Help with 2 x L190s sunken belly

[jacksonsjones]

:dk:
Hi there,

I have two royals, 1 is about 18cms long and the other is about 14cm.
Both are in a community tank with some BNs, a couple of Peps, 2 x L333s and 2 x L397s in a 4 ft x 2ft. Plenty of plants, logs and rocks and the Royals are by far the largest in the tank. Gravel substrate, good aeration, good filtration.

These two royals have been together for the last 2years since we acquired them. They used to prefer a certain log cave and rarely were seen. However recently, both have been up on the glass and not hiding. Because they are on the glass, we now see both have sunken bellys, with the smaller quite severe.

They are fed Hakari wafers and some pellets for small tetras in the tank. Occassionally they get Zuccini. This diet has not changed for over a year at least.

Is this Royal to Royal agreession or agression with other plecos in the tank?

Could it be a parasite or diet related?

Could it be the layout of the tank or territory related due to other Plecos in the tank?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jackson]

Heavy water changes 50% at least move around some stuff in the tank and do a good vac as well.

Tell us more about you water perams and so on.

I would feed them some frozen green peas with no shell on. Try some raw carrots and some white potato peel on or off.
I don't even bother with zucchini anymore it makes a mess and mostly goes uneaten.

I think the problem is diet related.
You are not feeding enough raw vegetables to them. IME hikari wafers are no good and I will never use them. Fish seem to become bloated and overall never looked vibrant and really healthy. I haven't used them in years.
Try some NLS I really like the results I've had with the mega fish formula. My panaque love them. They look great and are have showed some nice growth.

 

[matubula]

To me, it sounds like they probably aren't getting enough food. The way Panaque (in general) are designed, is to consume a large amount of low quality food. Naturally, their target food medium is algae/biofilm (auwfuchs) and the organisms that live on and in wood surfaces. Consequently, with their large spoon shaped teeth and powerful jaws, they consume a lot wood as a result.

So in captivity we should try to replicate this as closely as possible. The aquarium should have lots of wood surfaces for them to rasp on, and also provide extra food like mixed vegetables and wafers/pellets.

The other plecos will compete for food with L190 (the L397 a little more since they are Panaque/Panaqolus) but only you can say if they are out-competing them. You could increase the amount of zucchini (and try other vegetables like sweet potato and carrots) you feed to twice a week, as the L190 are the most capable of eating these. And add extra pieces of wood.

A sign of parasites is usually long, white, stringy poo. So unless this is apparent then I wouldn't treat for it.

 

[Irene0100]

oh dear, lets hope its not too late. I also think the algae wafers should be occasionally fed and not the main part of diet. to fatten these up put veggies in every day, and some in late eve to eat at night. some peas (raw or cooked) with skin off, and then some of something else, as suggested.
a photo of the tank might help to see if there are other suggestions we can make.

 

[bigbird]

agree with the others. These 2 are competing with BN, peps, L333, L397 and I am sure it seems like the are last on the pecking order for food. More vegies are needed and maybe for the time being, get plastic egg crate and divide the tank into 2, place them in one half and concentrate on feeding them and fattening them up. I would also try garlic over the veggies to make them possibly eat these. I would also do a water change and gravel vac. good luck and hope them make it. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[jacksonsjones]

Thanks all for your suggestions.
Last night I added more drift wood and in the process of increasing veggies in their diet.

I take what bigbird said about the Royals might still be the last on the pecking order for food. As such, do you guys think there might be soom merit in placing them in a smaller tank by themselves so to ensure they are not competing for food?
I have access to a 2ft tank which I can run a small eheim filter on the weekend.

I am just concerned if I isolate them that, this might cause them to stress even more.

What do you guys think?

 

[ccole]

Hi there,
I think what the rest of the guys are saying is spot on.
I also think you definitely should not move them from one tank to another, at this point
buggies suggestion of the egg create means that you would not be changing any waster
parameters-which you would do if you put them in another tank, even if you used the same
water.
Can you tell us what your Ph,gh,kh etc is?

Ok that's my two cents worth-listen to these people they knowwhat they are saying
If you don't know what your water parameters are then say now so people can help.

Cc

 

[Jackson]

IMO there is no way the other plecs can stand up to a hungry panaque. Just the sizes of yours alone would make it hard for the others. They're strong fish who can be very aggressive if need be.

I agree leave them in the tank. No need to stress them with a move