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Clown Pleco (L104/L162)

Panaqolus maccus

The 'Clown Pleco' (L104/L162). A dwarf xylophagous-omnivorous Loricariid (8 cm), highly popular and tenacious. It is loved for its brown/orange 'ringed' pattern and its stubborn habit of munching on huge stumps of wood in the aquarium.

Taxonomy

Class:Actinopteri

Order:Siluriformes

Family:Loricariidae

Subfamily:Ancistrinae

Genus:Panaqolus

Species:Panaqolus maccus

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Water Temperature

23 - 28 °C

pH Value

6.5 - 7.5

Water type

Freshwater

Tank level

Bottom

Adult size

8 cm

Minimum tank volume

>= 100 L

Minimum group

>= 1

2 - 18 dGH

1 - 9 dKH

TDS

40 - 360 ppm

Conductivity

63 - 563 uS/cm

Species description

Geographical Origin and Habitat: Broadly distributed sedentary species in the flooded plains and large inland rivers of Venezuela and Colombia (Orinoco, Rio Apure, and Rio Caroni basins). Its natural home is not sand or bare rock, but the inextricable maze of immense fallen trees ('wood-falls') and submerged roots that slowly decompose in the tea-colored water (tannins) of the flooded forest.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Loricariidae family. For decades labeled as Panaque maccus, today its small stature has placed it in the genus Panaqolus (up to 8 cm / 3.1 inches max in adulthood). It is a 'Nano-Panaque'. Its vital physiological trait is enclosed in its mouth: it flaunts powerful and specialized spoon-shaped teeth, evolved not to chew meat or scrape soft green algae, but exclusively to gnaw, decorticate, and strip bark from soft bacteria-soaked wood. Teardrop shape, very rough dermal armor.

Social Behavior: Extremely lazy and nocturnal, yet of an extremely amiable and peaceful nature. It spends several days totally camouflaged inside the cracks of the wood (its refuge and food at the same time). If there are no other dominant and aggressive bottom-dwelling fish to steal its hiding place, it will exhibit great audacity and will be seen hanging from the trunks even in full light. Slightly intolerant towards other males of its own genus only if the tank has few woods available to mark.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: The outfit of the Clown Pleco is a contrast between mud and autumn. On a thick and gloomy coloration (from dark asphalt brown to coffee black), flow dozens of ring-like bands (often irregular, broken, or faded over time) of a vivid mustard yellow, ochre, or matte sunset orange. The more the fish is stressed, the more the colors will fade into a homogeneous mud gray. Growing up, the orange stripes on the flanks of old specimens tend to fragment, becoming chaotic scribbles. Formidable adult MALES: equipped with veritable bony 'thick furs' of very bristly and long pungent spikes (odontodes) protruding from the rear quarter of the tail (caudal peduncle), from the lateral fins, and like large mustaches from the cheeks; females visibly dilated by the swelling of the belly and totally devoid (or with minimal traces) of the aforementioned pungent hairs of spiny armor.

Care, breeding and tankmates

Aquarium Setup: THE ONLY SUPREME LAW: WOOD. Without massive trunks of real softened wood (Mopani, Bogwood, Mangrove, Peat Bog Wood), your Panaqolus will go into lethal metabolic asphyxiation from occlusion. It is mandatory to stuff the aquarium to the limit of its capacity with these intertwined roots. Abundant dark or peaty water and a not excessively dazzling and blinding light are appreciated, to avoid disorienting it or driving it into perpetual hiding. Do not strip the tank of blind ceramic crevices for safe refuges.

Diet and Feeding: THEY DO NOT EAT ALGAE ON THE GLASS AND THEY ARE NOT CLEANERS. They are Xylophagous-Omnivores. 70% of their diet derives from frantically chewing the dead cellulose of the wood and the microfauna encrusted in it. They will eat your tank producing a cyclopean and ridiculous amount of wood-like excrement similar to sawdust that will clog the filter. IT IS ESSENTIAL to support them at dark twilight by inserting sinking and rigid vegetable tabs for wood-eaters, zucchini (blanched decorticated raw vegetables), sweet potato slices, and sporadically rare fleshy bloodworm pellets to enrich them with protein.

Water Quality: Very robust and permissive, excellent for thoughtful inexperienced amateurs. Extensive and reassuring tolerances: pH tolerated from the light Amazonian acids 6.5 up to the neutral-light basic purified tap water 7.5. Quietly accepts hard or medium-soft urban waters (GH 2-18). Suffers deeply from cold drafts: stable temperature between a cool 23° (73°F) and the warm amateur equatorial tropicals of 28°C (82°F) well-oxygenated (do not exceed). Siphon the sand obsessively, due to the colossal and asphyxiating 'wood shaving-like' droppings from prolonged timber digestion that would devastate nitrites in weak inexperienced novice minuscule biological cycle filters.

