Care
The Candy Striped Plec is found throughout the middle (Solimaes) and lower Amazon basin, including the Rio Xingu, which is a major tributary. Here these suckermouth catfish inhabit fast-flowing, highly oxygenated waters over a rocky substrate that provides a multitude of dark hiding places.
The aquarium should be mature, with a soft sand or fine rounded gravel substrate and various pieces of smooth rockwork and bogwood arranged to create lots of shady caves and crevices. As plants are not found in any great abundance in the natural habitat, they can be omitted from the aquascape, although a few areas of hardy vegetation (that can cope with current) will make the aquarium look more aesthetically pleasing and will help with water quality. There should be brisk water movement and a high level of oxygenation, perhaps provided by powerheads (in addition to the current generated by the filtration). Small frequent partial water changes will help keep nitrate to a minimum; as a riverine species these fish are rather sensitive to the build up of nitrogenous waste. The Candy Stripe Plec is generally peaceful, but it will show minor territorial aggression towards its own kind if not given enough space. In most instances though, they can be maintained in small groups as long as there is adequate room and enough hiding places to go round. Tankmates could include any small-medium sized peaceful shoaling fish that occupy the mid to upper levels of the water column and which also enjoy the fast-flowing conditions.
This species was erroneously confused with the Clown Plec (Panaque maccus) in older aquarium literature, a similar-looking fish that has very different care requirements.
Feeding
Omnivorous but with a preference for meaty foods. Bloodworm, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis shrimp, and chopped prawns should all be enthusiastically consumed, and these can be supplemented with algae wafers and sinking catfish tablets/pellets along with occasional vegetable matter such as courgette, cucumber, lettuce, squash, spinach, sweet potato etc.
Breeding
Candy Stripe Plecs have been successfully bred in the home aquarium, and this is best achieved with a tank dedicated solely to this species. Provide several small caves that are just bigger than the fish (small pieces of slate stuck together with aquarium-safe silicon are ideal) and perform a series of small partial water changes with cooler water. RO is the best choice, so that the hardness of the water can be reduced slightly too. The female will visit the male's cave and if ready to spawn, she will spend some time in the cave and deposit the eggs. She will then be ousted from the cave, and the male will remain with the eggs, fanning them with his pectoral fins. It is said that spawning can sometimes be a little rough, and sometimes the female will come away with a few minor wounds. The eggs take around 6-7 days to hatch, although this will be temperature dependent. The wrigglers will feed from their yolk sacs for the first week or so, and after that they should be offered suitably sized foodstuffs such as newly hatched baby brineshrimp.
