Hi, All. This is my first post, and I honestly did scour the threads for an answer before making a new one. I have lurked for quite a while but this is the first time I have ventured a post.
My 2.5 year old common plec, Poseidon, has not eaten for two weeks now.
He is alone in a 55 gal (he has always been our only fish; there have never been other fish or live plants in the tank). We run a Fluval 305 cannister with Biomax, charcoal, foam pads, and polishing pads, with weekly water changes and daily gravel cleanup with the Eheim Quick vac pro. Water parameters are perfect other than our hard Dallas water, but he has been subjected to that since he was a baby.
He shows absolutely no signs of external distress, and as he is a big boy and likes to stick on the front or side of the glass, it's easy to get up close to inspect him. We have carefully watched his belly since we discovered he was not eating (he's alone, so it's easy to tell when the food has not been touched), and he neither looks sunken nor bloated despite 2 weeks with nothing. He has not pooped at all and our last few treatment water changes have looked like clear water; there is just no mess in the tank.
We have treated for bacteria, treated with salt, and just finished Dr Harrison's flubendazole treatment, all with absolutely no effects, either positive or negative.
The fish adamantly refuses to eat, although aside from a bit of lethargy (he is normally an extremely lazy fish, now only a little more so) nothing else seems to be wrong with him.
I have read a lot about stunted fish, though it seems like that usually happens with a small fish one thinks should be larger (forgive me if I am incorrect). My fish came home as a 1 inch baby and is now a 16-inch monster. My husband absolutely does not believe we need a larger tank, as the LFS told us when we bought the little guy that you need "one gallon per inch". They even suggested we could have TWO adult commons in the same 55 gal tank, since that would be a potential 48 inches of fish with 7 gallons to spare. Foolishly, as first-time fish owners, we believed them, and now I can't convince my husband to get a bigger tank.
Any thoughts? I always wanted a pleco, just a pleco, and he's like a member of the family.
My 2.5 year old common plec, Poseidon, has not eaten for two weeks now.
He is alone in a 55 gal (he has always been our only fish; there have never been other fish or live plants in the tank). We run a Fluval 305 cannister with Biomax, charcoal, foam pads, and polishing pads, with weekly water changes and daily gravel cleanup with the Eheim Quick vac pro. Water parameters are perfect other than our hard Dallas water, but he has been subjected to that since he was a baby.
He shows absolutely no signs of external distress, and as he is a big boy and likes to stick on the front or side of the glass, it's easy to get up close to inspect him. We have carefully watched his belly since we discovered he was not eating (he's alone, so it's easy to tell when the food has not been touched), and he neither looks sunken nor bloated despite 2 weeks with nothing. He has not pooped at all and our last few treatment water changes have looked like clear water; there is just no mess in the tank.
We have treated for bacteria, treated with salt, and just finished Dr Harrison's flubendazole treatment, all with absolutely no effects, either positive or negative.
The fish adamantly refuses to eat, although aside from a bit of lethargy (he is normally an extremely lazy fish, now only a little more so) nothing else seems to be wrong with him.
I have read a lot about stunted fish, though it seems like that usually happens with a small fish one thinks should be larger (forgive me if I am incorrect). My fish came home as a 1 inch baby and is now a 16-inch monster. My husband absolutely does not believe we need a larger tank, as the LFS told us when we bought the little guy that you need "one gallon per inch". They even suggested we could have TWO adult commons in the same 55 gal tank, since that would be a potential 48 inches of fish with 7 gallons to spare. Foolishly, as first-time fish owners, we believed them, and now I can't convince my husband to get a bigger tank.
Any thoughts? I always wanted a pleco, just a pleco, and he's like a member of the family.
