All fish / Loricariidae

Tapajos Royal Pleco

Panaque armbrusteri

Also known as l027, l-027, l27, royal pleco, tapajos royal pleco, thunder pleco, l027a, l027b, l027c, goldline royal pleco, パナクエ・アームブラステリ, ロイヤルプレコ

A large, heavily armoured suckermouth catfish with a dark grey to greenish body marked with thin light lines, red eyes and lyre-shaped tail tips. It was long sold as L027 before being described in 2010, and keepers value it as a striking, long-lived centrepiece for big Amazonian setups.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

35 cm

Temperature

25 to 30 °C

pH

6 to 7.5

Smallest tank

400 litres

Keep as

Singly, or several in a very large tank with plenty of caves

Diet

Herbivore: bogwood to rasp, plus vegetables such as courgette, cucumber and sweet potato, algae wafers and occasional meaty foods

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 15 years or more

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Brazil: Rio Tapajós, Xingu and Tocantins basins

Breeding

A cave spawner in which the male guards the eggs and fry inside a burrow. It has not been reliably bred in home aquariums, so almost all fish in the trade are wild caught.

Good to know

Grows big, eats wood and produces lots of waste, so you need a large tank and strong filtration. It will fight its own kind and other plecos over caves, and several regional forms are sold under the L027 numbers.