Photo thanks to watfish

Name:
Scientific name: Peckoltia sp. (L080)
Common name: L080
AKA: L number pleco

Country of origin: South America - Brazil

pH: 5.5 – 7.5
Temperature: 23 – 27c
Hardness: 1 – 12 dGH
Water flow: low - standard
Oxygenation: high

Maximum size: 10cm

Diet: They will eat live, frozen or pellet food. They are omnivores, and need a high protein (meat) diet.

They are not good for cleaning algae from glass.

Breeding:
Males: Small teeth-like odontodes on leading pectoral fin rays and back half of fishes; slimmer.
Females: No odontodes; rounder when viewed from above.

They are cave spawners, with the females taking no further care of the offspring once they have spawned. Once the eggs have hatched they are independent of both parents.

They require blackwater (tannins) to spawn, which can be achieved through using Indian Almond Leaves in the tank.

Tank companions:
They are NOT good tank companions with adult shrimp and will eat shrimplets, eggs of shrimp & other species of fish and their fry.

They can be kept with more than one to a tank, providing they have at least one square foot of tank floor each and the layout is visually broken up, with multiple hidey-holes.

They are peaceful with other tankmates, from microfish to many large cichlids.

As with any fish they will eat any fish small enough to fit in their mouths, and equally can be eaten by any fish large enough to eat them. This should be taken into account when choosing tankmates.

Stocking plans can be checked with aqadvisor.com

They are shy fish, not often seen around the tank.

Tank:
They could be kept in a heavily planted tank with floating plants and open areas for swimming. They appreciate a dark substrate. Alternately they could be kept in a biotype - sand, driftwood, lots of tannins. It could alternatively be kept in a tank with very large, round rocks.

Either way they need multiple hidey-holes, possibly by providing caves if the layout of the tank does not provide this.

It lives at the bottom of the tank. Although it is capable of swimming, it spends the majority of its time skimming over the substrate. Because of this it should not be kept in tanks with rough or sharp substrates (such as the AquaOne gravel range, which is made from crushed glass).

They produce a lot of waste for their size along with their messy diet, so need good mechanical and biological filtration, with frequent large water changes.

Ideal plants are: They do not eat or destroy plants if they are well fed, leaving a wide choice.

Confused with: Other L number plecos, particularly L038.

It does not have scales, but have rows of bony plates instead. Medications should be adjusted accordingly, for scaleless fish. Copper based medications should never be used with them, as they are often fatal.

Be careful if tying plants to driftwood not to leave loose loops of cotton or fishing line, as these fish are notorious for being caught in them and killed.

Rather than starting with L-number plecos, which require experience to care for properly and are very expensive, beginners are advised to start with common bristlenoses (Ancistrus sp.), then work up to peppermint bristlenose or orange spot bristlenoses, then L-number plecos.

They have been bred commercially in Germany.

L number plecos are NOT legal imports to Australia as of 21/10/2013:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiv...mport-list.pdf
however they may have been on previous import lists, have entered Australia prior to the implementation of import lists, or been misidentified on importation.

The IUCN Red List reports L080 as a species which has not yet been assessed at 21/10/2013:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search

It is very important not to release any aquarium specimens into our waterways. Any that are not sold or re-homed/ given away, can often be re-sold to aquarium stores. If they are homed in ponds, care should be taken that they cannot escape in run-off into our waterways. Even if fish are native & local they should not be moved from one waterway to another, as this can transfer disease. If they are not local fish, they can both spread disease and either out-compete or eat local fish, shrimp & plants, causing their demise.

It is a good fish for experienced hobbyists:

Relevant threads:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...4-Dwarf-plecos

Discussion on various L-number plecos:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=l080

Diet:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=l080

References:

Planet Catfish:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/...species_id=675

Pleco Planet:
http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1695
http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/sho...t=16706&page=2

Wikipedia – explanation & list of L numbers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-number

Pics & thread with pics:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...fs-L080-plecos

Photo thanks to jha

DE
21/11/2013