34 replies to this topic

[Thomas cl]

Hello all
Im writing to ask for some advice.
Im realy interested in Panaqu's and Pleco's i would like to know if you are allowed to keep them if you by them here or is it still algal and if its ok how hard are they to find?
Thank you Thomas

[mrseby]

Hi Thomas
Welcome to the board
I will keep this one as simple as I can ..
Yes you can and many of your LFS have these fish available
Panaques are available but depends on the type you are after, it can be a very expensive buy
I would suggest if you are after some Plecos (types) and you don't state what sort?
Try some of the smaller types like Bristle nose cats. These guys are easy to keep and easy to breed a nice first up cat.
If you also look on the board from time to time you will also find other varieties offered for sale .. Like peppermints, G joselimaianus, sailfins etc etc
Try this website for more info …Enjoy and good luck with you Plecos
www.planetcatfish.com/

[Ash]

Although they are illegal to import, some do make it through and once they are here it is completely legal to buy/sell them, and because some of the more common ones are not too hard to breed they have become common.

If you havent kept any sort of plecos before, i wouldnt recommend the panaques catfish, there is a pair at vebas and they do not come cheap.

[00 MooRRii 00]

Ash i have to disagree.

Panaques are very easy to keep, give the right conditions that is(although they can get large). You are right they do not come cheap though.

e-mail me

compton_nwa@hptmail.com



aint he pretty!

[Ash]

haha they are nice fish though ey, kinda look like a squashed pleco

sorry, i was unaware they were easy to keep, i must be thinking of something else.

[00 MooRRii 00]

Just make sure you have the space and know a bit about em first and they are a peice of cake.

Dont know what you mean by squashed pleco tho, panaques have a high back compared to common plecos

[tangy1]

Hey ASH,
The panaques at verba are they for sale and do they ship to east coast.
kelvin.

[Ash]

Yes they are for sale, not cheap though

we have a 'Pair' for $3,500 if i remember correctly.

If u are still interested, ill check tommorow if we can ship them and ill post it up mate.

[Ash]

i said it was a 'pair', not a breeding pair, and we cannot be sure wether it is or isnt a male and female.

[00 MooRRii 00]

When two fish of the same species are labeled as a 'pair' it usually inclines that the fish are male and female (doesn't incline they have spawned before). They should be labeled as 2 Royals. Don't mean to give you a hard time mate, but that would piss me off buying a 'pair' of fish for 3.5k to find out that they are 2 males or 2 females.

[Ash]

Yeh i see your point, but im not a manager or anything, im just saying what they are labeled as, i unsure of how to sex them anyway.

btw is a 'pair' of shoes gonna be a male and female, haha it just means 2

[00 MooRRii 00]

Can you get male or female shoes?

[Ash]

hahhaha sorry i just had an urge to say something stupid.

[crashfragment]

doesn't a pair of shoes include a right and a left? like alex said...buying a "pair" that conists of two males is like buying two left shoes. who would do that?
-shaun

------------------
signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk
(Jack The Ripper, 1888)

Taken from the only letter believed to be written by Jack The Ripper (and not a fake). It arrived on 16th October addressed to George Lusk, head of the Whitechapel Vigilance commitee. It came with a three inch square cardboard box containing half a human kidney. the letter was marked: From hell...

[Ash]

Yes that is true, imagine paying $3,500 for 2 left shoes

[tangy1]

they are easy to sex the fin between the dorsal and tail cant remember what it is called is longer and thiner on males females are short even when they are very small you can tell. but only on panaques. I have 2 females.
cheers.

[00 MooRRii 00]

Not a bad theory. Sounds logical to me, ive heard that before.

With things like panaques i wouldnt be certain unless you see them breed.

[Ash]

yeh your right, if someone was gonna buy them though, we would make sue that they know they may not be a pair, although we have an idea they are, you can never be 100% sure, like you said, untill they spawn.

[crashfragment]

panaques haven't been bred in a fish tank situation many times. i think to try it you would need the old earthern pond method. there's a scientific paper floating around about the captive breeding of panaque suttonorum (written by Larry Vires i think?), the same info applies to p. nigrolineatus...i know many s.e. asian breeders are using the hormone injection method for nigrolineatus. with panaques being so expensive in this country i think anyone attempting to breed would have to try the natural way. i mean you wouldn't want to inject them with the wrong dose or hormone type and have a fish that cost $500-$1000+ drop dead. i don't know much about hormone injecting so correct me if i'm wrong.
from memory the paper said that panaques breed in a harem, similar to ancistrus sp. 2 females to 1 male? you'd really need money to burn for a breeding attempt.

the adipose fin has nothing to do with sexing panaques. fins are only useful in sexing catfish (and all other fish) when those fins are directly linked to breeding. the fins most likely to be different on males and females are the pelvic and anal fins. since panaques don't breed in the same method as corydoras ( ) these fins are unlikely to be much different on either sex. in general you sex loricariidae by looking at the genital papilla. female's is blunt and round, male's is smaller and pointed. i would say this makes it very difficult to sex panaques because a) it is not known at what size or age this method can be used. this method is only used by comparison...so to tell if the male's papilla is smaller and pointed you need a female to compare it to. how can you be positive the fish you are comparing it to is female? you need to look at several near adult (or adult) panaques to discern the differences. when has anyone in australia seen several near adult panaques in the same tank? not very often due to the hefty price tag i think...
-shaun

Edited by: crashfragment  at: 8/29/03 3:17 pm

[crashfragment]

adult male panaques are likely to have elongated opercular odontodes. once again you have to be sure your looking at an adult and you'll need to have a female for comparison. otherwise how do you tell the male's are longer?
-shaun

------------------
signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk
(Jack The Ripper, 1888)

Taken from the only letter believed to be written by Jack The Ripper. It arrived on 16th October addressed to George Lusk, head of the Whitechapel Vigilance commitee. It came with a three inch square cardboard box containing half a human kidney. the letter was marked: From hell...