Well this is my first post and havent had fish in a long time . my question is with a new L239 I purchased yesterday. He seemed ok in the store but it was a long way home about 200 miles. Now he move around but not much and hasnt eaten at all. I want this sucker to live , I did a water change and all my other fish seem fine % baby gt's and a trinidad and gold algae eater. Any help would be greatly appreciated . Thanks
l239 not active at all
- Thread starter AK_907
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First of all, welcome to MFK! You said you have'nt had fish in a long time. Is your tank cycled? Water paramaters OK? Does the fish look healthy(sunken eyes and or stomach)? Also a lot of plecos can take some time to get comfortable. I have one that had a ten hour car ride to get home and did'nt move from the same spot for almost two days when I first dropped him in the tank(he's doing just fine now). Have you tried feeding it and what food did you try? Plecos are nocturnal you may want to try watching the tank with the tank light off and see if it comes out then.
his belly is a little shallow but not as bad as I hae seen other plecos and his eyes are ok to me , but I am no expert. The tank was purchased used and was cycled as far as I know. It has been running for almost 4 weeks and has had regular water changes , 50% twice weekly and really watch my feedings . The plecos have had cantalope , cucumber , watermellon. Have gotten a sweet potatoe and romaine lettuce for it. I dont have a test kit yet and was wondering what a good kit would be. He is moving around a bit more tonight , hopefully new tank nerves. Thanks Cliff
Good to hear it's more active tonight. If the tank was tore down and the filter and bio material dried out the tank would have to go through the cycling process all over again. What size tank? How many other plecos and what species do you have?
the L239 a common and 5 baby gt . This is a temp tank untill I get a stand built for a 120 . Thay are now in a 30 long and the substare was nevet dry but was lightly rinsed in water before restarting tank. I think he is doing much better. Thanks for the help. The fish were added gradually each week I would get 2 or 3 more. I think the tank is full but we will see. Thanks again
Well he is now eating sinking wafers and moving around a lot more thanks for all the input This is an awsome web site and the vast knowledge of all on here is very imprssive thanks again. He keeps going to the lightd side of the taank but he seems well and his stomach is fuller
L239s a VERY shy and mostly nocturnal.. ive had mine for about a year.. i think ive seen him "out and about" maybe 3-4 times.. he comes out and eats every night and has a nice fat budda belly...
make sure hes got a hiding place to keep him happy..
sorta stinks cuz they are a beautiful fish..
ive got an ever growing collection of fancy plecos that i never get to see...
make sure hes got a hiding place to keep him happy..
sorta stinks cuz they are a beautiful fish..
ive got an ever growing collection of fancy plecos that i never get to see...
fyi, L239's are notoriously hard to feed at first. they tend to be wild caught since breeding them hasnt been mass marketed yet (some aquarium in france has spawned them once so far, but this hasnt become a regular occurance). a few things you should know:
1) hes likely crawling with parasites. the one i got was INFESTED with body flukes. prazipro works very well for internal and external parasites. its very gentle and pleco safe. i recommend getting some and dosing both food and the water.
2) hes not used to prepared foods. he probably doesnt recognize it as food yet. be patient. what you can do in the meantime is to grind up your favorite fish foods into a powder (rolling pin and a plastic bag will work great), mix it with an egg white (do not include the yolk; you separate an egg by cracking the shell only, then dumping the inside of the egg out onto the palm of your hand; let the white slide out between your fingers into the bowl. throw away the yolk if you dont want to cook it and eat it). get some large rocks and paint the egg/food mixture onto the rock. let the egg dry HARD; takes several hours with a fan, overnight without one. once the egg white is dry, try adding the rock close to lights out (either just before, or just after). they feel a lot more secure with the lights out. the egg white is also a great source of extra protein that the pleco can use to help bulk up a bit. once youve noticed that hes been eating regularly, you can stop doing the egg/food mixture. just add the rock and drop food onto it. in a very short time, hell have come to recognize the rock as the food source and should eagerly begin to feed off of it, even when the eggs/food stuff isnt on there. pretty soon you can just add food and no rock. mine comes charging out after lights out. he even grabs wafers away from cories! mine also LOVES broccoli. so far he hasnt touched any other veggie.
