Treating malnourished L273

[DHarris]

A couple of days ago I came into possession of an L273 in really rough shape. Apparently the store that had it initially put it in a tank full of L114, which beat it badly. They separated it and it's been slowly healing. That said, it's belly, eyes and area behind it's head are all very sunken.

The day I took it, it went into my tank and was somewhat active and ate a tiny bit. Day two, I put it in a mesh nursery thinking it'd get better access to food. Since adding it to the nursery, I've not seen it eat. It seems to just hang on the sides and not do much else. There isn't a lot of extra room for it to move around.

Am I better off letting the fish roam and hopefully feed or keep it isolated despite it not appearing to eat in the nursery and looking generally cramped?
I guess I'm conflicted between making sure it's separated and has constant access to food or if being in the nursery is going to do more harm by stressing the fish further.

[bekateen]

Maybe @PseudaSmart can advise.

Good luck. Eric

[Linus_Cello]

Keep tank dark. Add extra aeration

[Jobro]

I don't think it will eat in the nursery. Plecos don't eat when they don't feel save. They need cover.

[PseudaSmart]

How big is it? If over 3” will do better in a darker tank.

[MonsterFishMonger]

This thread is very helpful. I have one as well it’s still settling in only had it about 2.5-3 weeks and it spent the first 2 days in the back corner of the tank by my filter intake and then it eventually moved under the diagonal slate and since then I ve never seen it come out. It either lays on the bottom which is now bare because it has pushed all the substrate to either end of the cave or it hangs on the slate. It’s in a 40 breeder with my breeding colony of Ethelwynnae Peacocks and I tend to keep that tank lit from 2pm-7 or 8pm (really love watching these peacocks). I will however darken the tank more. I have a 2 10 gals which are blacked out and only have substrate In them I ve been lookin for a reason to do something with them. Does anyone think keepin a single 273 in a 10 gal that I can build a nice rock scape for it will b safe or comfortable for it ? It’s about 7-8 inches maybe more can’t really say for certain but it’s definitely not small.