pleco in hiding

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pnoydlyte

pnoydlyte

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 5, 2007
829
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46
Honolulu
i have a chubby pleco that is always hiding behind the intake of my penguin 350 i had him for over 2 weeks now and im worried hes not eating i dont want him to die on me as hes my first and only pleco
is there anyway to get him out from behind there
iver tried offering spinach, zuccini, cucumber, and some algae wafers but nothing works
any ideas what i can do to get him out and about
 
What else is with him and how bright is the lighting. Most plecos prefer dim lighting and lots of hiding places.
 
i have 4 peacock bass and the lighting is a 10000k fluorescent for about 9 hours and moonlight leds on for 3hours
as for hiding places i have about 4 pots and 6 halved pots stacked upon each other for multi level caves
 
Since you have the moonlight I would suggest shutting the tank light and all other lights off in the room the tank is in and wait at least an hour then introduce the food. I have moonlights on mine also and can say the behaviors of some of my fish depend on how long the main tank light has been off. Although I must say I work third shift so it's normal for me to watch and feed fish at 2a.m.! Some of my plecos also not only want shade, but want the DARKEST spot possible. It makes it tough to see them but in this case it's more about making him comfortable at this point. Does he look emaciated?
 
to be honest i can really tell the only thing that i can see is his tail and wen i move the filter he moves so fast i cant really get a good look at him but i dont think he is tho
 
I have an 8 inch scarlet that will hide but the trick I use is driftwood but postion so you can see under it always. The pleco will stay under it and still feel secure but I can always see him. Sometimes he is upside down but always visible. I never use caves always driftwood. Scarlets are rare and very expensive so I want to see the beast. LOL
 
If it were mine and I was worried it has'nt eaten in over two weeks I might catch it to see if he looked emaciated. I believe you could tell if it had'nt eaten at all in two weeks. If he does'nt look emaciated, I would say watch the tank late at night with nothing but the lunar lights on. And if your not sure if he looks emaciated after catching him, post some pics of his belly. I'm not an expert by any means so you might want to see what others say about catching him due to stressing him out.
 
hope this helps

The Chubby that I have is NEVER out from his slate house. I have kept him/her for about 6 months. I just add extra flaked food just before turning the aquarium light out at night.;)
 
I have a bushy nose plec that HATEs the light. I've seen him sorta out in the open, once in 6 months.

He feeds at night. With all the lights off you can see a silhouette sifting through the sand. Mine will devour algae wafers and whatever Hikari/NLS pellets are left over from the day's feeding.

I have a large piece of driftwood, sorta like a tripod that he likes to hang out under. Once in a while he'll try to squeeze into a coconut cave but his head or tail usually ends up sticking out.
 
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