Caring For Redfin Cactus Pleco, Mango Pleco & Sunshine Pleco

Hey Fellow Fish Keepers!

We hope this past weekend went great for all of you.

A newly arrived batch of rare plecos that many of you have been asking for have finally arrived again over this past weekend.  The L24 Redfin Cactus Pleco, the L47 Mango Pleco and the L14 Sunshine Pleco.

The L024 Pleco is one gorgeous plecostomus with awesome coloration that range between yellow to light green.  These beautiful plecos are known to be a bit more shy and can be seen hiding in their caves or underneath driftwood.  But as each fish differs in personality, this can vary because we’ve kept a number of Redfins and some are more “extroverted” than usual.  As a cousin to the L25 Red Scarlet Pleco, they are just as beautiful but are usually just half the price in comparison to its counterpart.  As with most rare plecos, pH and water conditions need to be kept up very well.  pH of between 6.0-7.4 is required for the Redfin Pleco and good filtration as they are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite.

The L047 Pleco is one fish that isn’t hard to miss when you walk past an aquarium (if it isn’t hiding at least)!  Having a particular lime green body and yellow tipped caudal and dorsal fins makes this plecostomus unique.  Also known as the Magnum Pleco, they can grow up to about 11 inches or so.  They can do well within community fish tanks but ensure that good filtration like with other plecos.  They require good aeration along with natural accents (this fish is wild-caught) such as live plants and driftwood.  pH of 6.5-7.5 will suffice for the Mango Pleco.

The L14 Pleco is easily distinguished by its brightly colored body.  Typically having olive to brown coloration and fins that range from a yellow to orange, it is covered with yellow spots around the dark colored areas of its body.  The Sunshine Pleco (or Goldie/Goldy if you prefer that name) is known to prefer a carnivorous diet.  We typically feed them a variety of foods but they simply love to chow down on live or frozen bloodworms from what we notice.  Algae wafers can also be accepted as long as you don’t spoil it too much on one particular food.  The Sunshine Pleco is known to grow to a large size of up to 16 inches so they are a definite “monster pleco” in comparison to other rare plecos in the hobby (we have 2 large sized ones ourselves).  A pH of 5.0-7.5 will suffice and good filtration is a must!

We hope you find this to be helpful towards your decision in finding the right pleco for your tank.  Whether you’re a beginner to fish keeping or an extreme plecostomus enthusiasts, these beautiful fish are a pleasure to keep and will bring you joy, as the satisfaction of having them outweights the cons of the extra upkeep.

Stay tuned with us on ​Facebook or ​Instagram (or ​Google Plus) for more updates to our fish stock and other fish keeping tips and advice!

Happy Fish Keeping,

Roger Ma
​​Pet Zone Tropical Fish

New Arrivals of Catfish Here At Pet Zone Tropical Fish

We hope all of you are having a good week!

We got in some rare catfishes that many of you monster fish keepers will love!  They don’t come in very often so this is your chance to score on some cool tropical fish that’ll make your other fish keeping friends jealous!

The Lima Shovel-nosed Catfish (Sorubim lima) is one cool fish that we have as a new arrival this week!  Native to the Amazon, this fish is known to eat smaller fish and other

The other rare catfish we have is the Sturgeon Catfish, which some know as the Catfish Zorro (Platystomatichthys sturio).  These guys are still monster fishes but don’t get as huge as the other cats, growing to about 14 inches or so in captivity.