# Pleco not eating



## jeffnc (Oct 30, 2010)

I have a 15 gallon tank with 4 small goldfish for my son. It's winter and the water temp is 70 degrees. The goldfish have appeared super healthy for several months. The ammonia level in the tank is close to 0 if not 0. Green algae has been slowly increasing over the last couple months, and we wanted to add an interesting fish, and since there are not too many that would go with goldfish that are not goldfish, we decided to try a rubber lip Pleco to kill 2 birds with one stone. The temp range is not perfect but I've read success stories with them with goldfish so I thought we'd try it. It's been in there 5 days now and as far as I know hasn't eaten. I took the goldfish out and left the Pleco in there with an algae wafer, but it appears untouched, so I'm assuming the previous algae wafer was eaten by the goldfish. The tank was cleaned of algae (not all new water though) last week, but there is a small amount of algae now and it appears untouched as well. Anyone know what's going on with the Pleco? Heating the water up a few degrees with a heater wouldn't be a big problem - I'm sure the goldfish would be OK with it, but I'm not sure what to expect in terms of this fish "adjusting".


----------



## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Your temperature is at the lower limit for plecos. A more typical temperature is 75+. Raising the tempeeratue will help the Pleco but probably not the Goldfish. If you increase the temperature, add aeriation. Goldfish are very aggresive eaters and may not be leaving enough for the Pleco. A 15G tank really only has room for a small (<4 inches) pleco. Plecos like to have places to hide like rocks, caves or tall plants. You should leave the Algae on the sides and back of your tank alone for your Pleco to feed on. They like to hang on to the sides of the tank and munch away.


----------



## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

I'd agree, you'll probably need to raise the temp a bit for the pleco to get a lot of activity out of it, like anybody they're not going to be as active when they're cold, nor will they thrive as well at the bottom of their temp range. Goldfish will do fine a little warmer. You might try slices of zucchini (microwaved for a few seconds) or cucumber for your pleco. It is hard for the goldfish to eat these up so quickly the pleco doesn't get its share, and plecos like them. There are metal screws people sell specifically for putting through cukes and zukes so they sink and plecos can eat them (and goldies benefit from a bit of veg - they get constipated on a diet of nothing but flakes sometimes. )


----------



## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

I've had my pleco for almost 6 months now and I have never actually seen him eat. Anytime I put in algae wafers they seemed untouched but he is still alive. He's always stuck to the glass somewhere (he's a sucker mouth) so I'm assuming at least some of that time he is eating something. There is also no noticeable algae in the tank either.


----------



## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

Not sure if anyone has said this yet, but Plecos are nocturnal, so feed them right before shutting off the light for the night. Maybe this will keep the goldfish from eating the food before the pleco has a chance.

I do the zucchini thing - I just put two slices (one for my snail and one for the pleco) in a little water in a glass measuring cup. I microwave them til they sink in the water. Then I put them in cold water til cool, then drop them into the tank. In the morning, you will know if the pleco is eating because all that will remain of the zucchini slice is the rind  (which you then need to take out, at least I do because the fish won't eat it)

My pleco is in with guppies at 80 degrees and is an absolutely happy pleco. Good luck!


----------



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Be careful about over feeding. As they grow you are going to have water quality problems with those fish in a 15 gallon tank.


----------



## thenewseverum (Nov 23, 2010)

I have 2 plecos, almost never seem them during the day, I have fresh spinach in my tank, they must be eating it because it slowly disappears and the plecos bellies are always fat.


----------



## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

My plecos never hide, except when I am around. My little one in a 20G is always at the front of the tank and doesn't care if I am there or not. My 16 incher hides upside down in a flower pot, 1/3 its size. The fish tank lights are on most of the time so this may be why they don't hide a lot


----------

