Adjustment period? (new L264)

[BPags52]

Well I'm not quite sure what to think of last nights feeding.

I picked up zuchini yesterday and cut 2 slices about a half-inch thick each, stuffed 1 with some shrimp pellets, and the other with hikari sinking carnivore pellets. I put the food in about an hour before lights out, checked on it 15 minutes later and got real excited, chunks were missing! But upon closer inspection, it was the silver dollars

They seemed to like it. Most of the zuchini was still there at lights out though (but they were slowly but surely chipping away at it). I woke up this morning and theres not ANY zuchini left. Problem is I have no way of knowing if it was just the silver dollars, or if the L264 helped...

 

[BPags52]

Finally!

First time I've actually witnessed it eat anything, also first decent picture i've managed to get (food distracted it? haha). While lights were on too! (but late...)

and

 

[wingate2581]

See they are'nt THAT shy! now he just needs some carnivorous buddies!
Joking aside it looks real nice and I'm glad he's settled in for ya.

 

[BPags52]

Oh, it is that shy

Though he was eating during lights on...he was under a cave in the dark haha, you can only see it because of the flash on the camera

I still can't settle on what I want. Part of me wants to just go carnivore pleco and get the L14 + L114, but another part of me wants to try to make more peaceful plecos/less shy plecos like L200 + L239...

I'll probably change my mind 15 more times before I place the order next month

 

[BPags52]

Update! Was a late night tonight, and I caught the L-264 eating veggies for the first time! (I think the frozen krill wedged between slices tricked it ) It seems to be doing well.
Edit: Yes, I know. I need to clean the glass.

 

[wingate2581]

Very cool. Once you get him to get a taste for it you may be able to start feeding him during the day with the lights on. My largest L-114 will come out to munch on Zuchinni throughout the day when I leave it in there. And again, I told you they were'nt that shy. You've seen him TWICE this month!J/K

 

[BPags52]

haha, I'm not so sure it'll ever come out in daylight. Even with the lights out, it'll move from its daytime hiding place to night time feeding place in a flash. If you blink, you'd miss that he changed locations. I still haven't seen it anywhere on the right half of the tank...pretty much just stays in 2 spots (1 place to hide during the day and 1 place to feed at night, both spots within a 12" of each other).

It got its first taste of brine shrimp/bloodworms last night I sprinkled freeze-dried of each on top of a zuchini slice, and stacked another slice on top (meat sandwich!). This morning almost all of the top slice was gone, and the bottom slice was hollowed out shaped like a circle.

So thats 2 nights in a row that its gotten its fill of zuchini/protein mix.

Should I be doing this (feeding fresh veggies packed with misc protein foods) daily? or maybe just a couple times a week? Once a week? On days that I haven't put zuchini in, I toss in a mix of shrimp pellets/sinking carnivore pellets (or frozen krill but I ran out last weekend) when i turn the lights off. But its hard to tell what of the pellet food it gets to before the silver dollars / lima shovelnose get there first.

Very cool. Once you get him to get a taste for it you may be able to start feeding him during the day with the lights on. My largest L-114 will come out to munch on Zuchinni throughout the day when I leave it in there. And again, I told you they were'nt that shy. You've seen him TWICE this month!J/K

 

[wingate2581]

I personally only feed veggies about twice a week. I had a school of red hooks in the past. They do not let much get by them. I had some success with distracting the red hooks with a piece of lettuce on a veggie clip stuck to the side of the tank and then drop food in for the plecos (SD are mainly vegetarian but will accept about anything). personally I think your "meat sandwich" screwy:) idea is probably the best way to get food to the pleco with the stocklist that you have. On the days you dont feed it the meat sandwichD) I would just throw some frozen food or pellets in long after the lights were shut off.

 

[BPags52]

Ok thanks for the tips. I've been putting the 'sandwich' D) down under the rock tunnel that the L-264 moves to when lights go out. Its positioned so 1) the pleco can find/get to it easily and 2) to keep the silver dollars off it. They don't have enough room under the rock to be able to graze off it (not easily anyway).

If I put it out in the open though, they'll peck at it through the night (first time I did this nothing was left).

If I'm just dropping in pellets for the pleco after lights out, what I do is first add 5-7 spirulina wafers (the red hooks love these, and each will grab one before it hits the bottom and it'll take them several minutes to chip away at it, and they can't eat anything else during this time ).

 

[BPags52]

What I am trying to avoid is having 2 carnivore plecos with an L200...I don't want the L200 to be outnumbered by bullies

I wrote that 3 weeks ago, but this is exactly what I might end up doing

Really wanting the L14 and L114 (have always wanted these plecos, but couldn't find them anywhere when I first set up tank 5 years ago (prior to discovering all these online fish vendors).

But I also want something that might be active during the day (which I've seen alot of L200 owners say they are their most active fancy pleco).

So, I might just end up with 3 carnivores (L264, L14, L114) and an L200 green phantom. I know it won't be easy (in regards to diet and aggression) but I'm pretty determined to make this work Might even order these guys tonight so they'll get here Wednesday....otherwise waiting till next week. We'll see how I feel when i get home