Is He Eating Enough?

[PicothePleco]

I have seen some pictures of other people's plecos and was wondering if it was just me or if Pico looked underweight? I feed him algae wafers, shrimp pellets, and a vege/fruit (depending on what I have available) as well as a good size piece of driftwood for him to rasp on. Any thoughts or suggestions are highly welcome and appreciated!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have seen some pictures of other people's plecos and was wondering if it was just me or if Pico looked underweight? I feed him algae wafers, shrimp pellets, and a vege/fruit (depending on what I have available) as well as a good size piece of driftwood for him to rasp on. Any thoughts or suggestions are highly welcome and appreciated!

Your fish does looks very thin.

I can't tell what species it is, but assuming that it isn't a Hypancistrus. I'd try feeding Sweet Potato and see if he bulks up any.

cheers Darrel

 

[PicothePleco]

Hi all, Your fish does looks very thin.

I can't tell what species it is, but assuming that it isn't a Hypancistrus. I'd try feeding Sweet Potato and see if he bulks up any.

cheers Darrel

I believe my LFS had him labeled as a Trinidad. And I will definitely give the sweet potatoes a shot.

 

[PicothePleco]

Update: He's found the sweet potato but doesn't seem to actually be eating it, instead just clinging onto it. Should I try placing it in a different position?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Update: He's found the sweet potato but doesn't seem to actually be eating it, instead just clinging onto it. Should I try placing it in a different position?

Probably leave it where it is. If the fish has found it, it maybe waiting for "lights out" before feeding, or possibly for the top layers to soften a bit.

The advantages of Sweet Potatoes are that they are high in nutrients, and that you can use slices from the same "potato" over a long time period.

cheers Darrel

 

[PicothePleco]

He's getting worse, I've tried raw and blanched, all he does is cling to it, I've also tried other veggies and protein and he'll ignore it. I've checked my parameters and they were all fine, temp is in the acceptable range, the only thing is that the water has the brownish tinge from the tannins in the driftwood, but I wouldn't think that it'd affect feeding habits. There was only one other fish in the tank with him which had to be removed as it had contracted DGD, and neither showed signs of aggression towards each other when they had been in together.