Red fin cactus pleco

Care at a glance

Overview

The red fin cactus pleco is a large, spiny, meat-eating pleco with a temper reserved for its own kind, so keep just one per tank and give it a big cave system of its own. It is calm toward fish it does not compete with, but it defends its patch fiercely against other plecos and bottom dwellers, so choose robust midwater tankmates and nothing that wants the same floor. It patrols the bottom by night. Feed it as a carnivore: sinking meaty foods such as prawn, mussel, bloodworm, and quality carnivore pellets, with only occasional vegetables. Give it heavy rockwork, strong flow, and a tank of around 450 liters.

In the wild

Pseudacanthicus pitanga lives among rocky runs and caves of the Rio Tocantins in Brazil, in warm, clear, flowing water. Build the tank around large, stable stonework that forms caves big enough for an adult, over sand, with open channels swept by current. Keep it warm at 25 to 29 C and around pH 6.0 to 7.4, clean and well oxygenated. Solid, secure rockwork matters, since this is a heavy fish that shoulders decor around as it moves.

Good to know

Pseudacanthicus pitanga is one of the cactus plecos of Loricariidae, so called for the rows of sharp odontodes that make the body rasp like sandpaper. It reaches about 35 centimeters and carries the code L024. The species name pitanga is a Tupi word for red, after the flame-coloured fins. It is a large carnivore, and like others in the genus it is bred only rarely, so captive spawning is rated hard.

Did you know

Pitanga is the Tupi name for the Surinam cherry, a small tropical fruit that ripens to a deep red. The fins of this pleco settle to almost exactly that colour, which is how it came by the name.

Tank mates

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

• Silverspot eartheater

  Geophagus argyrostictus

  Freshwater

  9.4 in (24 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Blue-eyed pleco

  Panaque cochliodon

  Freshwater

  11.8 in (30 cm)119 gal (450 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Dicrozoster eartheater

  Geophagus dicrozoster

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Mekong glass sheatfish

  Kryptopterus limpok

  Freshwater

  11.8 in (30 cm)119 gal (450 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
• Rhino pleco

  Pterygoplichthys scrophus

  Freshwater

  12.6 in (32 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Imperial ranger pleco

  Pterygoplichthys punctatus

  Freshwater

  13 in (33 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Spiny monster pleco

  Pseudacanthicus spinosus

  Freshwater

  11.8 in (30 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Leopard Cactus Pleco (L114)

  Pseudacanthicus cf. leopardus

  Freshwater

  13.8 in (35 cm)106 gal (400 L)81–88°F (27–31°C)
• Scarlet Cactus Pleco (L025)

  Pseudacanthicus pirarara

  Freshwater

  15.7 in (40 cm)119 gal (450 L)79–86°F (26–30°C)

• 

  Caquetá whiptail

  Spatuloricaria caquetae

  Freshwater

  13.8 in (35 cm)106 gal (400 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Red fin thresher pleco

  Aphanotorulus emarginatus

  Freshwater

  13.4 in (34 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Imperial ranger pleco

  Pterygoplichthys punctatus

  Freshwater

  13 in (33 cm)119 gal (450 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)