Black And White Pleco
We ve looked at a few fish here that are common and well priced but the queen arabesque pleco is going to be a more expensive option.
Black and white pleco. They are also a cave dwelling type of pleco and prefer quicker moving currents with high levels of oxygen. The plecostomus catfish or pleco for short is a name used for the catfishes that belong to the loricariidae family. Many of the most attractive pleco have white markings on a black body but this is l236 and it has the reverse.
The underneath side of the fish is lighter in color than the main body. There are currently 8 species within the hypancistrus genus all of which have are colored in black and white. The base color is usually black gray or reddish brown.
They have a pretty neat striped look to them. Part of the reason for that is the color of the fish which helps to make it unique. The snowball pleco helms from the rio negro in venezuela.
They are medium sized so adults usually only grow 8 10 inches long. So while it might be hard to find a zebra pleco l046 you might also like the hypancistrus contradens who instead of striped is white polka dotted. This dwarf pleco is one of the smallest plecostomus on this list.
In total there are more than 150 different species. These started like most black and white hypancistrus with mostly black patterning. Bristlenose plecos are usually black brown olive or grey with light white or yellow spots all over the body.
As a natural colour a white fish is at a severe disadvantage because he is going to be quickly eaten by predators unless he blends in with the natural environment. Some very large wild hypancistrus sp l333 king tiger pleco at countryside aquatics. Here you can see a rubber lip doing work on some black beard algae in a 10 gallon tank youtube video clown pleco.
I believe they grow to only about 4 inches. They blend in extremely well with their natural environment and will sit motionless for hours. They are very attractive dark gray with small white spots.
The zebra pleco for example belongs to the hypancistrus genus. This type of pleco is 1 of 4 different species that make up the leporacanthicus genus. Through years of breeding and picking the whitest or brightest fish we have these.
They are mostly black but with white lines running all over them which look like a maze. The snowball pleco is covered in white or yellow spots. A absolutely stunning fish the hypancistrus sp l236 is a perfect example of how variable plecos can be and how far line breeding can take them.
