Papa panaque

Panaque bathyphilus

Also known as L090, Ojo chico panaque

FreshwaterFish

Papa panaque (Panaque bathyphilus) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 77–84°F (25–29°C)
pH: 6.0–7.4
Adult size: 9.8 in (25 cm)
Minimum tank: 79 gal (300 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Deep channels of the upper Amazon, Peru
Family: Loricariidae

Overview

The papa panaque is a true wood-eating pleco and a big, slow-growing fish, so plan for a single specimen in a large tank with a serious pile of driftwood it can rasp day and night. It is solitary and best kept one to a tank, since adults defend space from their own kind. It lives on the bottom and is peaceful toward tankmates, though its heavy appetite and waste load mean it suits roomy communities with strong filtration rather than delicate nano setups. Alongside wood, offer courgette, sweet potato, and other soft vegetables plus sinking wafers, with meaty foods only as a rare treat. A tank of around 300 liters is a sensible minimum.

In the wild

This species comes from deep, flowing channels of the upper Amazon in Peru, where it works over waterlogged timber in dim, well-oxygenated water. Furnish the tank to match with large bogwood, which is both food and shelter, plus open swimming lanes and subdued lighting. Keep it warm at 25 to 29 C and around pH 6.0 to 7.4, and drive strong current with extra flow so oxygen stays high the way it is in the fast river bed.

Good to know

Panaque bathyphilus is a member of Loricariidae and grows to about 25 centimeters, sometimes more, on a diet dominated by wood. Its species name means depth loving, after the deep river channels it favours, and its small eyes are an adaptation to that dim habitat. Like other large Panaque it is rarely bred in aquaria, and captive spawning is considered hard. The spoon-shaped teeth let it scrape and ingest wood as it feeds.

Did you know

Panaque are among the very few fishes that deliberately gnaw and swallow wood. Research suggests they draw most of their nutrition from the microbes and biofilm coating the timber rather than from digesting the wood itself.