Pleco not eating

[ninja]

I bought a pleco awhile ago as well as some sinking waffers because there was no algea growing in my tank so I wanted to feed him. Hoever, he does not eat the sinking waffers and he doesn't move around the tank very much, he usally just stays in one spot sucking on the glass. I bought a light for my tank and keep it on alot in hopes of growing some algea so he won't starve. I posted because he is really skinny(like anerexic skinny) and won't eat any food. I put lettuce in there as well as an amazon sword hoping he'll eat on or the other but he doesn't. He just sits there.

Also is it ok to have sand on the bottom of the tank. Right now its about half sand half gravel and I'm thinking that plecos don't like the sand so I might remove all of it. And how long does it take algea to grow in a tank and are there any means of speeding up the process.

Thanks

 

[sandyd]

Sorry to hear your pleco is not eating. They are nocturnal, so the light may be bothering him. Mine only move around the tank if the lights are off. I feed mine those sinking discs as well as bloodworms, they also eat brine shrimp pellets and mine absolutely love cucumber. Have you tested the water to make sure that something in the water is not bothering him? I do not have any idea about the sand sorry, i have gravel in all of my tanks. I am sure someone else will be around that will be more able to help.
Sandy

 

[cryosi]

hiya sand and gravel should be no problems i use both in my tanks, one a snad tank , and the others gravel or a mix. First off do you know kindof loricarridae (plec) you have. How big is he/she! DOes it have a sunken or a swollen belly? or does it look flat. What other tank mates have you got? How big is the tank?

 

[ninja]

He/she(don't know) is about 1.5 inches. At first I thought it was a common pleco but the more pictures I see of bristle noses the more I think he could be a type of bristle nose. Right now he is in a 10 gallon but he is only 1.5 inches long so he should be okay until I get a bigger tank. In his section(got it divided with a tank divider because the betta was aggressive) there is about eight gallons which he shares with 2 tiger barbs(don't show any signs of aggression) and an amazon sword as well as a big piece of drift wood. His stomach is sunken in alittle but mostly he is just overall skinny.

 

[Alien Anna]

Bristlenoses are very shy (mine is practically agrophobic) and if they can't find somewhere to hide they might get so stressed they don't eat. Make sure yours has plenty of hiding places and leave shelled frozen peas out for him at night.

 

[reg2k2]

I don't know if this will help, but my pleco won't touch the wafers. He's eaten pellets all his life, but there again I tried a diff. brand pellet...wouldn't go for it.
Keep trying...hope he eats soon.