L177, L200 and L128 fighting over cave

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Glu11

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 17, 2017
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Hey guys,

This is mostly just a request for info to hopefully gain an understanding and put my mind at ease. I have a 55G tank with a L177, L200, and L128 along with two upside down catfish living in it. The gold nugget and green phantom are about 3 and a half inches, and the blue phantom is about 2 inches, so all relatively young.

The tank now has 4 caves in it (originally 3). Two of the caves are now set up on the left side of the tank, one in the middle and one to the right. For some reason, all 3 plecos seem to be trying to claim the one cave on the right while 2 of the caves go relatively uninhibited The upside down cats have taken residents in the biggest of the caves.

Images for reference:
20180317_140350.jpg 20180410_075416.jpg 20180322_175832.jpg 20180317_205446.jpg

The first photo is just a picture of the gold nugget so you can get a reference for size. The next 2 are the green and blue phantoms hanging around the cave with the gold nugget inside. The gold nugget, so far at least, has been successful at fighting the other 2 off. Normally they will try to enter and tussle for 10 seconds or so until the gold nugget wins out.

The fourth image is the biggest cave on the left side. I've seen the blue and green over in that area occasionally but they spend the majority of their time around the cave in question on the right side. So ultimately my question comes down to:

Is there something particular about this cave that is more appealing? It is slightly more compact/seclusive with the piece of wood acting as a door to the cave. The other caves are relatively wide open.

Are the upside down catfish keeping the plecos from entering the other caves potentially? From what I've read, they should coexist, but I can certainly remove the cats in favor of the plecos.

Any other ideas? I'm mostly concerned from a stress level standpoint. While the fish don't seem stressed from what I can tell, I just want to make sure there isn't something I'm missing.

Sorry for being so long winded, and thanks to anyone able to provide input! Let me know if you need better photos.
 
plecos tend to like tight fitting caves so with the other 2 being more open that could be a problem. Do you always feed in the same location? If so is it on the same side as the beloved cave?
 
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thefredpit said:
plecos tend to like tight fitting caves so with the other 2 being more open that could be a problem. Do you always feed in the same location? If so is it on the same side as the beloved cave?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response.

That's what I was wondering regarding tightness of the caves. Perhaps I built the caves too large, but I was thinking with long term size in mind.

I normally drop food for the plecos in front of the beloved cave. The main reason for this is that the gold nugget seems to be so shy that I try to make the food visible to him/her from the cave (I've only seen it out of the cave maybe 3 times in the 2 months I've had it in the tank). Just last week I started attaching a slice of zucchini to a clip and sticking it to the glass in the middle of the tank. When I get up in the morning that slice has been pretty well eaten (my suspicion is that is the work of the green phantom who has only been in the tank two weeks).

I also try to drop the food in sight of the plecos because the catfish get to everything so quickly and eat some food I'm intending for the plecos.

Do you think I should put zucchini (something the catfish seem to leave alone) on the other side of the tank and see if it gets eaten?
 
you might try that, also usually when you add new plecos, or any fish really, to a tank where established territories exist rearranging the caves and decor will break up territories and let them establish new territories
 
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You could try and put more caves where the plecos are fighting to see if they’ll take up residence there. I have the same problem with my plecos. None like any pleco cave si have them so I just made caves out of rocks instead and they seem to like that better
 
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Linus_Cello said:
The plecos prefer current. Is the filter outflow close to some of the caves?
Click to expand...

Good point, the outflow is slightly closer to the right side which is the side where they are hanging out. I could look at trying to get that completely centered. Thanks for the thought.
 
fishnatics said:
You could try and put more caves where the plecos are fighting to see if they’ll take up residence there. I have the same problem with my plecos. None like any pleco cave si have them so I just made caves out of rocks instead and they seem to like that better
Click to expand...

That was my original goal but I couldn't get it set up quite right with the drift wood taking up so much space. I'm planning on moving things around this weekend. Thanks!
 
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