should i be worried

[newbietofishes]

Got a goldnugget pleco.... A beatiful thing but im not sure if hes eating how do i know if he is, had it for two weeks now dont seem to move from his favourite hiding place, even when i put food in tank, but after light is out who knows but is there a way of knowing for sure?

 

[Mcor]

Have you tried some veggies? A bit of blanched courgette (zucchini) or cucumber or something? Pop it down somewhere near his hiding place and leave it overnight. You should be able to see if he's eaten any of it by morning. Mine tend to nibble the skin off and hollow it out in the middle so it ends up being a hollow ring of courgette. Try that and see. Keep trying with a fresh piece until you see some eaten. Mine didnt know what it was to start with and ignored it the first time. Now I'm lucky if I find any remains of it at all.

 

[Cactuspixie]

What size tank is he in, and what is the rest of your stock?

Sometimes they are very shy until they really settle in. Have you tried offering a fresh piece of cucumber or a par-boiled piece of zucchini?

Does he have driftwood to munch on?

A blue moonlight is good for observing nocturnal fish. If you feed him when you turn out the lights there's a better chance he'll get the algae wafer/vege before his bolder tank mates scoff it down.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I have never seen mine albino BN Pleco eat, I don't not feed zucchini or cucumbers. He has been in the tank for well over 2 years and his belly is always round. They eat stuff you and I can't see. Micro film.

 

[newbietofishes]

Ive had a two pleco one a common which ive had to pass on and the gold nugget was the replacement i also got a bn pleco in another tank and both of them i see always munching on everything including the glass but this the first time.. i havent seen him move from his hiding place since he arrived, can see his tail but thats about it :-( and i do have a catfish who usually like hiding in that area the pleco have kicked him out and owned it. Guess i just have to keep trying with the fresh veg and the wafer and hope he clicks on... Btw it a community tank mainly with barbs and swordfish cat fish and ruby shark (240l) also there is bogwood thats where he is hiding...

 

[Mebbid]

He gets out and eats, of that you can be sure, they just do it at night. I bought an Orinoco Angel Pleco back in decemberish when I started keeping fish again and it took him almost 4 months to finally start coming out of his hiding spot. What seemed to help the most was that I switched to a black sand substrate, his color noticeably improved and it seems like the dark substrate makes him more comfortable. Although some plecos will habitually hide and may never come out of hiding during the day, which is really sad.

 

[Fresh N Salt guy]

I am infatuated with plecos and have my tank centered around them. Go buy dim lunar blue led lights and switch them on at night. Dont need many.i have 2 on one of my tanks and my big tanks lightbar has them on there already. My boys run a ruckus at night. Some people don't even know I have 5 plecos in my tank that come during the day. I also have a red infrared flashlight I shine into all my little nooks and crannies of my tank and get to watch them without disturbing them with the light.

 

[newbietofishes]

What seemed to help the most was that I switched to a black sand substrate, his color noticeably improved and it seems like the dark substrate makes him more comfortable. Although some plecos will habitually hide and may never come out of hiding during the day, which is really sad.[/QUOTE]

Do have light gravel (multi colours) was planning to change it will keep that in mind to go for darker colour not sure if i will go for black thou... Thanks for the tip. Hopefully he will not hide forever hes too pretty to be hiding..

 

[newbietofishes]

I am infatuated with plecos and have my tank centered around them. Go buy dim lunar blue led lights and switch them on at night. Dont need many.i have 2 on one of my tanks and my big tanks lightbar has them on there already. My boys run a ruckus at night. Some people don't even know I have 5 plecos in my tank that come during the day. I also have a red infrared flashlight I shine into all my little nooks and crannies of my tank and get to watch them without disturbing them with the light.

Love this... Will do did look in to getting moonlight light.. But wasnt sure how to fix it on to my tank not a diy lady... Will do as would want to see how the behave during the night.. Me too love plecos but never knew you can have many in a tank guess your tank must be big...

 

[Mebbid]

Do have light gravel (multi colours) was planning to change it will keep that in mind to go for darker colour not sure if i will go for black thou... Thanks for the tip. Hopefully he will not hide forever hes too pretty to be hiding..

Thats exactly what I said about my Orinoco.. He found a hole in my piece of driftwood where he was 100% out of sight.. I even ran my camera across the back of my tank to try to find him and nothing. When he first found that hiding spot I couldn't find him so I thought he lept out of the tank but I couldn't find him... I ended up pulling everything out of my tank searching for him before he slid out of his hiding spot.

 

[bob mccoy]

put a medium piece of cucumber or zuchini in there and check it in the morning .

 

[newbietofishes]

put a medium piece of cucumber or zuchini in there and check it in the morning .

Have done that and it is eaten but my fishes eat them too so cant seem to say it defo the pleco every fish in my tank seem to enjoy the fresh vegs and pick at it.

 

[Fresh N Salt guy]

Love this... Will do did look in to getting moonlight light.. But wasnt sure how to fix it on to my tank not a diy lady... Will do as would want to see how the behave during the night.. Me too love plecos but never knew you can have many in a tank guess your tank must be big...

I bought a couple of the lunar LED at my LFS. Don't think places like petco or petsmart carry what I talking about. But I bought mine singularly and the power source separate as well and piced it together. And basically they just stick to your hood and you plug em in. Cost me about $10 to add the lunar led's. next time I'm there ill see if I can get some part numbers for you to look up and order. Here are some of my boys

 

[Cactuspixie]

Here are some of my boys

I'm so envious!
can you ID them for us? And do you have a particular favourite?

 

[newbietofishes]

Wow they are lovely ive only got two both are babies one a bn pleco (female) as i thought was given a wrong pleco cos she didnt have the bristle till i was told girls dont have them and the goldnugget no idea what sex it is.. Love the albino one bristle nose? And thethe black with spot is that starlight pleco? If so wanted to get that but my local lfs say they hard to get (uk) so got the nugget instead but my all time fave is the zebra pleco

 

[Fresh N Salt guy]

Yeah no prob. The blue finned is a blue diamond. The black with pink spots is a snowball. The striped one on the filter is a tiger pleco. White one is a common albino pleco, big boy on the glass is a royal pleco and the blurry pic is a butterfly pleco. My favorite is either my royal which let me pet him and pick him up out of the tank to show him to people. But pattern wise my butterfly or tiger are beautiful.