Para pleco

Care at a glance

Overview

The para pleco is a hardy, good-natured Peckoltia that stays a manageable size and settles into most warm communities. It is solitary by temperament, so keep one to a tank unless you can offer a large footprint with many caves and visual barriers, as adults defend a home stone. It works the bottom by night and is peaceful toward other fish. Feed it as an omnivore: sinking pellets and wafers, blanched vegetables such as courgette, and regular frozen foods like bloodworm and chopped prawn. Give it rockwork and wood to shelter in, and allow a tank of around 250 liters for a single adult.

In the wild

In the wild Peckoltia sabaji lives across the Guiana Shield and lower Amazon, hiding among rocks and crevices in fast, clear, well-oxygenated water over sand and stone. Build its tank around a pile of smooth rounded rocks and driftwood that make caves and shaded gaps, with sand below. Keep the temperature warm at 25 to 29 C and the water in the mildly acidic to neutral band, about pH 6.0 to 7.4, and use strong filtration to keep flow brisk and oxygen high.

Good to know

Peckoltia sabaji is a Loricariidae catfish that reaches around 20 centimeters, cream to gold with neat leopard spotting. It was named for the American ichthyologist Mark Sabaj, who has collected widely in South American rivers. It is a cave spawner of moderate difficulty; a male occupies a tight cave, the female deposits her eggs inside, and he tends them until the fry can fend for themselves. The same fish reaches the trade under several L and LDA codes gathered from different collecting points.

Did you know

One well-marked species keeps several catalogues busy. The para pleco is sold as L075, L124, and LDA02, code names given to fish collected at different points from Guyana down into Brazil, all of them the same catfish.

Tank mates

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

• Owroewefi guianacara

  Guianacara owroewefi

  Freshwater

  5.1 in (13 cm)66 gal (250 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Thinlip sharkminnow barb

  Labiobarbus leptocheilus

  Freshwater

  8.7 in (22 cm)66 gal (250 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
• Festive sharkminnow barb

  Labiobarbus festivus

  Freshwater

  7.9 in (20 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Tiraparae eartheater

  Gymnogeophagus tiraparae

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)66 gal (250 L)61–79°F (16–26°C)
• La Plata eartheater

  Gymnogeophagus australis

  Freshwater

  6.1 in (15.5 cm)66 gal (250 L)61–79°F (16–26°C)

• 

  Immaculate barb

  Systomus immaculatus

  Freshwater

  7.5 in (19 cm)66 gal (250 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Brown dot peckoltia

  Peckoltia oligospila

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)42 gal (160 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Imperial coal pleco

  Peckoltia pankimpuju

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Bola pleco

  Peckoltia bachi

  Freshwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)53 gal (200 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Spotted tiger pleco

  Peckoltia brevis

  Freshwater

  5.1 in (13 cm)42 gal (160 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Candy Striped Pleco (L015)

  Peckoltia vittata

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)30 gal (115 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Orinoco dwarf pleco

  Peckoltia lineola

  Freshwater

  4.3 in (11 cm)29 gal (110 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)