"Whiteness" of L333

[wllm33]

so if we see some white pleco being sold at lfs which owner says is L333, should grab it , or it is white only when small, and when grow big, will become greyish.
think L333 only looks good because they are black/white which mimics the L046 pattern, probably a poor cousin of the latter.

btw, since we are on the subject, which is whiter, the L333 OR L066?
thanks.

[celticfish]

You walk into the middle of town during high noon.
So I whisk you away to a new thread of your own.

While they usual specimens can have a yelow base to greyaish base, both can throw out very white specimens.
These I suppose are sorted out and sent to countries where the exporters geta "premium".
As both can throw out very white specimens your question of which is whiter is hard to answer.

Males of L066 tend to get "darker" due to the black lines growing wider.
Thus giving the getting darker impression.

This is one of the very reason L046 is placed in high regard.
Their white is "true" on every specimen.

PS - do mind the SMS lingo

[CHOO]

I believe only true black and white colour through young til adult are only L173 and L46. Saw some young L333 and L66 to have little white strips til adult, but overall black or so call grey colour more than white.

[wllm33]

so can i assume that if the pleco is labelled L173, then it will be true white till adult stage, whereas the main problem with the pattern for the L333 and the L066 is more of more black when mature, than the base colour becoming yellowish.

so if i see either one of the 333 or the 66 being sold ( the juveniles), if very white i should get it if the black lines are not so prominent, since it seems that the main issue when matures is the fish becomes "blacker"overall?

would appreciate opinion on this?
thanks.

[genes]

Be mindful when looking at L173. Many nicely patterned black/white hypancistrus can be wrongly ID as L173. Take for example, last year's L173 shipment locally which turned out to be some lower xingu species.

Do some research on L173 before you commit because the price between a L333/L66/lower xingu to a L173 is huge!

Check here for L173 pictures.
http://www.l173.de/

[drakeho]

I do come across some very nice black and white L66 and L333 before but nothing come close to 46 and 173 . Maybe also we are also not expose to those super white L66 in our local market before as all this goes to the land of the rising sun .
Maybe Genes can shed some light on this . Is it true that the pleco in Japan are very much better looking ? In term of L66 and L333
Lastly to be 100% sure you only want a pure black and white pleco , the L46 of any kind , grade (If there is) , size will never fail you .

[wllm33]

I do come across some very nice black and white L66 and L333 before but nothing come close to 46 and 173 . Maybe also we are also not expose to those super white L66 in our local market before as all this goes to the land of the rising sun .
Maybe Genes can shed some light on this . Is it true that the pleco in Japan are very much better looking ? In term of L66 and L333
Lastly to be 100% sure you only want a pure black and white pleco , the L46 of any kind , grade (If there is) , size will never fail you .

right now, just want to go the middle of the road type when it comes to plecos, cos the last time i invested in the 046, burnt a big hole in my pocket.

so now go slower as got too many fish types to really put in the efforts you guys do to make my investment in 046 less painful.