skinny/fat zebra pleco...why?

[saylaveev]

Well hello, its been ages since I've popped by (getting married/moving/new job etc) but I came back with an interesting question for you all about zebra plecos.

I purchased what was believed to be a male/female pair about 6 months ago. They were eating and very healthy, at least 2 years old.

I put them into a 10 gal tank all their own (water setup for them) and they got a couple of danios for roommates.

I have tried feeding them everything, and at all times of day/night. I never see them eat. One of them (I think it is the female) almost never leaves the safety of her log hiding spot, while the male (?) will come out on occasion.

I have noticed that the more visible one has been getting VERY skinny to the point that I fear his death on a constant basis. Today however, the other one was out, and it has a very plump healthy tummy.

What is going on?

Is it common for the male to eat sparingly and starve while the female eats all the time?

Can anyone help with my delema? I want them to both be healthy.

I feed frozen brine shrimp, blood worms, emerald entree, and a few other mixed frozen foods, along with having tried various veggies and shimp/catfish pellets.

[Barbie]

It is not normal for a male to be thin, no, they should both be plump and happy. I would definitely look into what could be causing the problem with his appetite. Live blackworms, more frequent water changes, whatever it takes to stimulate him. How warm are you keeping them? How often do you do water changes and how much when you do them? Do you need the danios in there swiping their food? If you take out the danios you'll know exactly how much of what is being eaten. I would definitely get all over trying to fix that problem before it's too late.

Barbie

[saylaveev]

Thanks for your thoughts...

I wasn't able to see them eat even before the danios. For the first 3 months I had them totally alone, which was why I thought some dither fish might help out.

I want him to be plump like the other one.. I just don't know what to try. I don't have blackworms available in my area.

My tank temp is about 82, they get a 15-20% water change every 5 days or so (the tank evaporates quickly so I always remove some extra and top up the tank.

I'm not particularly attached to the danios, however if I move them they will become food for the ropefish ( 5 in a 90 gal tank)... I don't mind doing it... but seeing as I was hoping dither fish might make them more willing to come out (they do come out more with other fish in the tank) however I do worry that the danios are eating everything.

I don't know what to do.

[kkorotev]

Barbie is right, they should BOTH be fat (not really FAT, but, fleshy) but in slightly different ways. The male WILL store/pack on a little more OVERALL weight before he begins his egg watch and the female will WIDEN with eggs. It has been my experience that the only adult zebra that will typically look thin (after months in a well fed environment) is a barren female. The reason she is not producing/holding eggs is debatable, but she will look particularly thin if she is 3" and NOT holding eggs.

The other, more sinister possibility is that one or more of the danios were wormy...died, and eaten by the zebra which is now hosting the worms.

That is my opinion.
I am often wrong.
Kevin Korotev

[INXS]

I have 3 thoughts:
- the zebras could be starved if new and the fat one could have bloat. This is likley if the plecos are relativley new or have been chilled in the past few weeks.
If that is the case I would starve them and keep the tank extra clean with large waterchanges , warm water and no food for a few weeks.

-the skinny zebra could have internal parasites as Kevin mentioned. If that is the case - raise the temp slightly, do daily waterchanges and dose metronidazole.

- if the skinny one is simply malnutritioned I would remove the danios and raise the temperature to 86, it seems the metabolism goes way up with warm water.

- sometimes one is just old/sick and withers away for unknown reasons.

Good luck.

[saylaveev]

Thanks to you all for your thoughts. I have what I consider to be a good understanding of fish care and could see some form of "new fish" shock, but they've both been together for at least 3 years now (2 previously in another owners tank). They were both healthy.

The skinny fish was skinny before I ever added any sort of dither fish, infact because I was so worried about their not eating I added dither fish, which did infact bring them out more. I have tried holding the water at about 85 degrees to increase their appetite, it seems to do nothing.

I guess I will just keep trying different foods with lots of good water changes and watch to see if anything further happens to help me diagnose what's going on.

Thanks again.

[Kasper]

Hi

I would try to higher the temp to about 32-33 celcius for min. a week.
If you can get the "jungfish" food from Mielings or other similar that contains garlic, which i good for internal parasites.

Kasper