Hi All,

Just thought I'd share my joy at getting an L066 King Tiger Plec. I bought it earlier today from Swallow Aquatics in Colchester. They had a few in stock, but I picked one that I felt sorry for that was being kept in a Betta tank.

It has plenty of places to hide, and I was expecting it to do so for a while until it felt safe in it's new environment, but initially it was confidently swimming around the tank, and sticking onto the front glass.

I know I've only had it 5 minutes, but I am a little worried that after being active for 30 minutes, it has been very still on the bottom of my tank with it's dorsal fin down. I put a meaty sinking pellet in the tank which it eventually found, a long while after my BN and Corys, but it didn't seem to be eating any, the Corys were eating around it. It has been in pretty much the same place right at the front of the tank for about half an hour. If it was hiding I'd be less concerned. Maybe it's just acclimatizing to the 32G tank from the 15cm3 Betta tank?

It has been at the LFS for at least 3 weeks as I've admired it each time I've visited, so I would expect it must have been eating to have survived that long. I should imagine that wood and algae eating plecs suffer more from not eating enough rather than the carnivorous plecs?

Here are some pics taken when it was being active:





Does it look a heathy? A good weight, no sunken eyes (I'm not sure how obvious that would be)?

Is it able to be sexed? Its 3" to the tip of its tail.



Andy

This post has been edited by Aqua Andy: Oct 17 2007, 06:44 PM

nice looking plec my lfs also has these in i think thay have sold 2 in 4-5 weeks. If you dont mind me asking what did he/she cost ?. my lfs has them @ £29.50 and there 2-2 1/2" max in size.

Hi,

It cost the same £29.50.


Andy

looks very skinny in that last photo

Lovely plec.

Belly looks a bit sunken though.


This post has been edited by Leonwillow: Sep 15 2007, 10:03 PM

looks a bit on the thin side but has nice colour and eyes these plecs like warmer temperatures and lots of oxygen hard to sex from those pictures and a little young at 3 inches. If I had to say, I would sat its a Male. Make sure he has meat availible mine get muscle and bloodworm on a regular basis and have also adapted to eating tetra prima. Expect him to go into hiding and as he settles in he will appear out more often. I have a group of 3 that I have been trying to breed now for some time without any sucess. Any questions please ask.

Ian

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

For it to have survived at the LFS for 3 weeks, do you think it must have been eating?

I added some frozen bloodworm and a meaty sinking pellet to my 32G tank last night, and it didn't even move. When I checked this morning it was still at the front of the tank, and was hardly moving. As it is competing with the other fish in the tank, especially the Corys, for the same food, I decided to move it to my 10G so that the food I put in will not be consumed as quickly. It initially explored for about an hour, as it did in the 32G. I added a meaty sinking pellet, and it swam over it a couple of times but ignored it, and my Tetras eventually ate it. It now lays motionless at the back of the tank behind some driftwood.

I have raised the temperature from 26c to 28c, the pump is on full power with the nozzle positioned to maximize surface breakage, and I am not using lighting and keeping the room as dark as possible. I bought some cooked prawns from Tesco, I couldn't find any muscles, and I plan to add one when it gets dark.

I hope it starts eating soon.


Andy

I don't think that fish has eaten for a while no, its very skinny

moving it to its own tank was a good idea, try soaking any foods in garlic extract or rubbing with garlic it can stimulate the appetite.

good luck

Very attractive 066 there - But it does look very skinny ...

I cant offer anything more that the above really

In its own tank it'll have no competition for food so you'll be able to keep a close eye on what it is or isn't eating...

Give it a lot of cover so it feels secure too.

Good luck

Hi all,

Thanks very much for your replies, I really appreciate it. I feel so helpless. The only positive is that I have hopefully given it a chance of survival.

As you can probably tell I was hoping for someone to say someting along the lines of "You've got nothing to worry about mate, it happens all the time he'll be eating like a common plec in no time."

Last night I added half of a prawn. I checked the tank every half hour or so. It found the prawn and moved it to a new location and it had it underneath it's mouth. When I checked this morning he had moved to the front of the tank, the prawn was still underneath his mouth, but it was not moving, I could just see it breathing.

Is anyone able to tell me how good a sign this is. It seems like it is at least trying to eat, although it doesn't look like it has eaten alot of the prawn.

Should I cut the prawns I feed into smaller pieces?

I plan to add half of a meaty sinking pellet tonight as I think this will be easier to eat and have more nutritional value?

On a completely different note, does anyone know how I can ammend the title and subtitle of a post? I've seen it done to other peoples posts, but I can't work out how to do it.


Andy

Hi. The belly is very sucken in, which is unfortunately not a good sign. The fish will not have eaten in the shop, and won't have eaten from about 3 days prior to shipping to the shop. You need to get it to eat something soon, or fear the worst. Offer Cucumber, corgette, muscle or a few bloodworm. Blanch the vegies prior to feeding, to make them sink better and to soften them up. If he eats something (I say he as I am pretty shure it is a he), he will soon be eating like a common. If he hasen;t eaten within 48 hours, regretably he may never eat again. Try to keep the lights on only for a few hours, as they are mostly nocturnal eaters (from observations of my own trio), thus the lights beeing off will encurage him to eat. You can sex L066 by the distance between the anal fins. The skinny looking ones are male, wider are female. As there are no other plecs in your tank of similar saize and same species, it is hard to make a comparrison and say for shure male/female. Some say colouration also deturmin sex, with males having blured stripes and females having more defined ones. This would cast dobt over mine and another members verdict on sexing, however, the girth is a far more accurate way of sexing these fish IMO.
HTH
rabbut

This post has been edited by rabbut: Sep 17 2007, 10:07 PM

If he showing signs of eating the food i.e. sitting on top of it that is good. Just leave him well alone and hopefully he will keep eating. Try not to keep disturbing him. they can take a while to settle. Mine still dissapear as soon as I go into the room and they are used to me they have been there for well over a year.

All I can suggest is keep offering food when the lights are out and hope for the best. Make sure you remove any uneaten food after 24 hours otherwise it will have a nagative effect on your water chemistry.

HTH

Ian

Hi guys,

Once again thanks for your support and advice. I really appreciate it as I'm worried for the little guy.

On Sunday night I put in half a prawn and there was a little left when I got home from work yesterday. Last night I put in another half of prawn, but cut into two pieces. When I checked this morning I couldn't see any left overs, although it could be hidden under the drift wood.

I didn't realise that Hypancistrus ate greens? I have algae waffers and fresh courgette that I could feed. I was thinking of adding tonight some blanched courgette and some frozen bloodworm?

I'm not using the tank lighting at all, and I'm not using the room light or opening the blinds so the room is pretty dark all the time.


Andy

Really nice pleco wonderful.

That difinately sounds promisnig. Hypancistrus are omnivores, so will eat both greens and meaty foods. Offer both, and they will pick enough of both by themselves to make a good diet. Blanched corgette should go down well once he gets the idea it is food, so definately worth a try.
Good luck, He is loverly
rabbut

Hi,

Unfortunately he passed away while I was at work today.

Once again thanks for all of the support and advice, it is very much appreciated.


Andy

sorry to hear mate...

But you can rest in the knowledge that it wasnt your fault

Does the shop have a refund policy?

Yeah, I need to return the fish, with a 1/2 pint water sample within 5 days which ends tomorrow. I'm going to have to ask my boss if I can be late for work tomorrow. There will probably be some technicality that they will not accept liability.

I'm fairly happy that I'm not responsible for him dying, but I was stupid to buy him.


Andy