful L 114 in stock, among them (very rarely offered) 25-30 cm long specimens which are almost fully grown and in any case mature and one of the smallest sizes we usually stock, 4-5 cm long specimens. Observing the animals the idea took place to photograph them together to document the astonishing change of coloration that appears in this species during individual grow. We had to be pretty patient until the small fish was in a good position compared with the large one, but finally we succeeded and could make some nice shots.
However, we do not recommend to keep fish of so different sizes together in a long time sight. Despite the large fish was absolutely peaceful even when the small one used the big one´s head as a hiding place one cannot exclude the possibility that big L 114 will feed on very small ones by chance…
For our customers: L 114 have code 26480-L 114 on our stocklist. Currently we have different sizes in stock. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
