l14 wont eat

[suprakid95]

my l14 bearly comes out from under the rock and i dont think i have ever seen him eat, my tank is a little heavily stocked but only with a bunch of babies i've thrown some vegibles in there peas carrots blood worms and wafers i've only seen him eat the wafers the blood worms are usually gone before he even moves, and same for black worms. I've read they need some what of a meaty diet i remember when i first got him he used to eat some pellits but i havnt seen him eat one in probably a few months. do you guys think i should move him to his own tank so he can start eating better? i havnt noticed any growth in about 5 months since i'v had him. and i always do the feeding at night with the lights turned off.

 

[Allan01230]

Move him into his own tank (barebottum). Depending on how big he is a 20 long should be fine. Feed him black worms and NLS sinking pelets AAAAA++++ food. This stuff has garliC in it and with a bare bottum you will see him eat.

 

[suprakid95]

dont really have much space for another tank.

 

[zerojquan85]

Negative...

Do not do barbottom.. this only stress the fish more.. and i'll take another long while for the fish to adjust to the new environment and start eating...

If the Pleco's eyes are sunken in and stomach is also sunken.. its near death.. and theres a 80% chance it wont survive...

If u've notice it recently.. start moving out any fish that gets in the way of its feeding.. and start putting loads of food..

Start with market shrimp/ blood worms, algae walfers.. and do it everyday.. enough so that the pleco will have loads to eat and do excess.. L-14 is suppose to be an active pleco and if u notice that its doing the opposite.. start doing more water changes and start feeding more..

In addition, try to cut down on tankmates that interfer with its feeding.. even if it means removing some pleco.. or gettin rid of it..

I've found shrimp, fish, meat strips to work very well with Goldie pleco..

Best of luck.. and keep us updated on its progress...

 

[zerojquan85]

I'm curious.. i notice u mention u have a 125 gallon community... what kind of fish do u have???

Are they amazon stock or something else? It could be an issue if ur doing african... because pH is in conflict... Amazon are 6.5-7.8 while AFRICAN are 8.0-8.5 ur goldie might not like such high pH

 

[RD.]

L14's do very well in pH as high as 8.2, perhaps even higher. Lots of wild caught plecos are imported into our area and they all seem to do quite well in our moderately hard water & higher pH values. (as do the majority of SA species) My goldie is 9-10", eats pellets exclusively, and is almost hyper aggressive at feeding time. Even the larger SA cichlids stay clear of him when he's eating.

 

[Allan01230]

L14's do very well in pH as high as 8.2, perhaps even higher. Lots of wild caught plecos are imported into our area and they all seem to do quite well in our moderately hard water & higher pH values. (as do the majority of SA species) My goldie is 9-10", eats pellets exclusively, and is almost hyper aggressive at feeding time. Even the larger SA cichlids stay clear of him when he's eating.

Just curious what type of pellets are you using? I have an L-14 that is about 3 inches and love NLS and Wardleys flake food. He comes out at feeding time and looks good but hides mostly during the day.

 

[RD.]

All my fish are fed New Life Spectrum.

 

[zerojquan85]

All my fish are fed New Life Spectrum.

I've tried hikari gold sinking pellets.. and it works with my younger pleocs.. adults.. not so much.. i ought to give that a try.. new life..