The L333 King Tiger pleco belongs to the Hypancistrus family of Loricariidae. Most of the Hypancistrus are omnivores in nature, so feeding them a variety of protein and veg in their diet will keep them happy and thriving.
Sexing
Similar to the L134 plecos, if vent sexing, the males will have a V shaped vent. While the female will be a rounded U.
Another way of sexing between the two genders is via their tail thickness. A male fishes tail will be thick till the very end. The females tail will start off thick but taper off fast and become much thinner, in comparison to the male.
Mature males will be a lot hairier on their pectoral fins as well as having longer odontodes on their side cheeks.
Feeding
As mentioned before, the King Tiger pleco requires an omnivorous diet, but will also greedily accept a bit more protein in their diet. Mature fish will benefit from this, and will help them get into breeding condition.
We use EBO Seafood Softgran and Mussel Softgran to successfully achieve these results.
Some fish don't take to grazing on veggies stuck in a fork and thrown into the tank. For this we use Spirulina Softgran which achieves better results, keeps your water cleaner and less mess to deal with.
Breeding
Our tanks consist of..
1 x Sponge Filter
1 x Internal Filter
A few caves depending on how many fish there are, wood and some slate tiles. Its a very basic set up but we find as long as there are hiding places for the fish and enough room to prevent them from fighting, it works for us. There is plenty of aeration and water circulation coming from both filters which we have found optimal in the breeding process.
Temperature for the tank is 28deg Celsius. Cave sizes used, we make sure the male can go into the back of the cave and not have any part of him sticking out. And at least 1.5x the width of his body. If its too snug the female may not be able to get out and possibly kill her if he's too rough.
Raising Fry
Juveniles start showing their patterns in the early stages of their life and are actually very hardy. We have achieved great results in raising the fry by using the paste range available. Alternating the feeding with Artemia Paste and Spirulina Paste suited us best with a mix of Sealife Proaktiv on other days.
If kept in breeding boxes, be sure to keep them clean and free from uneaten food. It is a small enclosure and can get dirty very quickly. Over stocking the boxes will also cause issues so its best to avoid adding too many in one box.
