King Tiger Pleco Not Eating (L-066)

A

Aries

"Umm...., what is that!!??"
Jan 19, 2003
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Ohio, Dayton
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His color looks good - not really any fading and good and solid black and white stripes. His fins are 98% good (there is one small nick in his dorsal fin). His fins are stuck out all the time. From what I can tell, no one is picking on him. He is in a 30G, he is ~3" (8cm) long and I just got him about 1 week ago.

Water parameters are good. 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 15ppm Nitrate (Planted Tank), 1ppm Phosphate, .25ppm Iron, 16dKh KH, ph=7.4-7.6, GH=24. I do 50% water changes every Saturday regularly.

I have tried everything from Algae Wafers, bloodworms, krill and shrimp pellots. What in the world can I feed him. I am not 100% sure he is not eating but...Reason I ask is because yesterday, he (he is a male) started hanging out in the front of the tank and not moving. He is still alive but listless. He is at the end of a very small current created by a small powerhead.

What can I do??? :confused: :confused:

Thanks

Aries
 
what does his stommach look like? Plecs can go a while (think any fish) without food.
Check sticky at top of forum loads of good suggestions. My plecs go mad for raw potato
 
Try a slice of Squash or Zucchini. Sweet potatoes and yams are also excellent foods for plecos. You may need to blanch/boil the veggies for about a min to soften them a bit, just don't over do it.
 
I blanched a zucchini for him. I will see in the morning if it is touched at all.

I will hope for the best.

Thanks
 
His stomach is not caved in nor are his eyes sunken.

Forgot to answer that :duh:

Aries
 
Just make sure the veggies are on the bottom for him...if they wont sink, weigh them down/tie them to a rock.
 
I blanched a 3" piece of zucchini and placed it in the tank last night.

This morning - it was not touched. I placed it in the cave where he moved to and he ignored it for the whole night. Nobody touched it from the tank.

The good news I guess is that he moved on his own from the cave to somewhere else. I dont know where because it is difficult to find him with the lights off.

Any other ideas or thoughts?

Thanks

Aries
 
I have had my king tiger for about three years. I have yet to actually see him eat. Though i can not say for sure, i think king tigers like meat, not veggies.

I say this because he has lived in a tank where the only food i supplied was meat. However, this tank had an algae problem (which is why i did not worry about him not getting his greens.) I watched closely, and never saw any signs that he was helping me clean off the algae ridden things.

My guy is shy and likes to hid (moves around mostly at night) but it is not unusual for him to come out bask in the sun. We joked that he was out for a tan.

Your guy sounds like mine and I would not worry about him. I mean, always keep your eye peeled for signs he is not doing well, but you do not need to worry. Btw, if you do not mind, how much did you get him for?
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I got him for $30 plus tax. After looking around the web, I think that is a good deal. Check Petsolutions.com (that is my LFS). Of course I did not have to worry about shipping since it was shipped to my LFS.

What was wierd was I could handle him with my hand (attempting to hand feed) and he would not move. Finally, he got up and swam away on his own power. I think I made him mad.

Aries
 
He has taken a turn for the worse. His "face" is red. This is via my fiance at home so I can not explain further. His is also upside down in the front of the tank.

[EDIT] It looks like he is blushing

I am trying to get a pic posted.

Aries

:sad: :sad:
 
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