Not to echo Eric, but thank you (and your cohort) for putting the box around another aspect of the current mass extinction. Cheers. This type of research never goes out of fashion, so hoping you're not saying "last" to soon
Is there anything I can do to prevent this in the future ? (apart from catching the early signs)
Perhaps feeding your fish little bits at a time, but more often. This way the fish dont miss anything, and the pleco doesnt get anything you dont want it to.
I would not leave zucchini in tank water for more than 12 hours.. That stuff goes soggy as all hell. and when you try lift it out and it goes everywhere. Cant be good for the water parameters.
Male ancistrus have lots of bristles on their face. Dolcihopterus is no different. The females have perhaps 2 that are really noticable that stick out the very end of her face.
Im not sure why, but these guys seem to take longer to mature than common bristlenose. My males were about 7-8 cm ...