anyone elses pleco skittish/

[hc8719]

my pleco is 5-6" and every time i come near the tank, or if i try to look at him eatting some zucchini, he flees, swimming for cover. is this normal? i know catfish can be stupid.

i find this strange, as my other fish when they see my face, are all at the glass asking for food, so apparently they associate me with food, and the pleco may not, but come on.

does anyone else have this problem? mines just a common pleco

 

[collegelife101]

my 2" clown pleco doesn't like me approaching the tank quickly and he'll swim for cover. After awhile he'll come out and come up to the glass to look at me. Its the opposite with dwarf puffers who are constantly at the glass watching you... even from across the room.

 

[coldmachineUK]

How long have you had him? If it's only been a short time maybe he's just a slow learner Otherwise I'm betting on this just being his personality. You *should* be able to hand feed plecs eventually, so maybe you need to entice him some more

 

[sabbott1877]

Maybe I never tried hard enough, but my Plecs never liked when I came near the tank either.

 

[hc8719]

coldmachine: ive had him since april, when he was just a bitty little thing.

i dont understand how to handfeed a pleco, with their funny mouth and all, the closest thing ive come to hand feeding is clipping some zucchini or cuccumber, (which i had hoped the farlowellas would eat some, if pleco wasnt such a monster with it)

how do you feed yours? or even better, how did you teach yours to come to you

 

[Jchillin]

I guess mine doesn't know which way to act. Sometimes he will sit there and not move an inch, other times he will race away faster'n a speeding bullet (tearing up my delicate plant leaves in the process).

It's normal...for the most part, they are shy and nocturnal.

 

[JustOneMore20]

My bristlenose if very shy. He will come out in the open (on the DW) when I'm not around. I can always sneak up on him when I've been gone for awhile, but as soon as I look at him for a few mins....he darts for cover. He likes to hang out behind the driftwood usually...so he can't be seen.

 

[severum mama]

My plecos are all skittish as well. I have a clown, tiger, and sailfin pleco and the sailfin is by far the most gregarious. At least I see him. I really only see the other two during water changes.

 

[coldmachineUK]

coldmachine: ive had him since april, when he was just a bitty little thing.

i dont understand how to handfeed a pleco, with their funny mouth and all, the closest thing ive come to hand feeding is clipping some zucchini or cuccumber, (which i had hoped the farlowellas would eat some, if pleco wasnt such a monster with it)

how do you feed yours? or even better, how did you teach yours to come to you

Give him a bit more time then and he'll be ok, especially since you've had him since he was little. That definitely will help!

I can't take credit for the "hand feeding of a plec strategy"! The friend who I'm always mentioning in other posts is the one who keeps plecs (I'm a loach person, she's a plec person lol!). But, here is a picture she sent me not long ago:

I've seen her do this, there's really nothing difficult about it. All she does is put in the piece of cucumber/zuccini, and stick it near him so he gets a taste of it, then he'll usually shift across some and start eating it out of her hand. He also allows her to stroke his head while he's eating, as you'll see from the pic.

Btw, this is also the very same plec I helped her move recently (see another thread about moving plecs and handling them).