3) these guys have just been categorized into the baryancistrus group. they need wood. not the way that panaques do, but they munch regularly on the biofilm that grows on the wood. if its large enough, it can also act as a cave and help your pleco feel secure.
4) dont expect to see these guys out and about with the lights on much. these guys are VERY shy and reclusive. but once settled, you should regularly see them come out to feed.
you can find more info on planetcatfish.com
hope this helps.
inkyjenn (from ac)
1) hes likely crawling with parasites. the one i got was INFESTED with body flukes. prazipro works very well for internal and external parasites. its very gentle and pleco safe. i recommend getting some and dosing both food and the water.
2) hes not used to prepared foods. he probably doesnt recognize it as food yet. be patient. what you can do in the meantime is to grind up your favorite fish foods into a powder (rolling pin and a plastic bag will work great), mix it with an egg white (do not include the yolk; you separate an egg by cracking the shell only, then dumping the inside of the egg out onto the palm of your hand; let the white slide out between your fingers into the bowl. throw away the yolk if you dont want to cook it and eat it). get some large rocks and paint the egg/food mixture onto the rock. let the egg dry HARD; takes several hours with a fan, overnight without one. once the egg white is dry, try adding the rock close to lights out (either just before, or just after). they feel a lot more secure with the lights out. the egg white is also a great source of extra protein that the pleco can use to help bulk up a bit. once youve noticed that hes been eating regularly, you can stop doing the egg/food mixture. just add the rock and drop food onto it. in a very short time, hell have come to recognize the rock as the food source and should eagerly begin to feed off of it, even when the eggs/food stuff isnt on there. pretty soon you can just add food and no rock. mine comes charging out after lights out. he even grabs wafers away from cories! mine also LOVES broccoli. so far he hasnt touched any other veggie.
3) these guys have just been categorized into the baryancistrus group. they need wood. not the way that panaques do, but they munch regularly on the biofilm that grows on the wood. if its large enough, it can also act as a cave and help your pleco feel secure.
4) dont expect to see these guys out and about with the lights on much. these guys are VERY shy and reclusive. but once settled, you should regularly see them come out to feed.
you can find more info on planetcatfish.com
hope this helps.
inkyjenn (from ac)
Thankyou for all this great info , I will definattly give the egg painting a try . Is there a way to tell if it has flukes I havent looked anywhere to find out what they look like or symptoms of flukes are . I will investigate this and treat him next time I get into town . Thanks again for the info 
they look like little worms... not to be confused with the bristles that are suposed to be all over their bodies.. heaviest on the front fins and face (golden/copper in color)
you can see the flukes on top of his head right before the dorsal fin.. as well as a few on his side
here you can see the bristles better
the flukes move and point in random directions.. they look a lot like planaria (planaria are harmless just a sign of overfeeding.. they also dont grow on fish)..
the bristles dont move much at if all and for the most part all "lay" in the same direction
and just for bragging... heres what he looks like flukefree and out of the Qtank.. eyes are nolonger sunken.. belly is nice and fat.. even his face has filled out....
guess which pleco is inkyjenns favorite? ill give you one guess..
you can see the flukes on top of his head right before the dorsal fin.. as well as a few on his side
here you can see the bristles better
the flukes move and point in random directions.. they look a lot like planaria (planaria are harmless just a sign of overfeeding.. they also dont grow on fish)..
the bristles dont move much at if all and for the most part all "lay" in the same direction
and just for bragging... heres what he looks like flukefree and out of the Qtank.. eyes are nolonger sunken.. belly is nice and fat.. even his face has filled out....
guess which pleco is inkyjenns favorite? ill give you one guess..