Worried about my pleco

[NGerdes]

Posted this in the catfish forum, but got no responses.

I have a starry night pleco (L-183 I think), basically a bristlenose. Anyways, I added him to the tank a little over 2 weeks ago (he's barely 2 inches long right now). But he hasn't seemed to be eating at all. There is little to no algae in my tank, so I have been trying to add food for him. I have tried everything from zuccinni (sp) to cucumbers to carrots, and he doesn't appear to be eating any of it. At first he seemed fine, always attached to the driftwood or one of the caves, but today, he was just laying on the substrate and appeared to be breating ackwardly. This is my first pleco, so I don't know too much about them, but it just didn't look right. My water parameters are steady at 7.5PH Amm and Nitrite both 0 and Nitrate under 25PPM, no shifts, spikes or anything unusuall. I do weekly 20-25% water changes and he has been through 2 of them, the last one on Saturday. So I don't know what it is. I don't think it's the water, because my Blue Rams I figured would be showing stress quicker than the pleco would, because they are so sensitive, but every other fish in the tank is fine (Rams, cories, tetras). Maybe I'm jumping the gun and he is fine, he just doesn't look right. I just ordered some algae wafers hoping that maybe he would eat those better, but I don't know if that will work either.

[blitzen25bm]

hikari sinking wafers would work, but since its been over 2 weeks should you get it fast instad of waiting for it to get shipped to you. shrimp pellets also work and mine likes little pieces of shrimp

[NGerdes]

I ordered those same wafers, and I have the shrimp pellets already have been feeding them for my cories. Maybe that's what he's been eating when he's just sitting on the substrate? The cories tear it apart, and leave almost like a dusting on the sand, but the next day, it's all gone, I thought it was the cories running clean-up on the sand, maybe it's the pleco after lights out? And I know plecos are always the most active fish, especially during the day, but something just doesn't seem right.:confused:

[NGerdes]

Well, I ran to the store to get the wafers, and when I got back, my pleco was dead. I still don't know what it was. All of the other fish are fine, and I checked the water again and the readings where the same as above. I checked him, and he looked like his underbelly was red, maybe some type of gill infection or something? I don't know. I add water conditioner at a waterchange, and plant ferts, but nothing else, and the last waterchange was saturday. I think he maybe starved to death, I feel so :shake: . I want to keep plecos so bad. At least now, if I get anotherone I'll have the wafers ready. Any ideas what might be wrong or advise for future?