Gold spot sailfin pleco

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

Also known as L001, Joselimaianus sailfin

FreshwaterFish

Gold spot sailfin pleco (Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus) — Mark Barton · CC BY 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 77–84°F (25–29°C)
pH: 6.0–7.4
Adult size: 15.7 in (40 cm)
Minimum tank: 119 gal (450 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Tocantins basin, Brazil
Family: Loricariidae

Overview

Sold as a charming spotted juvenile, this sailfin grows into a big, hardy pleco, so plan around its adult size from the start. Keep it singly; it is peaceful toward tankmates but has no need for others of its kind. It grazes algae and takes sinking wafers, pellets, and vegetables, and a hungry adult will strip a tank of soft plants. It suits roomy community tanks with large, calm fish. Because it reaches around 40 centimeters, give it a big footprint, at least 450 liters, with driftwood and open floor to patrol.

In the wild

It comes from the Tocantins basin in Brazil, cruising slow to moderate stretches of warm lowland river. It is not demanding about water and does well in a large tank with driftwood, open sand, and forgiving mid-range chemistry. Keep it warm at roughly 25 to 29 C with a pH of 6.0 to 7.4, and provide strong filtration to handle the waste a fish this size produces.

Good to know

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus is a loricariid that reaches about 40 centimeters and wears the tall, many-rayed dorsal fin that gives the sailfin plecos their name. Its dark body is covered in gold spots. In the wild these fish dig burrows in riverbanks to spawn, which is very hard to reproduce at home, so aquarium breeding is rare and rated hard.

Did you know

It carries the code L001. When the German aquarium magazine DATZ launched the L-number system for identifying plecos in 1988, this fish was among the very first batch, so it holds the number one slot.

Tank mates

Gold spot sailfin pleco is a peaceful, solitary species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.