Questions about my new L25.

Some of you have probably seen my recent post about the L25 I got. I might be thinking to much into it but I want to make sure I am doing things right and not screwing this up as I know they are more sensitive during the first month. SO....with that said here are my questions.

- I didn't feed last night when I put him in. Is it okay to feed tonight or should I give a little time to settle before feeding? I plan on picking up black worms after work and I feed my discus a home made beefheart mix. Are both of these okay to feed?
- The place I got it from did not deworm during their QT. Even though I am not seeing signs of worms or internal parasites should I use PraziPro or Metro as a preemptive measure or let it be?
- I currently only have a piece of driftwood in the QT tank for him to hide in. Do I need anything else? I was thinking of getting a pleco cave or two. Do they prefer those?
- Any other advice or comments welcome. I am trying to leave it alone as much as possible but want to also make sure I am not neglecting.

Thanks in advance!

mrtoofay said:

Yes, you are over thinking it!

You can try to feed it, just put in a little black worms at a time, live black worms don't really mess up water that much, but the ones you buy from LFS, most are dead or dying, so that fouls up water quick. (you can setup a seperate 10g tank with airstone, use old water from your water change, black worms will keep for weeks like that. you'll see water foul up and smelly the first few days, that's the dead/dying worms fouling up the water, after couple days with daily old water change, you'll see the remaining worms thrive)

I wouldn't feed beef heart, it's got too protein, but it doesn't really fit plecos' diet. If there are no other tankmakte, don't worry too much about caves, the DW is more than enough hiding place for it.

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I figured I was haha. Thanks for reassuring me that was the case.

Good to know about the beefheart and even better to know about the live blackworms. I will research breeding them and keeping them long term versus buying partially dead from the store every time I need them.

Rotaryp04s said:

Right now is the perfect time to monitor your L25 it in a bare bottom QT tank so you can see if it eating and pooping. You dnt need a lot of drift wood but the one you already have. He will also hide under the sponge filter. Just try blackworms and other foods like pellets. The black worms are going to hide under the drift or sponge filter and that where your L25 going to be(worms going to be right under it nose) that what you want at this point. Dnt over crowd the QT it just going to make monitor harder. Don't throw a lot of food in(just one or two small pellets) for now.

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Thanks for the info. I actually have him in a 15g bare bottom setup. I always do BB with QT and grow out tanks so there is never a worry of waste build-up. He seems to currently hang out behind the heater instead of the driftwood or the sponge filter but I don't bother him if that's where he is most comfortable. Last night after the lights were out I gave some blackworms and saw him go eat which was good and this morning I did a water change and treated the tank with PraziPro. I did that more for precautionary measures than anything. Over all the first few days seem to be a smooth ride. Now lets see if I can get through the end of this month without problems.

Rotaryp04s said:

This may sound funny but look for his poop(this means it eating) the more the better it easy since it a BB tank. It the only time I'm happy to see poop is from new plecos I just got.

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I own discus so staring a poop is something I am used too doing......sounds more weird when I say it that way...... He has pooped a little since I have had him but I will keep an eye out moving forward.

Follow up question. I am seeing small bits of poop in the bottom of the tank I currently have it in but nothing long and stringy. Should I be concerned? I see him eating blackworms or at least in the area of the food after I put it in but haven't seen what I would consider a proper pleco poop. Any thoughts?