Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or in the online stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

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Origin: This Plecostomus' ancestors lived in South America, but now they are spawned and raised on a famous fish farm and found in aquariums all over the world.

Maximum Size: This specific Plecostomus can grow to be over 12" long, including their tails.

Behaviors: They're not aggressive. They will usually move around pretty actively during the day, but some of them seem to hide during the day and become more active at night.

But if there is food to be eaten, they become very active looking for it.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include any community fish.

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Temperature: They live well from about 75 to 82 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 78 degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Flakes when very small and Premium Pellet Food when larger.

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Water Conditions: This Plecostomus seems to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

Probably a pH of about 6.5 with moderate hardness is best.

Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 30-gallon aquarium, when they're less than 3" long, but a bigger aquarium is always better.

Allow at least 5-gallons of water for each Plecostomus under 3" long.

They'll eat a huge amount of food and grow very fast.

At about 3" they should be moved into a 60-gallon aquarium.

Once they reach the max size of about 12", they should be moved to an even bigger aquarium of 100-gallons.

Decor: These Catfish don't need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel. Pieces of aquarium-safe driftwood are also nice.

Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

A Penguin 250B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK to start with a few of these Catfish that are less than 3" long.

At 3" long they should be moved into a 60-gallon aquarium with two Penguin 350B Filters.

Eventually they need to live in at least a 100-gallon aquarium with as many Penguin 350B Filters as will fit across the back of that aquarium.

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The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range.

Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: These Plecostomus can live for several years, probably many years, provided they are fed premium food and kept in a very large aquarium with very fresh water.

Gender: As they mature, females presumably become plumper than males.

Breeding: These Plecostomus have been successfully bred in the aquarium hobby.

Popularity: This Plecostomus is common and very popular.

Names: The scientific name is Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps with L-numbers L-083 and L-165. It is sometimes called the "Gibby".

Variations: This Plecostomus lives across across a wide area in the Rio Negro river in northern South America with L-numbers L-083 and L-165, so we expect there are variations.

A golden variation has been developed by fish farmers.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.