Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

All posts regarding the care and breeding of these catfishes from South America.
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Arlington
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Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

Post by Arlington »

I have around 65 Ancistrus triradiatus fry 4 days old and the yoke is gone yet they still will not feed on anything? Ive tried cucumber and soaked crushed flake. I'm not sure what to try next. Open to suggestions please.
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Firestorming
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Re: Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

Post by Firestorming »

Have you lost any yet? Keep the food available but dont let it sit and make the water quality turn poor, I keep my fry concentrated in a fry saver so food is always near them rather than having to patrol an entire tank looking.
Good luck with them.
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Barbie
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Re: Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

Post by Barbie »

At 4 days hatched, the yolk is not absorbed yet. Their abdomens will still look quite yellow in the light of a flashlight. Don't panic just yet and definitely be very careful not to pollute their water trying to get them to eat. They will live much longer with no food and great water conditions than even a day with any ammonia or nitrite. Once they start to eat is soon enough to be desperate to keep their water clean enough with the amount of waste they will be putting off ;).

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Re: Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

Post by pleco_breeder »

I don't know if I've ever raised true triradiatus, but have had several that were sold to me as such. Regardless, fry don't immediately show a feeding response as soon as the yolk is gone. More often than not, it seems to be about a week after hatching before they really start to swarm foods. This is also about the same time most will start leaving the fathers cave. If you're sure they're old enough to eat, I normally start primarily herbivorous Ancistrus on french cut green beans with pretty good luck. Don't add too much initially though as it can cause an infusoria bloom which starts depleting the oxygen levels pretty quickly.

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Zeno
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Re: Baby plecos not eating!!! Now what?

Post by Zeno »

Why do you think they don't eat ?
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