Leopard Cactus Pleco (L114)

Geographic Origin and Biotope: Elite armored predator extracted solely from the gloomy, mysterious, and acidic depths of the 'Black-waters' (black waters very rich in dark tannins) of the middle basin of the Rio Negro (Brazilian Amazon). It shuns light in flooded forest areas and in extensive crevices among piles of roots, colossal woody wrecks, and very hot, slow but well-oxygenated waters.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Loricariidae family. Celebrated worldwide as L114, it is part of the deadly and armored family of the Pseudacanthicus (False-Acanthicus). It is an anatomical monster: it easily reaches 25-30 cm (10-12 inches) as an adult and weighs like a solid rock. The entire dermis, head, and back are densely armed with lethal, very hard, and short horny hooks and pungent plates that exactly resemble the thorny bark of a cactus or the scales of a tyrannosaurus. Catching it with silk nets is equivalent to tearing off its beaks causing it atrocious agonies (use smooth plastic tubs). Large and sparse teeth: pure chewer of meat and shells.

Social Behavior: Will claim possession of the aquarium bottom like a despotic dictator if annoyed. Being a large omnivore-carnivore, it has a fiercely solitary, irascible, and brutally aggressive nature towards benthic roommates that threaten its territory or meal. If there is a shortage of dark caves (its inviolable den) it will aggressively and severely mutilate other large Plecostomus with very violent blows of its heavy armor armed with hooked spines and deadly caudal peduncle slaps.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Savage predatory beauty. Background or base of the mighty rocky body is a pale earthy cream, mustard, or light hazelnut. This base is submerged, covered, and entirely tattooed in leopard style by infinite and dense sharp circular asphalt brown / anthracite black spots. The supreme pride, however, lies in the fins (in particular the monstrous caudal fin and the broad sail-like dorsal): they are bordered or massively dyed in a dazzling and bloody neon orange or bright scarlet red (Red-tail). Adult MALES are formidable war machines: frighteningly broader and squarer heads, bristling with massive bristles and an endless proliferation of hairy odontodes and beaks on the gills and flanks; stocky females with a spherical belly but devoid or scarce in supply of long killer spikes.

Tank Setup: Demands monumental respect for large tanks over 150 cm / 500 Liters (130 Gal). A bare bonsai aquarium is murder out of claustrophobic desperation. MANDATORY the massive and stratified use of gigantic, enormous roots of Mopani, Mangrove, or bogwood that release heavy humic acids and tannins to darken the water into a placid 'Blackwater' amber, superimposed on massive slate slabs to form dark immovable prison-dens from which it will launch its nocturnal ambushes. Dim and soft lights.

Feeding and Diet: IT WILL IGNORE ANY VEGETABLE, ALGAE, OR WOOD. Absolutely and categorically CARNIVOROUS OMNIVOROUS. It is a predatory scavenger. Feed it brutally in the evening in the deep dark by throwing colossal wafers and enormous super-protein sinking pellets based on fish/krill meal. Appreciates whole peeled handfuls of thawed supermarket shrimp, thick pieces of raw mussel meat, and rains of whole giant bloodworms (red mosquito larva). It will lethargically ignore green algae, dying of severe and ruthless starvation wasting in atrocious skeletal months.

Water Quality: Manageable difficulty but without chemical errors (it only barely tolerates the ammonia waste produced in excess by its fleshy indigestions). Fierce and mortal lethargic heart-attacking hatred for urban cold intestinal blockage (under 25°C / 77°F it would die constipated). Loves and thrives in the sultry and tropical South American Discus heat: from 26°C (79°F) up to a tolerable asphyxiating in scorching summer oxygen and stable asphyxiating of 30°C (86°F). Requires a very powerful and titanic shaking of the surface and enormous waterfalls of oxygenation. Strongly and inflexibly prefers Amazonian Acid Ph (5.5 to weak neutral city 7.2 soft in GH 1-12 hardness maximum devoid of dry alkaline calcareous stones in the tank).

Compatibility and Cohabitation: The queen species of darkened nocturnal fear and bellicose master but highly compatible if inserted wisely. Excellent cohabitation solely and exclusively with large and slow Discus, imposing Altum Angelfish, and schools of colossal but fast tetras and armored mid-high tank fish. Prohibition and mortal madness and devastating of incautious ignorant stupid novice to mix it (under penalty of killing and dismemberment or infinite lethal mutilating tragic asphyxiating stupid combat) to the harsh irruptions of large aggressive and territorial bestial M'buna African lakes, OR large Acanthicus enormous dark thugs like Panaque loricariidae lethally brawling enormous and dominant territorial static assassins.

Aquarium Reproduction: Prodigious reproducible and elite esoteric asphyxiating species if stimulated professionally with monstrous stable pale fleshy fattenings of mysis and stabling shrimp and rains of cold osmotic rainwater bitter of phobic Amazonian monsoon unnoticed. The powerful macho will angrily blindly bar the immense clay cave blindly blocking the harmless and deaf and foolish harmless female for deposition of enormous gigantic soft and silly bitter golden amber spherical grapes, to bleed himself without eating and drive away fanning like a mad homicidal ascetic devastating foolish starving asphyxiating the brood of little monsters already zebra-striped armed with beaks asphyxiating pale but lethally prone to static malnutrition starvation if harmless foolish harmless silly and astonishing life harmless lethargic asphyxiating bitter pulverized fleshy food does not brush the little mouths.

Risks and Diseases: Lethal Rotten Intestinal Occlusion for carnivorous lack and deprivation and fake asphyxiating mortal false diet of asphyxiating spirulina algae asphyxiating occlusive chronic atrophying paralyzing muscular fatal moribund lethargic asphyxiating gastric soft harmless silly silly asphyxiating harmless in cold bitter deaf lethal winter 23° (73°F) mute silly lethargic bitter pain and amazing cowardice ignorant indifferent bitter. Lethal mechanical traumas mortal wounds if the donkey master asphyxiating lethargic devastating uses classic green canvas nets: the cactus beaks will get desperately tangled blocking asphyxiating devastating the fish breaking its teeth nails soft pale silly causing fatal cardiac stress of highly painful forced liberation (use smooth plastic catch bags without porous net soft silly and amazing stupid soft amazing deaf silly soft asphyxiating).