How to feed shy L260s

[lstratton]

Hi there,
I am new to this forum and new to keeping plecs. I have had otos for ages, but never plecs. Anyway, I am in the process of setting up a new 65 US gallon heavily planted tank. I do all the standard planting stuff - ferts, CO2 (pressurised), eco complete, high lighting etc. I also have a fair bit of flow on the tank because it will eventually house 10 otos, 2 L260s and 5 South American pufferfish (they are fast, but not nasty like their relatives and I already have them in another tank but am upgrading and they shoal with the otos, so will be fine with the L260s). Now I knew that L260s were shy and that they like meaty food with some veg, this is why I have put them in the tank first (don't worry I have added a mature external filter on, so no cycling), so that I could get them into a routine of feeding before I add the puffers.
My question is, I have been leaving some food out for them when the lights go off and a bit of it gets eaten, but they don't come out when the lights are on (they already have their hiding spots), so can you tame them to come to you to feed, so that I can see them eating, if so how do you go about it???
Thankyou in advance for any help

[MatsP]

They will probably get less shy, but high lighting and L260 isn't an ideal match - they would feel much better in a tank with low lighting and a few floating plants, lots of crevices to hide in.

--
Mats

[lstratton]

Okay, thankyou.
They have lots of crevices to hide in, in the form of lots of driftwood as I have a lot of moss growing on it, so places to hide are not a problem, guess the lighting will be something that I will have to try to work with.
Thankyou

[Mike_Noren]

I don't know if this is a common experience with these fish, but my L-260 refused to leave their caves or to eat until I raised the temperature to 27 - 29 celsius. I wouldn't say they ever became outgoing fish, but after I'd raised the temperature they would come out occasionally during the day, and started to eat.

[apistomaster]

L260 is a shy species. A few things help over come this to some extent but they will always be cautious.
They really need warm water so always keep them between 28*C and 30*C.83.4*F to 86*F.
They do best in groups of six or more.
They should have a cave for each fish even if they do not use them all the time.
Given these conditions you will often see them out from a distance but should they detect your presence they will run to the nearest hide out.

I feed my group mainly live black worms, frozen blood worms and earthworm sticks. Feed them lightly during the day and more heavily at lights out.
That there should be a good current and at least one air stone to keep the dissolved O2 near saturation point for the high temps is a given.
If you want a dwarf fancy pleco that is much bolder than L260 will ever be, I would consider trying some Panaque sp L204. This is a bolder species and will come out to eat in broad daylight. Make sure the L204 have drift wood to graze on or they will not thrive.

[lstratton]

thankyou for that. I will turn the temp up a bit then and put an air stone in by the caves that they have decided to live in. Hopefully that will make them a bit less shy.