Starving?

[Intravenous]

I recently bought a Snowball Pleco, he'd the first bottom feeder I've had (one of the first fish I've had, I'm new to all this). My problem is that he doesn't seem to eat anything, I looked on the internet to try and find out about their diet but most sources said they weren't picky eaters at all. I gave him some cucumber, which they're supposed to like, and some special bottomfeeder pellets but neither look touched. The lady in the shop said he needed wood in his tank and recently he seems to be permanently stuck to it, is he eating that? They also like algae I think but being a new tank, I have none and plants were also suggested but I've been told I didn't give my tank long enough to fully cycle so I'm to scared to add anything else in that will overload it with toxins. The only other fish in the tank at the moment is a guppy, so the suggestion that not enough food is reaching him is not a possibility.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Do I have an anorexic fish? Or am I missing something and being an evil fish murderer ?

 

[TLM4x4]

Sounds like you are doing things correctly as far as feeding...yes they do eat the wood, what kind did you put in there? You can also buy algea tablets they will eat, plus the shrimp pellets. I have read most ppl feed their plecs zuchinni, some seem to like it better than cucs. You could add maybe acouple more guppies to bolster your good bacteria growing in your filter. Maybe do a 50% water change before you add more fish. Good luck.

 

[Seleya]

Plants can actually help a tank during cycling. What are your water parameters right now? Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? He may not be eating if your tank is in a critical phase of cycling. Have you been removing the uneaten food and performing water changes?

 

[Pure]

Some plecs take a wile before they will eat, some you will never see eat. Plecs can go a pretty good amount of time without food. Keep an eye on his eyes, if they start looking sunken in, then you need to worry.

Also you need to test your water, if you are not done cycling you need to take steps to reduce the stress from the ammonia and nitrite.

"new tank" stress can be helped by increasing the current in the tank, upping the heat to 82 to 84 degrees, and increasing the oxygen in the tank.

Simple way to increase both the current and the O2 is to install a bubble wand that is as long as the tank is thick at one end of the tank.

But again, you really don't need to worry as long as his eyes and tummy are looking full. I should note that when they eyes sink in he is very malnourished and skinny.

 

[Intravenous]

When I first got the tank I left it for a week to settle, added conditioner to remove chlorine and "cycle" to put bacteria into the water. I checked the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels, they were all zero. The pH was 7. I then added three guppies and the snowball pleco. Within a day and a bit two of the guppies had fallen ill so I added a tiny bit of salt and some melafix but they died. That was just less than a week ago.

Some food has been left lying to see if the pleco would eat it but it was starting to look off so I removed as much as I could with a siphon and added fresh water. The water is a bit cloudy now and there is still some traces of uneaten food but I don't want to remove too much water at once attempting to get rid of it all. I checked the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels yesterday. Ammonia and nitrate were still at zero, nitrite was just a tiny bit above zero but the pH looked like it was heading towards 8 or even 8.5. I've changed water since then and am just hoping everything will settle out. Should I invest in some plants then? I've been holding back on buying anything else to put in the tank incase it does damage, even though its sad to see my single guppy all lonely.

 

[FroggyFox]

There is a product called "stabilize" that some people have had really good success with in helping the cycling process along while there are fish in the tank. Products like Cycle generally dont do a whole lot...you can usually find someone on the boards who has tried to use a product or knows something about it one way or the other. Personally the product Cycle made no difference in my cycle times whatsoever...I wouldn't ever buy it again.

Plants would help...but you need to do some research first to make sure you get plants that are appropriate for your tank's light. Plants that are healthy and growing well will help the tank...but plants that are just existing usually wont help, or at least wont help nearly as much.

You want to keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrites...and make a point of doing a 20% water change as often as you need to to try and keep those levels low.

What size tank are we talkin about?

 

[FishGeek]

It sounds like you are trying to do things right. Just give it some time but keep a watchful eye. Good Luck!

 

[Intravenous]

I read somewhere else about plecos having sunken stomachs and eyes when they weren't eating, to start with my one seemed to have a sunken stomach but (I don't know if I'm imagining it or not) it seems to have filled out a bit, his eyes are fine, right where they should be .

At the moment ammonia and nitrate don't seem to be a problem, I'm just keeping a close eye on them and keeping the fish load down until I'm sure it has settled. What kind of plants do people suggest for cycling? And even for possible munching by plecos?

I also read that Snowballs like reasonable current and good oxygen levels but I have no idea how to measure these things. I have a Juwel Rekord 70 aquarium (it has 60 litres of water in it) and I just use the standard filter that came with it, the Juwel compact I think, what kind of water flow should I be looking for? I had a look at some bubble wand type things but didn't know where to start, I may go have a look in the local aquarium shop and see if they have any they advise.

 

[Pure]

is this what your plec is?

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/hypancis/204_F.PHP

If so he is more of a meat eater.

 

[Intravenous]

That's him. So he wont be eating the wood if hes a carnivore mostly? I bought some shrimp in gel as a treat for my guppy but he wasn't interested and it sank right to the bottom, I removed some yesterday but it doesn't look like hes touched any of the leftovers. Would shrimp/bloodworm/daphnia in gel be a good diet for him then? along with some algae?

 

[Pure]

He won't touch your algae. You can try zukes but i doubt he will touch those also. I've not kept this fish so I can't say for sure. I'm just going by the fact that e is a member of the Hypancistrus species.

Yes that mix of food should do, drop it in the tank after lights out.

If you really get worried you can put him in some sort of specimen container, the ones that hang on the side of the tank that the LS uses to hold fish when they are getting them for you work great. Drill holes in it for current to pass through and an airstone in with it. That way you can see what or how much food is left over the next morning.

 

[Lotus]

The plecos I have kept that are more meat-eaters have usually liked sinking shrimp pellets.

 

[Intravenous]

I joined the planetcatfish forum and had a look through the profiles to try and find out about my pleco. I didn't realise that there were lots of different kinds with black background and white spots and after comparing the different kinds with mine I actually think its:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/baryanci/31_F.PHP

rather than

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...ncis/204_F.PHP

because mine has that exact mouth, which is supposedly its defining feature.

So really he is a vegetarian I think. I bought him some algae wafers yesterday and fed him one last night. This morning its all broken up and spread out. Can it do that itself, or has he been having a munch?

Does anyone else think its wrong that fish shop owners sell fish without giving proper details on them? I'm sure not everyone goes to all the trouble to try and find out whats best for their fish and heaps of poor fish probably die that way. The shops should provide data sheets, or at least proper names and somewhere to read about them before they sell them.

 

[Pure]

The problem with that is plecos are still kinda new, and not many shops are well informed on them. It's our duty to find out how to best care for them. Sadly, yes I'm sure many are lost due to not taking proper care for them.

The one good thing about the exotic plecs is the price tag. I'm pretty sure people who drop 30+ bucks for a fish are more apt to do a little research about it's care.

I was kinda wondering if yours was an LDA033 as they are also often called snowballs. Congrats on finding the right ID. FYI he will get to big for your current tank. He's not so much a vegetarian as much as he is omnivorous. So some meat should be provided.

Good luck and keep us informed on his progress.