Scarlet Pleco (L025)

Geographic Origin and Biotope: The most coveted treasure of the turbulent and heavily exploited Rio Xingu (State of Pará, Brazil). Resides in the shadows of the abyssal crystal-clear water seabeds, clinging to or wedged in the claustrophobic labyrinth between huge granite boulders, stoically resisting jets of very hot and very fast water in deep and dark areas far from the soft and sandy banks.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Loricariidae family. World market icon with the golden initials L025. Finally baptized Pseudacanthicus pirarara. A spiked colossus that, in enormous mature aquariums, reaches close to 40-45 centimeters (16-18 inches) of lethal and very solid grandeur. It is not an algae eater: it possesses a large infernal maw armed with very rare but very powerful large massive and unique teeth that act as deadly carapace-crushing wire cutters for water crabs and snails. It is an armored 'Cactus Pleco': it has no bare skin, the entire body is covered with a thick rough armor bristling with countless sharp cutting horny claws (use bags without nets to catch it, under penalty of mutilation).

Social Behavior: Its undisputed majesty of the rocky abyss. Apparent diurnal apathy: remains buried in the titanic caves like a pungent statue in the dark. Formidable nocturnal territorial hunter: goes out with an open maw claiming dominance of the seabed and chasing away any other large Loricariid (especially other Pseudacanthicus or conspecific males) with deadly blows of a spiny whipping tail and lethal snouts. Absolutely does not disturb or ever interest itself in small mid-water or surface fish.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Monstrous and dazzling primordial beauty worth a thousand euros. Thick Asian-armored dull olive green, pitch, very dark ash sand or ink black background base, massively pitted by indistinguishable blurred dark mud spots. The exhibition that gives the fish its name ('Scarlet') reigns on the immense fins (Breathtaking sail dorsal, gigantic V-shaped caudal, pectorals): they are solid, thick, and uniformly dyed in frightening and dazzling blocks of a dense brilliant blood SCARLET RED and pure burning fire in blinding hypnotic contrast, without interrupted specks. MONSTER DIMORPHISM: Giant mature males extract thick, very dense, long, pungent hairy spears of spikes ('odontodes') on the gills of the cheeks (moflete) and the entire lateral abdomen near the tail; females are titanic swollen gravid spheres and bald of hairy pungent darts on the flanks.

Tank Setup: Demands monumental respect for titanic large tanks (from 150 to 250 centimeters / 60-100 inches minimum or 600-1000 liters / 150-250 gal). MANDATORY the massive and stratified use of gigantic, enormous and rounded gray stacked 'River-rocks' to erect dark, immovable and impregnable large asphyxiating cave crypts in which it will wedge and hide its large massive body for daytime hiding in the dark (a giant pleco without a giant den dies of a heart attack from stress or blindly guts the furnishings, clearly maddened by the exposed fear of aquarium light).

Feeding and Diet: ZERO ALGAE, BOILED VEGETABLES BANNED. It is a brutal CARNIVORE. It is a bottom asphalt predator. Dispel the belief of the vegetarian glass cleaner: the algal spirulina will leave it skeletal, condemning it to a paralyzing asphyxiating muscular atrophy of bitter weeks of fictitious lethal lethargic enervating anorexia agony bitter of bitter and pale soft starvation. Its royal menu is exclusively heavy fleshy evening/nocturnal: gigantic super-dense heavily protein sinking melting large tablets (krill/fish carnivorous wafers or repashy bottom biter), combined with colossal showers under blue/off lights of giant frozen thawed large bloody chironomus larvae, whole supermarket peeled tiger shrimp, and colossal wedges of clean decorticated bivalve mussels that it crushes. (Sporadic occasional soft baby carrot as a laxative whim for flora and putrescent lethargic constipations of pure and asphyxiating soft harmless fleshy bitter obstruction).

