I found a great deal on a queen arabesque pleco this week, so it's at home now. Put him in the 10g quarantine tank, along with the current population (3 lemon tetras, 2 bronze cories, one oto).

When I put it in the tank, it basically found a cave, settled in, and does not appear to have moved in roughly 40 hours. I've read a few times that it's normal for plecos to hide for a "couple of days", but ... not moving for almost two days seems like it's taking "hiding" to the extreme. Should I be concerned? If so, what might I do?

He's not dead; I know that. Appears to be breathing ok (or slowly, at least -- I have never had a pleco before, but slow breathing seems to be a good sign for other fish) I also dropped a slice of cucumber (blanched) a few inches away from him yesterday, and it's still fully intact. He had access to some sinking wafer, and part of an algae wafer, too, but I'm not sure who ate that.

just keep an eye on him. he sound fine, try touching himand he will probably swim away.

ste

Yes this normally happens with Plecos. Just keep an eye on him. The hardest test for a Pleco keeper is to get the Pleco addapted to his new home. They like to hide normally so he is quite happy. Feed food before lights out and he is likely to come out when it is dark to feed.

Good Luck

My pleco did the same thing, he still hides in his cave for long periods of time but if I sneak up on the tank he is usually swimming around.

Thanks for the replies.

He's still in the same spot, but he's flipped over (no, not that way, in a good way!).

The cave he's in is really a "tent" made from two pieces of slate, and he's flipped over, and is now stuck to the underside of one of the rocks. Seems like a good sign.

My Pleco sits underneath the rock in my mini cave. I think you can see him in my signature pic. Most of the day, he is there. Sometimes I will catch him moving about. I also asked my lfs and he said they are MOST active at night. I wouldn't worry too much about yours!

Mike

EDIT: He is the "shadow" underneath the rock in the center. Hard to make out, but that is him!

This post has been edited by Mike&Diana: Feb 14 2004, 08:49 PM

I feed my Plec bloodworm, cichlid diet, sinking pellets, flakes and he eats algae. Mine in the day is under a log and will only come out if there is food. Mine is also out at night. Turn lights off and put in some bloodworm or something and then come back in five minutes with a torch. Put the torch on dim and slowly turn it up and the Plec is there. I feed my fish with a dim light on in the room so they are used to light and I can check them over for disease without disturbing them because they think it is the sun setting.