Pleco not eating

[DazzleDiscus]

Hello, I've had this particular pleco for about two weeks now, and I don't think he's eating anything that I put in the tank for him. He's getting skinny and I'm kindof getting worried about him. He's about 3 inches long.
Tankmates: 5 corydoras, 1 angelfish, 1 guppy, 3 cardinal tetras.
I've put algae discs, cory pellets, and normal fish food on the bottom of the tank after I turn out the lights, but I think that the coryies might be eating it instead of him.

pH: nuetral 7
ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
NitrAte: around 20

Any comments?

[valice]

Any idea what pleco is it? If it is a herbivour, might want to tempt it with some zucchini or cucumber. Just a slice will do. The cories wouldn't take them so you can be sure that if it is gone,it is the pleco who ate them.

But make sure that the uneaten vegetable is removed after at most 2 days to prevent fouling up of your water.

[AquaObsession]

try add a piece of DW if you have. He would like to have some hiding place. And try not to on the lights if you do not have plants inside.

[DazzleDiscus]

There is a nice size piece of driftwood already in the tank. I had just put in a clean new river rock yesterday, he's been sitting on it most of the day. I don't know the sientific name... first name is the same as the second: Pleco____ Pleco____ something like that... They're very common, you can buy 'em at any fishstore for just a few bucks. I kind of have the feeling that he has to be getting something. How long can a pleco survive without food? Do these particular fish even get fat or do they always look thin?

I keep the lights on for 10 hours a day, the tank is a no-teck, low-light tank.

[valice]

He might be feeding on the micro algae on the driftwood and plants.
Just got to make sure that the eyes and belly are not sunken in.

[DazzleDiscus]

ok, thanks. I'll try the zucchini/cucumber and see if he eats some of that.

[illumnae]

i tried putting some cucumber in my discus tank with plecos as my plecos don't seem to be eating. however, the cucumber floats and doesn't sink, so my pleco doesn't find it to eat...any idea how i can make the cucumber sink so my pleco can find it while it's foraging around?

[valice]

I personally use a wire-tie to tie a small piece of rock to sink the cucumber. Some people I know tie a spoon or fork through the cucumber.

Actually you can use anything to tie to the cucumber to create a negative buoyancy.

[Quixotic]

Or for those interested in gadgets, use the screwcumber!
http://www.screwcumber.com/index.html

Unfortunately, don't think this is available here, and don't think they ship to Singapore either.

[DazzleDiscus]

Wow! a screwcumber... that's an interesting new tool. Are there any other veggies that you can feed plecos besides cucumber and zuckini? What about for other fish such as Angels?

[lyh]

You can feed pumpkins, melons, potato and kale just to name afew
By the way has your plec started eating?

[DazzleDiscus]

no, in fact, I'm a bit ashamed to say that I found him dead... The angelfish had pecked at him, though I'm pretty sure she did it after he had died. She had ignored him while he was living. As I had put food literally under his mouth, and he still did not eat, he must of had a bacterial issue or something. The water quality is fine, no cause for alarm, except that he didn't survive... kinda frustrating.

On a different subject, what is kale? I've never heard of it before. So it's OK to feed fruit as well?

[valice]

Sad to learn that it died. Most probably some internal parasite or bacteria caused its dismise...

I read that some hobbyists do feed fruits. But they kind of turn bad faster than other veges. So got to remove any uneaten food after one night or so.

[lyh]

no, in fact, I'm a bit ashamed to say that I found him dead... The angelfish had pecked at him, though I'm pretty sure she did it after he had died. She had ignored him while he was living. As I had put food literally under his mouth, and he still did not eat, he must of had a bacterial issue or something. The water quality is fine, no cause for alarm, except that he didn't survive... kinda frustrating.

On a different subject, what is kale? I've never heard of it before. So it's OK to feed fruit as well?

So sorry to hear about the bad news . It could be due to intestinal parasite.

Kale is a kind of cabbage do a search and you'll get to see how it looks like. By the way if you want to feed vegetables i would recommend you to feed the stem as the leaves would mess up the water. In addition feed fruits that are not acidic as I have heard plecs die due to consuming them.

[DazzleDiscus]

Also, some of the leaves of vegies are poisonous to humans, such as rhubarb. Course I don't know if fish are hurt by them, but if we can't eat them I don't expect them to be able to eat it.
So don't feed fruit like tomatoes but something like peaches would be ok. I'm not sure if I will even feed them fruit, but since this is all new to me, I might as well get to know all the possibilities. Thank you for all your comments!

[DazzleDiscus]

Yeah, I probably won't be giving them any fruit. Seems that it woul degrade the water quality pretty fast. But cucumber and other vegies doesn't sound bad at all.

[lyh]

Actually I would not recommend cucumber. I would only use it as a last resort to induce my new buys to eat. I fed cucumber once and I gave up. It fouls the water.

[DazzleDiscus]

Even if you don't let it stay in the tank for more than a day?

[lyh]

Yup the last time I used it it dirtied my water very quickly so if you really want to feed them cucumber, you've got to monitor it closely otherwise you'll have to do water change the next day.

[DazzleDiscus]

ok. I'll keep that in mind! thanks everyone for your comments!