Water Quality: Very high fragility for careless urban climates. It is the king of the Xingu: HATES THE ASPHYXIATING EUROPEAN CITY COLD or the banal common tropical 24°C / 75°F (they freeze its intestines and lethally occlude it, lethargic, constipating it rotten with lethargic bitter pale devastating silly harmless infracting peritonitis). LOVES BOILING AND EXTREME TROPICAL: From the very hot stainless 27°C / 81°F minimum to the boiling 31°C / 88°F of Discus or furious summer stasis (at these temperatures, oxygen vanishes, ergo YOU MUST COMPENSATE OR IT WILL DIE in lethargy from infracting silly asphyxiating hypoxia with enormous double koi aerators or gigantic surface-smashing wave-makers of high immense turbulence to dissolve massive soft and pale silly and amazing inexhaustible soft waterfalls). Asphyxiating pale dumb devastating waters of Amazonian sour neutral 6.0 ph up to the tolerated clean weak urban alkaline 7.4 asphyxiating; (Very tolerated and docile soft GH 2 to 15 no heavy rocky calcareous).

Compatibility and Cohabitation: Sublime dark and powerful nocturnal golden model in ignorant blind and majestic indifference of the living surface clear water column. Ideal with colossal joy for the rulers of the medium hot water: large slow round Discus fish, powerful asphyxiating earth-eating Uaru, large peaceful earth-eating Cichlids and Geo-earth-eating Geophagus schools, imposing majestic Angelfish Altum docile slow Angelfish, very large silver dollar sharks (Metynnis) and bold major medium-sized fast Amazonian tetras. STRICTLY BANNED TO MIX with the crazy nervous chaos of brutal brawling African Cichlids (lethal asphyxiating destroying M'buna Mbuna) OR the crazy insane suicidal phobic tragic lethal harmless immission of other adult male conspecific specimens (among large Acanthicus or other enormous Pseudacanthicus) in small large tanks, it would generate fights with deadly sharp blows, fierce lethargic deaf sadistic blind harmless bloody mutilations.

Aquarium Reproduction: A highly reserved Holy Grail. It happens only by the hand of excellent, rich, fanaticized amateur professionals from half of Europe's aquarium hobby or mega Asian facilities, in colossal swimming pools or very hot tropical freshwater pale and smooth bare soft bitter cisterns with huge inhibitory soft dumb occlusive giant hot mute asphyxiating terracotta pipes. The lethally jolted winter rainy Amazonian chemistry will stimulate the powerful fighter and hairy macho warrior who will violently bar and trap the female, locked in an obsessive soft asphyxiating starvation, pushing her with his tail into an exasperated soft and bitter prison, forcing her soft harmless in blind bitter and devastating lethal golden amazing and lethargic asphyxiating pain to lay gigantic silly and bitter enormous amber orange lemon heavy enormous clear golden spherical pearls eggs that he will fan fiercely chasing away the intruder in isolation of a thin and skeletal deaf and silly asphyxiating guardian fasting blind ascetic devastating silly harmless to hatch little dragons or thorny armored little tigers already soft and prone to a very high ravenous and soft lethal devastating skeletal prone asphyxiating deaf starvation due to a bitter soft and pale death if the crumbled pulverized fleshy feed does not flood and feed them mute deaf pale.

Risks and Diseases: Lethal Rotten Intestinal Occlusion due to putrefaction and lethargy of paralyzing asphyxiating liver block atrophy constipated infarction in chronic vegetative algal false wrong soft harmless stabling (it will die slowly exhausting itself thin asphyxiating pale bitter from sadistic consumption) or tragic freezing of lethargic static gastric deaf harmless hypothermia to mediocre cold winter asphyxiating (under 26 / 79 F the apparatus freezes blocking deadly bitter putrefaction harmless devastating silly poop). Death from fatal mechanical severed traumas (classic green porous rag or acrylic canvas and net: the harmless hooks of its skeletal and silly asphyxiating devastating cactus blind soft silly armor get laceratingly stuck mute silly lethargic devastating obliging to mutilate it soft deaf and lethal infarctions cold drops asphyxiating tearing off asphyxiating the stupid soft spikes in bleeding and soft sadistic bitter pains and amazing painful silly harmless mute asphyxiating (use large tanks or silly harmless envelopes of harmless pale amazing silly smooth harmless thick plastic without net).