Golden Nugget pleco wont EAT

[J [dot] L]

Hi i bought a golden nugget pleco yesterday, and it is around 2 inches long. but it wont eat. he never goes down to the bogwood, he stays on the side of the tank or on the side of the filter box.

What should i do?
Would it die if it doesnt eat?

Thanks
Jonathan

[shaggbark]

Give him some time, he will get more comfortable in the tank in another day or two. Are there places for him to hide in the tank? The bogwood is a good start, they need that. Might I suggest a piece of black PVC pipe from Lowes or Home Depot, perfect for hiding. Nuggets are very sensitive to water quality, make sure to keep your water super clean. They enjoy veggies like squash and cucumbers clipped to the side of the tank, perhaps that would persuade him to eat. Peeled peas are also a treat. Some suggest blanching the veggies with garlic for extra flavor. The biggest challenge for L-18 is to keep them eating in the long run, and again the water quality. Best of luck and keep us posted. They are beautiful fish. 8) Michelle

[clayt101]

They are very fragile. How long was he at the LFS? What are you feeding it? If possible, put it into its own tank for awhile with the lights out. See if you can get some live black worms or if not, try some frozen blood worms. That might help.

[J [dot] L]

he can also hide in a cave, under a piece of wood. i have no idea how long he has been in the lfs. i've tried algae wafers - not interested in it.
Tried a slice of boiled cucumber, not interested yet.
Do they eat blood worms aswell? I thought they were only herbivores, or are they omnivores?

It does have a sunken in belly a bit, but i couldnt resist lol, also they gave me a discount, so i thought i'll give it a go.

cheers for the replies

[ostrangeone89]

Well if he has a sunken belly then there might not be much hope for him! I wouldn't of bought him.

My Pleco just started eating what I was giving him, he didn't eat anything I gave him for a month but he also did not have the sunken belly. If he has a sunken belly I'd get the lights off and blanche some veggies and make sure you attach them to something heavy so it can go down right to the bottom for him.

[dreadboy113]

Hi all. I'm havin exactly the same problem. I bought a lovely lookin gold nugget plec 4 days ago, but it has been hidden away behind the filter intake. I've read on many sites that gold nuggets are extremely shy fish. I'm tryin the squash rubbed in garlic tonight so i shall see how it goes.

[J [dot] L]

isnt there any way of reviving a pleo with a sunken belly?

[dreadboy113]

Sorry i can't answer that. I have a gibby plec and a ringlet plec and i've had no problem with feedin them just with the gold nugget. Good luck with your gold nugget. Hope it makes it through.

[J [dot] L]

does anyone know how long a pleco would last without food?

[Barbie]

In good condition, he could go weeks without food, no problem. The fact that he isn't hiding tells me that he's either very sick or something is stressing him in the tank, be it water quality, or other fish. What else is in with him? Gold nuggets do MUCH better when acclimated into warmer water for a few weeks to help jumpstart their system after being in a wholesale environment. I usually try to keep them at 84 degrees or above. There are actually 3 species of fish sold as gold nuggets. They'll all be omnivores and would be much more apt to eat mysis shrimp and bloodworms than vegetable matter when they're struggling. Increased aeration also won't hurt. These are nocturnal fish. I don't ever see mine eat, but I do see the food disappear. This is why they need a quarantine type set up so you can monitor what they're consuming and what not.

Barbie

[SpitRhyma]

L;1104417']Hi i bought a golden nugget pleco yesterday, and it is around 2 inches long. but it wont eat. he never goes down to the bogwood, he stays on the side of the tank or on the side of the filter box.

What should i do?
Would it die if it doesnt eat?

Thanks
Jonathan

LMAO!!!
Wow and I thought I worried too much about my fish. Come on man "i bought the pleco yesterday" is the key to the answer. Be very impressed with fish that DO eat on their first day in a new tank (after a drive in a small plastic bag...) because most won't. Especially shy fish like fancy plecos and such.

BUT for the future... here are some tips:

Now if you don't see him feeding in the day time... try getting getting your tank completely dark for a few hours in a dark room. Then adjust your eyes to the darkness, and come look now... If he's constantly moving around and looks like he's sucking then he's looking for food.

If his stomache is always skinny and there is no significant algae in the tank then throw in algae wafers. If there is algae in the tank... your fish is too shy for it's environment and will probably die soon.

If it rejects wafers completely, you have to create your own live algae. Take a peice of wood (plecos/catfish often eat wood too) and put it in a small bowl of water. Get one of those 6 dollar desk lamps from Osh. Buy the most powerfull compact flourescent BULB that will fit and put the wood under heavy lighting 24/7. For your water, you can use the water you syphon from your gravel to maximize nitrite production (like fish manure). Make sure you sit the wood in a nitrite free bowl of water for a while before throwing it near your pleco's favorite hiding spot. If this doesn't work either then prepare for a loss.

If your pleco (or other fish) gets so skinny from starvation that it looks deformed and it's stomache gets sucked in it's probably going to die. Always check plecos and hard to feed fish before buying them from the petshop for this... I don't know for a fact but I believe a fish'es stomache can actually heal if it doesn't eat long enough. I've seen fish so skinny that they're partially transparent and I can see the food go in their mouth and stays in their head for a while... then they spit it out and try to eat another one. It's a sad sad thing :(

Good luck fellow fish keepers...

[Mudfrog]

Now you have me wondering about the L018 I just purchased about 4-5 days ago. Although it does constantly hide and I have seen it swimming around some. However I have not seen it eat yet. I'll have to keep an eye on him. I might have to set up a new tank for him as the fish he is in with are very very messy fish and I'm thinking that could cause problems...

[Mudfrog]

Well came home from work today to a dead L018.. I guess it died from not eating but by the time I found him the others had torn into him.