Plec not eating

[Def]

Hi all,

Got my first plec - an L18 gold nugget on Saturday, put him in quarantine. In the tank is a big piece of bogwood and a fake plastic log for hiding in. Since saturday he hasn't eaten (I've tried cucumber, lettuce and an algae tablet but none have been touched overnight). He's sucking on the outside of the log - he does move from the otuside to the inside occasionally, but he's totally ignoring the cucumber slice and the big bit of bogwood. Both are within 5 inches of where he is at the moment.

Should I just leave him? Or should I move him onto the bogwood/cucumber? I'm a bit concerned he's not eaten since Saturday (and however many days before that since the shop fed him). He looks physically fine.

Anything to worry about?

 

[karrihug]

if he is sucking on the bogwood i would leave him for a few more days. continue to offer veggies and algea wafers, and clean up any uneaten. he should be ok. personally i will leave a piece of zuccinni in my tank for about 48 hours. scoobie rarely touches it the first night, but will eat 1/4 of a zuccinni on the second night. must soften up or something.

sorry you said sucking on the log. still let him get used to the new home, and he is probably going to the bogwood while you are sleeping.

 

[Nidge]

I agree with Karrihug, Give the fish a few days to settle in and offer it fresh food daily, Its ok to leave zuccinni in for a day.
I would say it will come out of its shell shortly.
Remember fish can go a long time without food so dont worry to much.

 

[Def]

Cheers guys... I'm trying CFC's suggestion of a mussel right now, with a towel over the tank to keep it dark. I'll have to see how things go.

 

[Def]

Ok, he didn't touch the mussel, I've removed it. I also had to remove the bogwood, it dropped the PH from 7.4-ish to 6.5-ish. Did a 40% ish water change to help level it out.

So I'm back to worrying. He's not eaten in 3 nights now, he's still moving around the plastic log. I've tried mussel, algae table, cucumber and lettuce, all no luck.

Any ideas?

 

[Def]

Now tried shelled peas, bloodworm and a prawn. Still not eating.

He's moving around more though. Glad I bought that heater guard, he's wedged himself between the heater and the glass.

Any ideas?

 

[Angel Lady]

Hi Def sometimes it is best just to wait it out and see, I am sure that he will start eating soon enough..

 

[Def]

I think he munched most of an algae tablet! Bit hard to tell as I left it in overnight and the hikari ones don't stay as a hard tablet, but I'm fairly sure most of the tablet was gone!

Still didn't touch the prawn though. I'll try cucumber and another tablet tonight.

 

[babyfish]

try a slice of raw potatoe...leave it in for about two days then remove uneaten parts.....Plecs are usually over starved after transit and take some time to begin eating again, the potatoe is a very mild food.

You must put the bogwood back into the tank....plecs need a substance called lignin that the wood provides..... so long as you keep the water in the tank at a stable ph the plec will be fine.

If the water in the q tank is different from the main tank then make sure you acclimatise the plec before you place him in the main tank..... This can be done by placing him in a bucket with some water from the q tank.... using a piece of airline start to syphon water from your main tank into the bucket, once the water is flowing tie a knot in the airline to slow the flow down to a steady drip.
As soon as you have enough water add a heater and leave until the bucket is nearly full, then you can add the fish to the main tank safely.

 

[Def]

Thanks for the potato idea, I'll look at that.

I know about the lignin, but he'll have to live without it for a week at least. My kh is so low (2!!!) that as soon as I put it in, the ph dropped in less than 2 days. I'm adding kh buffer as we speak, but it's going to take a week to get it up to 10 dKH or so. And I'd rather leave him without bogwood for a week than risk a ph drop (it went from 7.4-ish to 6.5-ish in afew days when I put the bogwood in at the start).