Compatibility and Cohabitation: Helpless companion of pacifist community excellence: fantastic inert surface scavenger torpedo unknown bites hidden peaceful in its dark woody armored castle to peaceful serene invisible refuge in perfect mimetic shadow indifferent reassuring down on fish. Supreme glorious combination with fast tetras, peaceful lively reassuring high rasboras, placid large Dwarf Cichlids, adorable slow asocial round Corydoras, or large angelfish, does not tolerate and will stress into depressed retreats frightened and oppressed by hunger and blind competition for holes by asphyxiating hyper-aggressive Loricariids enormous violent rapid frantic sharks nocturnal territorial hunters giant lethal heavy Central American destroyer Cichlids.

Aquarium Breeding: Very prolific, but complex, fascinating amateur amateurs if induced with light water changes reproducing fresh Amazonian winter rainy monsoon floods rich in oxygenated massive cold shower refreshes cold jolts and frightening protein fleshy and very fresh vegetable replenishments (pumpkins warm zucchini and mysis fleshy water worms and blood frozen massive rare bloodworms). The couple will clamp in extremely violent pushes or the absolute blind narrow cylindrical tubular dark ceramic crevice, where the titanic and courageous bearded hairy mini-master hyper-protective tireless dad will wave furious for heroic dehydrated starving weeks defender asphyxiating the heavy large scanty clear yellowish amber eggs and offspring weak defenseless fry until the triumphant exploring exit of the exact microscopic armored clones with gold black adorable laminae prone and instinctively inclined to the blind scraping of the paternal woody trunk for pure essential green microscopic cellulose infusorial ingestion for the live pure saving digestive vital intestine fleeing the tragic lethal malnutrition.

Risks and Diseases: Lethal Rotten Intestinal Occlusion due to lack of wood and timber devastating and asphyxiating starvation of starvation or prolonged asphyxiating liver block if aesthetically barbarically enclosed deprived forced of large real spongy and soft ancient stumps trunks or roots where to bite file chew and digest branches dying atrophied of blocked dryness skeletal and foolish dry empty, and pale gastric suffocation with agonizing asphyxiations of asphyxiating ammonia and putrid filter inhibiting immense droppings or phobias in lethal stress frightened devastating by aggressive immense jail mates that corner its food and cowardly hit its asphyxiated bare illuminated lair with blind led losing the animal due to stress panic hidden heart attack shortening vital atrophy skeletal years and drowning the water lethal asphyxia foolish and wilted.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Broadly distributed sedentary species in the flooded plains and large inland rivers of Venezuela and Colombia (Orinoco, Rio Apure, and Rio Caroni basins). Its natural home is not sand or bare rock, but the inextricable maze of immense fallen trees ('wood-falls') and submerged roots that slowly decompose in the tea-colored water (tannins) of the flooded forest.

Origin

Amazon, Orinoco, and GuianasNorth America

Fish profile

Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Diet: Omnivore
Sex ratio: Harem
Feeding frequency: Twice daily
Bioload: They produce a surprisingly heavy bioload for their small size. Their wood-eating habits create massive amounts of sawdust-like waste. Strong mechanical filtration is an absolute necessity.
Flow: Stagnant
Reproduction: Oviparous
Compatibility & tankmates: They are extremely peaceful toward most community fish. They can be territorial with other bottom dwellers. It is best to avoid housing them with highly aggressive cichlids.
Tank level: Bottom

FishBase

Window to the official scientific data of the species

Data synced on: 06/15/2026

Scientific Parameters & Models

Phylogenetic uniqueness (PD50): 0.5002
Bayesian Length-Weight: a = 0.01549, b = 2.96

Image gallery

Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.

Related species

Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.

Variants and close relatives

Same atlas type, nearby scientific identity, genus, or family.

Adonis Pleco

Acanthicus adonis

Species description

Care, breeding and tankmates

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Origin

Fish profile

Scientific Parameters & Models

Image gallery

Related species

Variants and close relatives

Adonis Pleco

Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus)

Marble Whiptail

Royal Pleco (L190)

Vampire Pleco (L029)

Big-Eyed Ancistrus (L144a)

Red Lizard Catfish (L010a)

Common Bristlenose Pleco

Magdalena Sand Whiptail

Gold Marble Bristlenose (LDA08)

Tentacle Lasiancistrus

Albino Bristlenose Pleco

Common Pleco

Orinoco Twig Catfish

Guahibo Pleco

Giant-eye Otocinclus

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Anubias congensis

Anubias gigantea

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Anubias minima

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Bucephalandra motleyana "Riam Macam"

Bucephalandra motleyana "Braun-rot" ("Serimbu")

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