Blue Panaque

O_o · Post by **O_o** » 21 Jan 2006, 07:03

1. Anyone have any suggestions on making him eat?
2. He hasn't tried to hide or move at all. i noticed a little heavy breathing so i trew in an airstone. Also he hasn't eaten or even acknoweldged his food( frozen brine,algea waffer, its been only 2 days but im a little worried. I knew the eating might happen but, the him not moving is what i didn't expect. Is this tyical of newly introduced blue panaques??
Thanks,
Your Q&A is welcomed.

Post by **Barbie** » 21 Jan 2006, 08:10

Could you do me a favor and read the sticky in the forum and provide us with all the details requested there? The information it will give us can help us give you an answer that's more than just a shot in the dark. Without knowing how the tank is decorated, how long it's been up, when you bought the fish, what else is in with him, how warm it is and everything else, there's just really not much help that we can give. Thanks!

Barbie

O_o · Post by **O_o** » 21 Jan 2006, 17:17

how silly of me, ok here goes,
Bought the fish 3 days from today 1-12-06
Qt tanks (10gal) been but for a around a year
nothings been in it for a month, did a 50% water change day before putting new plec in.
ph is @ 7.7 today (came in water @ ph7.9 slowly working it down with drift wood)
Temp a steady 79f
there are two pieces of drift wood in the tank one touches the base at both ends and one across the front of the tank, my substate are smooth river rock and some thick cover plants(the drift wood in the front was new to me, but i boiled it and it sank, its malayasin driftwood from a lfs.
my kh or gh (forgot what i tested is hairly low 7.
nitrate-0 ammonia-0
i'm currently running an air stone to add oxygen in tank.

I've also gotten some information on freeze mode (natural response that could explain why he is so still.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 21 Jan 2006, 17:32

As you've had no fish in the tank for a month, the bacteria could have perished.

With this new fish (and food), the tank could start to re-cycle if insufficient bacteria are present.

Keep a close eye on nitrogenous waste!

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 21 Jan 2006, 17:35

HI!

They are omnivorous, feeding should consist of live or frozen insect larvae, tablets, vegetables...

Try feeding them at night!

Cheers
Yann

Nothonotus · Post by **Nothonotus** » 21 Jan 2006, 20:09

The small group (2M/2F;adult) of these I have mostly eat the driftwood in the tank. I supplement with a 4-5 spirulina wafers or about 1 tablespoon of defrosted frozen bloodworms every few days. Anymore of either and they won't eat it all. Most of the 'Panaques' I have would prefer to munch on some nice aged driftwood more than anything else.

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 21 Jan 2006, 21:15

Hi!

Just wonna add that L239 is not a Panaque.
Welstaltas 2 lists it as Ancistrini sp. and that it has nothing in common with P.
Also that it has typical teeth of a Aufwuchs-eater.
Temperature where Seidel caught it in the Orinoko on stones was 32.5Â°C

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 21 Jan 2006, 22:43

Hi!

I had a look in the ACSI website, a part is with the pictures of the collecting trip that Jon Armbruster, Mark Sabaj went... where they collected L200 normal and high fin, L106 L122 and there was a picture of a L239, they listed it as Parancistrus sp...
Anyway the feeding is basically the same as for Parancistrus.

Yes Chris, L239 is an aufwuchs eater, but it is hard in a tank to have them feed like in the nature...they would starve in a very small time!!

If I remember well, they also put that they occasionnally go after the plants in the tank as well!!

Cheers
Yann

Politely · Post by **Politely** » 28 Jan 2006, 03:20

Yep. As per some prior posts, there was a question as to whether L239 went after plants. I can confirm that mine do. My E. bleheri have been destroyed by my four L239. However, they don't seem to bother stem plants, anubias or java fern (the last is no surprise).

-P

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 30 Jan 2006, 10:24

Politely: Have you tried feeding more vegetables in the diet? Leaving a piece of courgette/zucchini sitting at the bottom of the tank should make it less likely that the fish go for the plants. I'm not saying it's a guaranteed solution, but a fish with a full tummy is less likely to go looking for plants to eat, so if you have an alternative that the fish prefer to fill it's tummy with, you should be able to have the plants and fish together...

--
Mats

Politely · Post by **Politely** » 06 Feb 2006, 03:28

MatsP - I do feed zucchini as well as spirulina tabs, but they're in a community tank with several L204s, so they don't have sole access to those sources. If they were the sole plecs in a tank, the outcome could be different. Just making a note that for someone with a planted tank, L239 shouldn't be viewed as completely safe.

-P

Mikael · Post by **Mikael** » 06 Feb 2006, 07:35

That's interesting. My little Blue panaque chases of the L204s and the bristlnoses from both my pleco tabs and suchini. It even happens that it tries to chase of the doubly sized L200... But all this is when it is extremely calm in the room around, like only me sitting completely still watching them for ten minutes. Should there be some noise or movement the blue is gone in half a second.